It’s not quite the Indy 500, but don’t tell that to the guys racing in the New Holland Celebrity Tractor Race! It’s the fourth year for the popular feature of the Country Music Association’s 2009 Music Festival, June 10-14, 2009 in Nashville, TN., and some of the participants are looking for revenge.
The race (which you can see some of last year’s race in the video above) will feature, among others, National Biodiesel Board CEO Joe Jobe, who is making his third appearance in the race that features “celebrities” from many professions driving a New Holland compact tractor through an obstacle course of road cones on June 14th:
Jobe, who placed 3rd in the 2008 race, has his eyes set on moving higher in the ratings. One of his main challengers from 2008 is his friend and biodiesel supporter Chuck Leavell, environmentalist, conservationist, author, and 27-year keyboardist for the Rolling Stones. Leavell placed 5th in 2008, but only seconds on the clock separated the two friends. His eyes are also set on placing higher. Adding to the action is country music artist Michael Peterson, also a strong biodiesel supporter, who is hosting the competition for New Holland.
“New Holland is once again taking an industry-leading role in its support of biodiesel,” said Jobe. “They have already led the industry in supporting 100% biodiesel in all of the engines they manufacture, but they are not resting on those achievements. They continue to promote the biodiesel for its benefits to the nation’s energy supply, food supply, and agricultural sector.”
Now, if you can’t be at the race, you can still see live coverage of the event over on our sister Web site, AgWired.com. The coverage begins with preliminary interviews at approximately 10:30 a.m. (Central Time) on Sunday, June 14, 2009. The race will begin at 11:30 a.m. and conclude at approximately 1:30 p.m. See you there!
“Further developing the biofuels industry helps create jobs and stimulates rural economies, an important part of getting our economy back on track,” 
The 19th Annual Ethanol Producers and Consumers (EPAC) Conference, Fuel, Food and the Future, will be held at the the Best Western Grantree Inn, Bozeman, Montana June 29 and 30, 2009. This educational conference will allow attendees to network with and learn from nationally recognized authorities, and participate in discussions of the emerging technologies in first generation Biofuels, also Biofuel Co-product research and use and the Future Biofuel feedstocks and opportunities.
Looking for a conference that encompasses all forms of renewable energy? Then 
The wind and solar industry continues its rapid growth in the U.S. with the announcement that 
The rationale of indirect land use remains in the hot seat and the biofuels industry continues to stand its ground. Today, 
Zubrin writes, “A more cogent critique, in my view, would be a moral one, as the Searchinger argument, now apparently embraced by the EPA, presupposes that it is or should be a proper goal of American policy to restrict the economic growth of underdeveloped nations.”
The ethanol industry is looking forward to a 
Two venture capitol companies have invested in an Israeli company with technology for converting cellulosic materials into fermentable sugars.
IDEA stands for “Immobilized Digestive Enzyme Assay” which Dr. Brad Lawrence with Novus says helps measure the digestibility of lysine and other amino acids in dried distillers grains (DDGS), the livestock feed by-product of ethanol production. “Distillers is one of the few ingredients that we have that does come from multiple manufacturing facilities with different methods that could impact amino acid digestibility,” said Dr. Lawrence. “We run this laboratory procedure that looks at all the digestibility of all the amino acids which gives us a tool to compare the economic value of distillers from different sources.”