Missouri-based MFA Oil Company, a farmer-owned cooperative, has partnered with Aloterra Energy to form a biomass venture. This MFA press release says the new company, MFA Oil Biomass LLC, will pay about 1,700 family farmers to grow miscanthus for use as a biomass fuel and possibly ethanol in the future: [T]he 2008 Federal Farm Bill created the Biomass Crop Assistance …
Ethanol Producer on Capitol Hill
Considering Republication opposition to ethanol initiatives in the House Continuing Resolution, some ethanol producers are taking to Capitol Hill for face-to-face discussions with their lawmakers about the importance of ethanol to the country. Two representatives from Marquis Energy of Hennepin, Illinois were in Washington, D.C. this week for personal meetings with representatives from their state, including Robert Schilling (R-17), Aaron …
NAFTC – A Leader in Alt Fuels Training
The National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium (NAFTC) has been training renewable fuel industry members, technicians and consumers for more than a decade and chances are you’ve encountered their work but may not have realized it. The consortium was founded in 1992 initially to train and educate the natural gas industry. This was when the first natural gas vehicles were coming …
GROWMARK To Help Grow Biodiesel Use In Illinois
GROWMARK, based in Bloomington, Illinois has a long history with selling renewable fuels. The company began marketing ethanol back in the late 1970s. Today, they are a major player in Illinois in selling high quality biodiesel. I had the chance to sit down with Mark Dehner, the company’s marketing manager of refined and renewable fuels during the National Biodiesel Board …
Biofuels Part of Bright Outlook for Farm Economy
The full House Agriculture Committee held a hearing today to hear from Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack about the outlook for the farm economy, which is being supported by strong demand for ethanol and biodiesel. Vilsack told the committee that the farm economy continues to remain strong with U.S. agricultural exports, farm cash receipts and net farm income projected at …
Chromatin Sorghum Hybrids Topping the Charts
In 2010 biomass and sugar testing programs, Chromatin sorghum hybrids have demonstrated top performance when compared to other materials from public, private and commercial sorghum collections. This according to a company press release. Chromatin is a biotechnology company and its subsidiary, Sorghum Partners, LLC, sells sorghum seed products to growers. Several trials were conducted. In the first trial, 50 biomass …
New Ethanol Fuel Finder App from RFA
The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is excited to announce the release of a new Flex-Fuel Station Locator application for iPhones, iPads and the iPod Touch – free and available from the App Store. The Flex-Fuel Station Locator iPhone application will help users pinpoint any E85 (85% ethanol, 15% gasoline) station in the United States, providing the user with station locations, …
CARB Tackling Crude Oil’s Carbon Intensity in LCFS
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is getting ready to move forward with determining the carbon intensity of crude oil. On February 17, they are holding a Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) Crude Oil Screening Workgroup Meeting. For those following the LCFS debate, you’ll note that still under fire is CARB’s final ruling on the carbon intensity levels given for …
Propel’s Iacoponi Appointed to LCFS Advisory Panel
Jim Iacoponi, Vice President of Operations for Propel Fuels has been appointed to the California Air Resources Board (CARB’s) Low Carbon Fuels Standard (LCFS) Advisory Panel. Alongside other qualified industry members of the panel, Iacoponi will provide guidance to CARB as they monitor and evaluate progress of the LCFS program. Propel, as California’s largest retail provider of alternative fuels such …
Ethanol Report on New Advanced Ethanol Council
In this edition of “The Ethanol Report” podcast, we hear from the executive director of the newly formed Advanced Ethanol Council (AEC), Brooke Coleman. Coleman has been involved with the ethanol industry for over a decade, most recently as Executive Director of the New Fuels Alliance. He says that the new organization came together around a common theme. “The common …