The new year has brought some bad news for the biodiesel industry. As expected, the $1-per-gallon federal tax incentive expired at the end of December 2009. And, as expected, some biodiesel makers have had to idle their plants after losing the tax credit.
One of the biggest to “idle in the new year” is the 180-million gallon Renewable Biofuels plant in Port Neches, Texas, just a year after it had opened. The Houston Chronicle reports says it’s a trend that we could see more of:
The entire biodiesel industry is in a similar holding pattern, though it’s unclear how many companies idled plants Thursday. Producers still hope the credit will be renewed and applied retroactively when Congress reconvenes later this month.
But even a temporary loss of the credit could be enough to ruin some companies, many of them already weakened by a string of recent economic and policy setbacks.
“As a result of the tax credit lapse, we expect that industry-wide pay will be cut, jobs will be lost and infrastructure and plant investments will waste away,” said Daniel J. Oh, president of Ames, Iowa-based Renewable Energy Group, one of the nation’s largest biodiesel producers.
All of the company’s nine plants — including one in Seabrook on Galveston Bay — “are expected to be negatively affected” by the loss of the credit, he said in an e-mailed statement without elaborating.
The article goes on to say that 23,000 jobs in the biodiesel industry could be lost, coming on the heels of a 29,000-job loss in 2009. But there is a bright spot as some of those jobs could come back on line if Congress re-authorizes the tax credit.
“The 20 percent reduction was a challenging goal,” said Alan Jones, manager of the environmental policy office at TDOT. The problem, he noted, is that there aren’t enough E85 and biodiesel stations to serve all the state vehicles. According to TDOT, there are just 33 pumps across the state selling B20 and only 27 pumps provide E85. 
With much of the United States experiencing record cold and snow right now, this decorative yet practical German-engineered ethanol fireplace could be just the ticket for a little extra warmth from room to room.
In fact, corn growers on a recent 
It’s New Year’s Eve, and many people will be stepping out on the town, riding in style in a limousine. But some folks will be able go green while they go swanky, thanks to Seattle’s first eco-friendly limo service, 
During this edition of the Domestic Fuel Cast, we talk to company president Kevin Williams, who has four limos running on the green fuel, cutting CO2 emissions by 80 percent or more. Williams credits at least two ladies, Sharon, who made her own biodiesel for her Jetta, and Zoe, who is the kind of person who volunteered to rescue dogs after Hurricane Katrina, for inspiring him to continue in the green venture, despite some roadblocks put up by the State of Washington … which tries to sell itself as being an eco-friendly state.
It’s a pretty cool conversation, and you can hear more of it here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/domesticfuel/DFCast-12-31-09.mp3]
As we prepare to begin a new decade, the Renewable Fuels Association is taking just a moment to look back at the decade that saw ethanol emerge as the leading renewable fuel alternative to our dependence on foreign oil. 
Construction is complete on a 149-megawatt wind farm in North Dakota.
Biodiesel producers could get a new trading instrument that will help them hedge against fluctuations in the price of feedstocks and the actual fuel.
Eleven states in the New England and the Mid-Atlantic region have inked a deal to develop a comprehensive, regional low carbon fuel standard to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation fuels, including biodiesel.
Sustainable biodiesel will get its voice heard right before the National Biodiesel Board holds its annual conference and exhibition in Texas in just over a month.