A House Agriculture Committee field hearing in South Dakota on the 2012 Farm Bill featured a lot of testimony about ethanol. POET Vice President for Commercial Development Scott Weishaar testified that the ethanol industry has become a legitimate threat to Big Oil and Washington deserves credit for envisioning that future when it created positive policies such as the Renewable Fuels …
DF Cast: Biodiesel Producers Reiterate Call for Incentive
Biodiesel producers, large and small, have renewed their call for Congress to move on the federal $1-a-gallon biodiesel tax incentive. During a recent webinar hosted by the National Biodiesel Board CEO Joe Jobe, Bernie Crowley of Delta American Fuel in Helena, Ark.; Gen-X Energy Group in Pasco, Washington President Scott Johnson; Bobby Heiser with Nittany Biodiesel; and Renewable Energy Group’s …
No Bull(s) … Army Hosting Renewable Energy Rodeo
No bulls, not even the mechanical kind, but the U.S. Army is hosting a rodeo … the inaugural Renewable Energy Rodeo and Symposium (RERS), June 8-9, 2010, at Fort Bliss, Texas, evaluating the latest energy technologies that could reap immediate benefits for the military and the nation: RERS, co-hosted by the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) Tank …
Biodiesel Plant Layoffs Prompt Renewed Call for Action
Another day, more jobs lost due to Congress’ inaction on renewing the $1-a-gallon federal biodiesel tax credit. This time, it’s the Maple River Energy biodiesel plant near Galva, Iowa. The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association says 12 of the facility’s 18 employees are being laid off until the biodiesel blenders credit is reinstated: Delayne Johnson, General Manager of Maple River Energy, …
Ethanol Demand a Topic at Clean Energy Forum
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and other administration officials joined rural stakeholders for a clean energy economy forum at the White House on Wednesday, which was the one year anniversary of President Obama’s Biofuels Directive. “Renewable energy production is a key to sustainable economic development in rural America,” Vilsack said. “We must rapidly escalate the production of biofuels to meet the …
EPA, USDA Announce Biogas Program
Two federal agencies are teaming up to capture the methane U.S. farms produce and turn that greenhouse gas into fuel. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Agriculture have a new interagency agreement that will promote the biogas as a renewable energy source, while cutting those gas emissions from livestock operations. This EPA press release says the agreement is …
Gulf Oil Spill Could Shape Biodiesel’s Future
While the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has had no measurable effect on the petroleum markets, it could end up having an impact on the biodiesel industry in this country. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is pouring thousands of gallons of oil into coastal ecosystems and has been designated as an event “of national significance” by President …
Colorado Biodiesel & CO2 Projects Get Federal Grants
A pair of projects in Colorado to help develop renewable energy will be getting some federal money. The Denver Post reports $9.1 million in U.S. Department of Energy grants are hoped to create jobs and speed innovation: OPX Biotechnologies Inc. will receive $6 million to engineer microorganisms to use renewable hydrogen and carbon-dioxide inputs for producing a biodiesel-equivalent fuel at …
Farm Bureau Supports Extending Biofuel Tax Incentives
Tax incentives play a key role in the development and production of renewable energy, and the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) is urging Congress to pass two bills that would extend renewable fuel tax credits for five years. In a statement presented for the record to a House Ways and Means Committee hearing this week on energy tax incentives, AFBF …
Cape Wind Green Light Big for Offshore Wind Industry
A wind energy project off the Massachusetts has gotten the federal government’s OK to move forward … and it’s seen as a major victory for the offshore wind energy industry in this country. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar will allow the 130-turbine Cape Wind project, the nation’s first offshore wind farm, to be built. This story from CNN …