Four E85 stations in Indiana held promotions today to celebrating the opening of a four-state “biofuels corridor” along Interstate 65. According to the American Lung Association of Indiana, this will mark completion of the two-year project which began with a $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to expand biofuels infrastructure in Indiana. Drivers of flexible fuel vehicles can now travel the entire length of I-65 in Indiana and the next E85 station with a quarter of a tank to spare.
The events today included those at the Family Express in Demotte; Gas City in Hammond; Gas America in Greenwood; and Thorton’s in Clarksville.
“The American Lung Association of Indiana joined in this celebration because vehicles that use E85 and B20 biodiesel instead of traditional petroleum fuels produce significantly less emissions that can be harmful to lung health,” said Brett Aschliman, health promotions manager for the American Lung Association of Indiana.
Other corridor partners included: Energy.IN.gov, Central Indiana Clean Cities Alliance, General Motors, South Shore Clean Cities, BioTenn, Kentucky Clean Fuels Coalition, Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition, Indiana Soybean Alliance, Indiana Corn, US Department of Energy and American Lung Association of Indiana.
The No. 3 Corvette C6.R also had the best score in the Green Challenge, securing the team award in the GT class for Corvette Racing and the manufacturer award for General Motors. Powered by cellulosic E85R ethanol made from waste wood, the winning Corvette had the best overall score in the competition based on based on performance, fuel efficiency and environmental impact.
The company, which operates refineries in Los Angeles and the city of Martinez, says “the new fuel specifications could conflict with the state’s push to cut greenhouse gas emissions and could have ramifications for the environment and U.S. food prices.”
The New Fuels Alliance, a group that includes the 
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“Biobutanol and cellulosic ethanol have the ability to transform the biofuels industry,” Vice President & General Manager John Ranieri told an investor conference last week. “Our flexible business models allow us to penetrate different geographies with the ability to convert various feedstocks to meet the significant global demand for biofuels.”
Department of Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer and Department of Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman are planning to release the National Biofuels Action Plan tomorrow in Washington DC.
In just about a week and a half, government officials, bioenergy experts and leaders in the private industry will gather in St. Louis, Mo., for the third in a series of conferences sponsored by the Farm Foundation addressing the issues facing rural areas as they move to a bioeconomy.
“The purpose of the conference is to provide an unbiased presentation of issues that are going to affect us in agriculture and otherwise as we transition to a bioeconomy.”
The land around Lake Okeechobee has long been one of the largest sugarcane producing regions in the nation. One company now wants to use a tract of land along the lake to produce sweet sorghum for ethanol.
Company CEO Aaron Pepper says they currently has sweet sorghum field trials underway in various types of soils in the counties surrounding Lake Okeechobee. He is shown here inspecting some of those trials. The company is negotiating with area farmers about planting sweet sorghum, which is similar to the sugarcane familiar in the area and grows up to 15 feet tall, but can yield two harvests per year and so could be planted on sugarcane acreage when it is fallow.
Ethanol plants are cool in a lot of ways. They’re producing a domestic fuel solution to our energy problems and that lessens our dependency on foreign oil for example.
“This report proves that being green is not optional, it is necessary for a healthy and robust economy,” said U.S. Conference of Mayors President Miami Mayor Manny Diaz. “Creating green jobs is an investment we must continue to make.”
Investors have stepped in to give troubled Imperium Renewables, which operates a 100-million gallon biodiesel refinery in the Seattle area, a boost to repay some of its debts.