For the second year in a row, Iowa high school students have been rewarded for their creative videos promoting renewable fuels. At the 6th Annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit in Des Moines on Tuesday, Ames High School senior Sam Ennis was declared the first place winner of the 2nd Annual “Fuel the Future” video contest for Iowa high school students. …
Government’s Role In Ethanol’s Future
At the recent National Agri-Marketing Association Trends in Agriculture conference one of our panel discussions focused on “Trends In Energy/Alternative Fuels.” On the panel were Nathan Schock, POET & Matt Roberts, PhD. Here’s what their session focused on. What are the main influences escalating the demand for ethanol and other plant-based energy? This session examines the trends in the alternative …
Super Yeast Could Turn Pine into Ethanol
Researchers at the University of Georgia have developed a “super strain” of yeast that can efficiently ferment ethanol from pretreated pine. “Companies are interested in producing ethanol from woody biomass such as pine, but it is a notoriously difficult material for fermentations,” said Joy Doran-Peterson, associate professor of microbiology in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. “The big plus …
Fuel Better Video Shows Biofuels Benefits
A short animated video just released by Pearson Fuels shows the benefits of biofuels for the United States.
Plug In Day Celebrates Electric Vehicles
Sunday was National Plug-in Day and among many events around the country was a parade of electric vehicles (EV) with over 200 EV drivers taking part in Santa Monica, California. The day was organized by Plug-in America and included EV events in over 20 simultaneous venues from Honolulu to New York with displays and demonstrations of plug-in vehicles by Nissan, …
REG Albert Lea Biodiesel Plant Officially Opens
The Renewable Energy Group (REG) celebrated the official opening of the REG Albert Lea biodiesel plant in Minnesota on Monday, with representatives of the state and local community and agriculture industry. REG President and COO Dan Oh says they were involved in the construction and operations of the plant when it originally was built and opened by SoyMor. “We have …
Blue Angels Perform With Biofuels
The Blue Angels, the U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, performed over the Labor Day weekend using a biofuel blend at the Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River Air Expo. All six F/A-18 legacy Hornets were powered with a 50-50 blend of conventional JP-5 jet fuel and a camelina-based biofuel. “Changing the kinds of fuels we use and the way we …
Solar Overload – A Unique Home Solar Demonstration
This is kind of fun. Have you wondered how much power you can really get from a home solar power system? You’re not alone. A new video, “Solar Overload” demonstrates just how much power can be produced from a home solar power system. HelioPower has created “Solar Overload, How Many Appliances Does It Take to Spin the Meter Forward?” and …
Sturgis Legends Ride
Each year at the Legends Ride, now in its 4th year, photographer Michael Lichter, takes a photo of the participants in front of the famous Franklin Hotel in Deadwood, SD. He gets a little higher angle than I did but these are the folks that were about to take off on their bikes for the ride yesterday. Rfa’s Robert White …
Just How Big is a Wind Turbine?
I’ve been traveling around the country quite a bit this summer and I can’t get over the growth of the wind industry. On a few occasions I’ve watched components of wind turbines pass me by and I’ve always wanted to get up close just to see how big these blades and the base really are. Well now I know. I …