I was recently visiting the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, a museum focused on one of the largest dinosaur finds in California. And I couldn’t help but think of where oil comes from.
Dinosaurs = oil.
No more dinosaurs = no more oil
Not exactly. As pointed out in the article “20 Things You Didn’t Know About Oil” (Discover magazine July 2008), “If you are a creationist, crude oil was formed by thousands of years of heat and pressure applied to the carcasses of plants and animals that died in the Great Flood. If you’re not, you think oil comes from dinosaurs, right?”
Okay, so regardless of where oil comes from we’re not getting more. So let’s get a grip and learn about how we can reduce our nonrenewable fossil fuel use.
Enter A Declaration of Energy Independence written by Jay Hakes. Throughout the book, Hakes identifies seven solutions that can “help reduce dependence on foreign oil, strengthen the economy, and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.”
This was a good read. Hakes set his book apart from others by not giving a history lesson on the Middle East but giving us a much needed history lesson on America’s energy security efforts –the good the bad and the ugly.
It’s interesting to note that Hakes has been criticized for including global climate change in a book about energy security. However, Hakes points out rather convincingly (as does Thomas Friedman in Hot, Flat and Crowded) that energy independence and global climate change go hand-in-hand. It is irresponsible to develop an energy plan that remains dependent on fossil fuels especially when fossil fuels are the largest contributor to global climate change. Read More
A 130 giant wind turbine project planned for off the shore of Cape Cod, Massachusetts has received the green light from a key federal agency, but it still faces some opposition from one of its powerful neighbors.
The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) has announced that E85 sales in Iowa remained strong during the third quarter of 2008 despite rapidly falling gasoline prices. According to the Iowa Department of Revenue, sales of E85 by Iowa retailers reached 2,208,837 gallons during July, August, and September of 2008 – more than double the 1,270,587 gallons sold during the same period in 2007. 
The auction will take place between March 16 and March 31. The merger of the two companies was final on April 1, 2008.
Plants to be auctioned include two in Nebraska, two in Iowa and one each in North Dakota, Minnesota and Michigan – all were originally owned by U.S. BioEnergy. The only former U.S. BioEnergy plant not included in the auction is the Marion, South Dakota facility because it is backed by a different lender, but it is currently idle. In fact, only four of VeraSun’s 17 plants are still producing ethanol at this point.
The vast majority of city government vehicles in Boulder, Colorado will run on biodiesel or ethanol within the next few years, if city planners have their way.
“Osage Bio Energy’s barley feedstock approach provides a substantial opportunity for local farmers and viable sources of ethanol in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic,” said Joel Stone, Chief Operating Officer of Osage Bio Energy. “And GM’s dedication to the flex-fuel vehicle market makes it an ideal partner for the yield contest.”
An Ohio wind-turbine parts factory was the backdrop today as President-elect Barack Obama made his case to include renewable energy in his economic-stimulus package.
Under the Biorefinery Assistance Program authorized by the 2008 Farm Bill, USDA will provide an $80 million loan to 
According to the California Air Resource Board (CARB), a division of the California Environmental Protection Agency, beginning Jan. 1, every 2009 model year and newer car built for sale in California is be required to carry a label that clearly ranks the vehicle’s environmental impact (see example left).