A new certification for commercial labs will help ensure the most reputable biodiesel quality program will be verifying the green fuel.
This press release from the National Biodiesel Board says the National Biodiesel Accreditation Commission (NBAC) has created the BQ-9000 Lab Program:
“Reliable lab results are a major factor in guaranteeing fuel quality,” Rod Lawrence, Manager of Quality Control for Magellan Midstream Partners L.P. “This rigorous program will offer biodiesel customers the confidence that the lab used to test the renewable fuel is using best practices and has met standards for excellence synonymous with the BQ-9000 program.”
The BQ-9000 Lab Program calls for quality management systems in commercial laboratories that analyze biodiesel and biodiesel blends. Laboratories must establish and maintain the quality management system to be eligible for the BQ-9000 Lab Program. Laboratories operated by BQ-9000 Producers and Marketers are also eligible to seek this certification.
The lab certification program focuses on several analytical related areas such as:
* test result reporting
* equipment calibration and maintenance
* quality control
* proficiency testing
The BQ-9000 program combines the ASTM standard for biodiesel, ASTM D6751, and a quality systems program that includes storage, sampling, testing, blending, shipping, distribution, and fuel management practices.
It’s named for the Greek phrase for wingless flight and practically slips through air nearly as effortlessly as Lance Armstrong bicycling through France (half the drag of a Toyota Prius). The beauty you see on the left is the battery-powered Aptera 2E… a three-wheeled, two-seater due out this fall.
Wilbur didn’t let me drive the car—it was New York, I guess—but I rode shotgun for enough miles to form an opinion. Like most EVs, it was fairly quiet, though noisier than most, and the potholes and cobblestones set off some rattles. The car was comfortable and felt stable on its three wheels, but a few minutes behind the wheel would have allowed more of a diagnosis.
Growing biodiesel oilseed feedstocks along the nation’s highways… capturing the power of the sun by growing algae for biodiesel production… finding multiple uses for the by-products of biodiesel refining… the U.S. is just scratching the surface of the potential biodiesel holds for this country. Those are just some of the findings of a new report.
Margo Oge, the director of the Environmental Protection Agency’s office of transportation and air quality, submitted written testimony to the committee that said the agency is working with the Department of Energy (DOE) “to evaluate the impacts of the use of higher blends on the in-use fleet of highway vehicles and non-road equipment, and hope to complete the testing over the course of the next year.”
ICM
saying, “Our objective in retaining ICM is to maintain a positive environment ensuring all the plants are kept in top condition.”
Changes are afoot at the 
Ethanol demand, as calculated by the 
Earth Day 2009 is April 22, but Agland Cenex fueling stations in Greeley, Colorado will celebrate the day a bit early with their community on April 17. The sites at 1607 2nd Ave. and at 2449 35th Avenue will sell E85 for 85 cents per gallon from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. 
The first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970 with about 20 million people across America. Now Earth Day is celebrated annually around the globe. Through the combined efforts of the U.S. government, grassroots organizations, and environmentally caring citizens, what started as a day of national environmental recognition has evolved into a world-wide campaign to protect our global environment. 
According to the
The latest edition of Domestic Fuel Cast listens in on some of the conversation at this week’s Farm Foundation “Transition to a Bioeconomy: Global Trade and Policy Issues” conference.
This is the fourth in a series of conferences looking at the transition to a bioeconomy the Farm Foundation has sponsored. This week’s event brought people from around the world to Washington, DC, where they were able to combine their divergent viewpoints to come up with workable solutions that everyone can live with. Unlike some other conferences where everyone already agrees before they meet, these Farm Foundation meetings put together people with vastly different perspectives. The conversations are lively, they’re maybe a bit pointed, but they work… and they are something we need to have more of in this country: frank, honest discussions where everyone doesn’t have to agree.