Some farmers in Tennessee are testing out the first switchgrass seed varieties specifically developed for biofuels production.
Their goal is to learn first-hand how to manage this new crop, and then use that knowledge to facilitate the development of the bioenergy industry in Tennessee. Tennessee growers Tony and Tim Brannon – pictured here getting some planting done last week – are part of the 25Farmer Network, a group evaluating the potential of alternative crops in western Tennessee organized by the Memphis Bioworks Foundation.
Energy crop company Ceres is developing many of the varieties being tested. Company officials believe switchgrass can produce substantially more biomass and higher yields than many believe.
The company reports results from national field trials have shown average biomass yields among switchgrass seed varieties tested last season were as much as 50% more than the government’s projected yields for 2022. The highest yield was reported in California, where a Ceres experimental variety produced 19 tons per acre. Ceres switchgrass product manager Cory Christensen says this result “demonstrates the genetic potential of switchgrass grown under favorable conditions” and he predicts that they will continue to increase average yields in the future.
South Florida motorists who drive flex fuel vehicles now have at least 12 stations where they can fill up with E85 fuel. The 
A six-foot tall box behind a restaurant in Massachusetts is a solution to two problems: what to do with leftover cooking oil and how to power the fryers that produce all that grease in the first place.
Last December, after a year of 80-hour weeks on the development, Peret, 33, installed the first Vegawatt at Finz, a joint that offers loads of fried seafood. With patents still pending, he’s reluctant to give specifics on its inner workings, but it begins with staff members pouring in 10 to 12 gallons of used deep-fryer oil each day. Before going into the Vegawatt’s generator, the bread-crumb-filled muck is deposited into a reservoir and undergoes a multi-stage cleaning, treatment and filtration process. At this stage, the oil is prepared for combustion with a method Peret devised that draws heat from the exhaust system. After that, the processed grease moves into a tank that feeds the modified 15-horsepower diesel generator. Heat from the Vegawatt’s engine coolant is used to warm the water in the building’s pipes, further reducing the restaurant’s energy needs.
Instead of bringing an apple for teacher, students in Montgomery, Alabama schools will be encouraged to bring in used cooking oil that the city’s public schools will turn into biodiesel to run their school buses.
New York City is going to get a little cleaner thanks to a clean-running garbage truck.
Gov. Chris Gregoire said her staff has meetings scheduled with department heads in June to talk about how to incorporate more biofuel usage. “I don’t want to lose the momentum that we’ve built up,” said Gregoire in The Herald of Everett. “We’re going to get there but it’s going to take more time than what was originally projected.”
RFA Director of Market Development Robert White says this is a milestone in E85 history. “Being in the Miami metro area promoting E85 shows that this is not a Midwest niche fuel any longer,” White said. “This is a product that can be distributed and sold anywhere in the country and we are able to take E85 where the people and the flex-fuel vehicles are.”
President Barack Obama 
Meanwhile, during his visit to Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada yesterday, Obama talked up the promise of clean energy for creating green jobs in America.
President Obama was talking about the power of the sun today at the nation’s largest solar array.