While producing a green fuel from a green pond scum… turning algae into biodiesel… isn’t anything new, doing it in the nation’s breadbasket, where plenty of soybeans for biodiesel are already being grown, is a bit more of a novel concept. In this edition of the Domestic Fuel Cast, we talk to Dr. Richard Sayre, the Director of the Enterprise …
DF Cast: Charting the Future of Ethanol
Attendees of the recent Fuel Ethanol Workshop and Expo in Denver, Colorado heard something they most likely already knew: the past year was a rough one for the ethanol industry. While some folks such as Mike Bryan, CEO of BBI International point out that much of the green fuel’s woes were a concerted effort by those outside of the industry …
DF Cast: Making the Case for Biofuels to the EPA
Members of the biofuels industries, including those growing the feedstocks to make the green fuels of ethanol and biodiesel, made their way to Washington, D.C. this week to try to stop the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from implementing rules that the biofuels folks will hurt their industry. The biggest point of contention is the EPA’s Indirect Land Use proposal that …
DF Cast: Global Debate on Biofuels
Biodiesel and ethanol have borne the brunt of criticism in the food versus fuel debate… being blamed, unfairly as it turns out, for the spike in food prices last year. The issue was one that came up at the recent World Ag Forum in St. Louis (see our coverage of the event over at our sister Web site, AgWired.com) that …
DF Cast – Conservation through Exploration
Getting ready to take off on your summer vacation? Planning to drive 100… 200… 1,000 miles from home? How about 60,000 miles? That’s been Brian Brawdy’s 11-month long road trip fueled with biodiesel, solar and wind power… plus he captures rainwater when he can to drink. Brawdy has been using a Ford F-350 diesel pickup truck with a camper in …
DF Cast: Climbing Over Ethanol’s Blend Wall
Ethanol seems to have hit a bit of wall. While it has been great for mixing with regular unleaded gasoline at a 10 percent blend, the industry wants to up that amount to 15 percent, overcoming what is being called a “blending wall” that is keeping the green fuel from growing beyond its current levels. While some might worry what …
DF Cast: Farm Foundation’s Global Conversation
The latest edition of Domestic Fuel Cast listens in on some of the conversation at this week’s Farm Foundation “Transition to a Bioeconomy: Global Trade and Policy Issues” conference. This is the fourth in a series of conferences looking at the transition to a bioeconomy the Farm Foundation has sponsored. This week’s event brought people from around the world to …
DF Cast: Biodiesel That Will Flow at 67 Below!
This latest edition of Domestic Fuel Cast we look at an exciting new development from the Indiana Soybean Alliance that might just put to rest some of the complaints about biodiesel’s tendency to gel at extremely cold temperatures. The group has developed a type of biodiesel that, even at a 100 percent mix, won’t gel at more than 60 degrees …
DF Cast: Tools for Renewable Energy Communicators
This latest edition of Domestic Fuel Cast communicates some important information for those who communicate the story of renewable energy. The Communicating Renewables Summit takes place April 21-23 at the Hilton in Minneapolis, Minnesota and is touted as “THE conference to attend if you are a communications professional working for a company, association or agency that promotes wind, solar, biofuels, …
America’s Destiny: An Eco-Sustainable City
This edition of the DomesticFuel Cast… and yes, we have returned on a regular basis… we look at Destiny, Florida… a community striving to be the nation’s first eco-sustainable city. We talked to Roz Gatewood, the Vice President of Business Development for the 41,000-acre community founded in 2005 in South Central Florida… less than an hour from the attractions of …