Make no mistake about it. The ethanol industry is engaged in a war of words with anti-ethanol forces and every weapon in the arsenal needs to be deployed to fight against these well-funded opponents. Communications and Social Media War Room was the title of one of the breakout sessions at last week’s 2014 National Ethanol Conference. Renewable Fuels Association executive …
New Generation Power Wind Farm Project Kicks Off
New Generation Power Texas has begun the first phase of construction on their 400 Megawatt (MW) Texas Wind Farm. The newly formed subsidiary of Chicago-based New Generation Power started construction on December 11, 2013, which made the wind farm eligible for a Federal Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit (PTC). Located in Haskell County, just northwest of Dallas, Texas, the project …
A Word from the Chairman of RFA
The chairman of the Renewable Fuels Association this year is Neill McKinstray, President of the Ethanol Group for The Andersons, Inc. McKinstray welcomed attendees to the 19th annual National Ethanol Conference on Tuesday in beautiful, sunny Central Florida. “Like many of you here I’m very happy to be away from the polar vortexes and the snow drifts of the Midwest,” …
Canadian Biodiesel Maker Gets BQ-9000 Designation
Canada’s largest biodiesel producer has gained an important quality status. This news release from Great Lakes Biodiesel Inc. says the company received BQ-9000 Producer status, the highest level of industry recognized quality assurance, from the National Biodiesel Accreditation Commission (NBAC). “Achieving BQ-9000 Producer status is just one of many goals we achieved in an effort to continuously provide our customers …
Support for the RFS- Personal, Powerful
With the time period over for comments regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2014 Renewable Fuel Standard proposal, many people are asking: What’s next? The EPA is now tasked with reviewing all the comments and this will prove to be quite an undertaking as more than 40,000 comments were submitted. It is anticipated that it will take several months before …
ACE Elects 2014 Board Officers
The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) has elected its 2014 board officers this week with a continued emphasis on providing opportunities for independent ethanol producers, farmers, and grassroots advocates to innovate and succeed. Ron Alverson, founding chairman and current board member of Dakota Ethanol, a 48 million-gallon-per-year (MGY) ethanol producer in Wentworth, SD, was re-elected as President of the ACE …
50,000 Wind Advocates Call for PTC Extension
The Production Tax Credit (PT) that provides tax incentives for the wind energy industry expired on December 31, 2013. Although there has been talk of tax reform, that would include a new formula for clean energy tax incentives, more than 50,000 citizens are urging Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) to making a renewing the PTC one of his biggest priorities. Sen. …
Study Finds U.S. Solar Jobs Grew 20% in 2013
The Solar Foundation (TSF) has released its fourth annual National Solar Jobs Census, which found that the U.S. solar industry employed 142,698 Americans in 2013. This figure includes the addition of 23,682 solar jobs over the previous year, representing a 19.9 percent growth in employment since September 2012. Solar employment grew 10 times faster than the national average employment growth …
Texas Researchers Turning Yeast into Biodiesel
Everything might be bigger in Texas, but some scientists in the state are looking to tiny yeast cells to yield big feedstocks for biodiesel. This news release from the University of Texas at Austin says researchers at the Cockrell School of Engineering have developed genetically engineered yeast cells to produce the lipids to go into biodiesel production. Assistant professor Hal …
Appeals Court Denies California LCFS Appeal
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has denied rehearing en banc a ruling last year which upheld California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), leaving the ethanol industry and others challenging the law to consider the next move. In a joint statement, ethanol producer groups Growth Energy and the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) called the decision “a blow to California …