Earlier this week, I told you how Washington state-based Inland Empire Oilseeds had finished work on its canola-crushing facility to feed its biodiesel operation at the Odessa, Washington plant. Now it looks like the biodiesel brewer has a local utility to help prove the worth of its green fuel.
This press release from Avista Corp. says the energy company is partnering with IEO and Whitley Fuel to test biodiesel on four service trucks in an ongoing effort to “green its fleet” by being more energy and fuel efficient:
Avista began testing the use of the B20 blend of biodiesel in two flatbeds, a line truck and a bucket truck in August. Biodiesel does not require conversion of vehicles to use, and it typically costs a few cents more per gallon than regular diesel fuel. Produced with renewable resources, it is biodegradable and significantly reduces air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions.
“This project is part of Avista’s culture of environmental stewardship and our ongoing efforts to reduce our own energy consumption,” Roger Woodworth, Vice President of Sustainable Energy Solutions for Avista, said.
Inland Empire Oilseeds in Odessa, Wash. produces the biodiesel with oil crushed from Washington-grown canola seeds. Founded in 2006 as a joint effort by Avista, Odessa Union Warehouse, Reardan Grain Growers, and Reardan Seed Company, IEO began refining biodiesel last November. With the installation of its crushing line this summer, it became the first biodiesel company in Washington to fully integrate all production steps into one.
“The fact that we process canola grown in our local region and ship our biodiesel as well as our high protein meal to customers in Washington and Oregon not only keeps our costs low, but it also reduces the carbon footprint of our product,” said Stephen Starr, General Manager. Starr added that canola biodiesel returns 4.5 times the energy used to grow and manufacture it, making it a highly sustainable fuel.
The test is part of a larger green initiative by the utility that also includes some electric-powered vehicles.
According to the Corn Marketing Program of Michigan (CMPM), CMPM andTravel Michigan have renewed their commitment to partner for a second year to furnish all Michigan Welcome Centers with corn-based plastic bags for visitors to fill up with helpful Michigan travel information. 
“We have the safeguards and controls in place to prevent fraudulent acts like this for producers,” says Clayton McMartin, President of 
The USDA is handing out another $13 million in loans and grants for 233 renewable energy projects in rural areas of 38 different states.
On a warm, clear summer evening in Central Missouri, the night air practically thunders to life as 3,000 horsepower of tractor-pulling power is started and modified machines of farm implement heritage rumble down a dirt track. While the behemoths of the National Tractor Pullers Association Midwest Extreme Truck and Tractor Pull are pushed to the limits of what an engine will do, they are doing it with a green blend of soybean-based B20 biodiesel.
This United Soybean Board (USB) and soybean checkoff sponsored event is a chance to highlight the great performance of the green fuel in these extreme conditions.
“While overall it may only be a couple of dozen jobs on a statewide basis, it is an important signal because we were in a period of real economic turmoil in the ethanol sector, but yet we didn’t see layoffs in those plants, even the ones that went through bankruptcies, and in a couple of cases we saw companies use this time to modify their plants to create addition production capabilities, such as corn oil extraction,” Sneller said. 
U.S. ethanol production is on the rise with the news that the industry has set new production records. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), American ethanol facilities produced 694,000 barrels per day (b/d) in June 2009. That is up 109,000 b/d from a year ago.
Everywhere you go at the 2009 Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Illinois this week, people are talking about ethanol.
Saying it is on a path less taken, a Houston, Texas company is looking for alternatives to alternative energy.
A new, eight-million-gallon-a-year biodiesel plant in Washington state has come on line with the opening of the facility’s canola crusher, joining its biodiesel brewer that began refining last November.