The fight over the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) was not in recess during the government shutdown and the accusations and arguing are ratcheting up in fervor this week as the introduction of new anti-RFS legislation is pending as well as a Dear Colleague letter being circulated by Representative Bob Goodlatte sent to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is causing a …
ShockWave Reactor Helps Biodiesel Efficiency
A new video demonstration is showing how the new ShockWave Power Biodiesel Reactor (SPR) is making production of the green fuel more efficient. Hydro Dynamics, Inc. (HDI) posted the video to show how its product will make the transesterification process go better. Although not a complete replacement for seeing the technology in person, video is becoming commonplace on the web …
Crowdfunding Campaign to Connect Schools to Solar
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has launched a unique crowdfunding campaign to support a new initiative to help schools purchase and install rooftop solar systems. The crowdfunding campaign – a first for NRDC – initially seeks to raise $54,000 through the site Indiegogo to help three to five to-be-determined schools move forward with solar rooftop projects. At least one …
World’s Largest Advanced Biofuels Plant Opens
Today marked the official opening of what is believed to be the world’s largest operational, commercial scale advanced biofuels facility. Situated in the fields outside the city of Crescentino, Italy, Beta Renewables, part of the Mossi Ghisolfi Group, along with Novozymes celebrated the first plant to be designed and built to produce bioethanol from agricultural residues and energy crops as …
Absolute Energy Hosts New Holland Ethanol Producers Club
Nearly 200 area farmers attended a New Holland American Ethanol Producers Club event Wednesday at Absolute Energy, an ethanol biorefinery located near Lyle, Minnesota. The event, which was the 12th held at ethanol plants around the country this year, was designed to introduce producers who provide corn for the plant to the partnership between New Holland, Growth Energy and American …
Welcome Back E15
E15 is back. The summer volatility restrictions for E15 end on September 15, 2013 and the 15 percent ethanol blend will again be available to consumers with vehicles 2001 and newer. Due to EPA’s disparate regulatory treatment of volatility for E15 and E10, retailers were forced to change their pump labels on June 1, 2013 and offer E15 to flex-fuel …
Neil Young Rocks for Ethanol
Rocker Neil Young showed he has a “heart of gold” for ethanol during a press event in Washington D.C. Monday with the National Farmers Union. “I love ethanol. I love how it smells, I love the way it makes my car go, everything about it is great, it’s clean,” said Young. “It’s a beautiful fuel.” But, Young told an audience …
Growth Expands You’re No Dummy Campaign
Growth Energy has launched the second in a series of television ads as part of the “You’re No Dummy” campaign. The latest ad focuses on Big Oil’s attempt to repeal the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). “This ad is part of Growth Energy’s ongoing campaign to help Americans understand how the oil industry is trying to stop the growth of clean, …
Fungus & Bacteria Join Forces for Better Biofuels
Several University of Michigan researchers have joined together a fungus and E. coli bacteria to turn tough, waste plant material into isobutanol – a product that can be converted into biochemicals and biofuels. A paper based on this research, “Design and characterization of synthetic fungal-bacterial consortia for direct production of isobutanol from cellulosic biomass,” was published in The Proceedings of …
Growth Launches “You’re No Dummy” Campaign
In response to the major ad campaign funded by Big Oil in an effort to block higher blends of ethanol into the marketplace (such as E15), ethanol advocacy group Growth Energy has launched an advertising campaign called “You’re no Dummy“. The goal of the campaign is to help Americans better understand that the oil industry is trying to stop the …