Just as the European Union was extending for five years the temporary duties the EU has slapped on American biodiesel, you would think would be the time the U.S. Trade Representative would want to talk about the protectionist tariffs with his European counterpart. Nope. Ambassador Ron Kirk had bigger fish to fry when he met with European Union Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton in Washington this week. Like a dispute over playing Irish music in American commercial establishments. I kind you not. While what could be a lifesaver for the U.S. economy and the world’s environment is being shut out of one of the biggest markets on earth, Kirk wanted to beat his sheleighly over whether Danny Boy should be sung in pubs (I’m not sure if that’s EXACTLY what the musical dispute is all about, but you get the idea).
To be fair, as noted in this Examiner.com story, there were several other important trade issues that were discussed at the meeting this week. But, c’mon. There wasn’t enough time to fit the biodiesel issue into the agenda? Between this and EPA official Margo Oge thinking that it takes 64 acres of soybeans… no, make that 400 acres of soybeans… to make a gallon of biodiesel (she’s a little off on her math. It’s actually 64 gallons of biodiesel out of each acre of beans.), you gotta start to wonder if anyone in Washington, D.C. is really looking out for U.S. biodiesel producers.
Meanwhile, Reuters reports that biodiesel production in Europe jumped by more an 35 percent in 2008 and is expected to grow even more this year, despite the fact that half the plants on the continent are not operating because of poor demand. The tariffs keeping the American biodiesel out of Europe are seen as major factors for the projected growth.
There is less than one week left for you and other clean fuel proponents to actively support one of the most important issues in the ethanol industry today: increasing the allowed ethanol blend to E15.
It’s not too late to get your early bird discount when you register by August 4th for the National Corn Growers Association’s Corn Ethanol Land Use Conference. This two-day event will be held in St. Louis on August 25-26 and will discuss the 
Congress is being urged to make more money available for wind-energy research.
Legislation introduced by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) could get more natural gas-powered vehicles on the road.
“In 2005, as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, I was able to get the CLEAR Act enacted into law,” Hatch said. “That legislation has promoted the purchase of alternative-fuel and hybrid vehicles, alternative-fuel infrastructure and the use of alternative fuels in vehicles. I have been very pleased with the growth in the use of hybrid-electric vehicles in this country since the passage of the CLEAR Act, but I have been less pleased with the growth in natural gas as a transportation fuel. I believe strongly an extra push is needed to spur the greater use of natural gas and to get more natural gas vehicles on our roads.”
The oil giant Exxon Mobil, whose chief executive once mocked alternative energy by referring to ethanol as “moonshine,” is about to venture into biofuels. Exxon Mobil Corp. said that it will make its first major investment in greenhouse-gas reducing biofuels in a $600 million partnership with biotech company Synthetic Genomics Inc. to develop transportation fuels from algae.
Despite the widely publicized “moonshine” remark a few years ago by Exxon’s chairman and chief executive, Rex W. Tillerson, the company has spent several years exploring various fuel alternatives, according to one of its top research officials.
Renewable energy projects in five states and a U.S. territory will share in $141 million in Recovery Act… aka the “stimulus”… funding.
Dr. Gal Luft, executive director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security (IAGS) is this week’s guest commentator on the Ethanol Minute Radio program, which is a national radio show broadcasting interviews with experts from all walks of life including elected officials, celebrities, energy and environmental experts, and businessmen and women. The Ethanol Minute is sponsored by 
Dr. Luft is an internationally recognized authority on strategy, geopolitics, terrorism, Middle East and energy security. He has been a strong advocate for the increased production of domestic fuels like ethanol.The IAGS is a Washington based think tank focused on energy security and he is a co-founder of the Set America Free Coalition, an alliance of national security, environmental, labor and religious groups promoting ways to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil. Newsweek Magazine called him a “tireless and independent advocate of energy security,” the business magazine Poder called him “one of the most recognizable figures in modern energy and security issues,” and Esquire Magazine included him in its 2007 list of America’s Best and Brightest.