A biodiesel refiner from Georgia has re-tooled its business a bit and now is cranking out the nation’s first, non-petroleum diesel additive.
This story in the Macon (GA) Telegraph says Alterra Bioenergy is producing DieselMaxx, touted as lubricating and improving diesel engine performance while cutting down on polluting emissions:
“When I started this business, I expected to buy, process and sell traditional biodiesel locally as a basic fuel, and now it’s taken on all these other dimensions,” [Alterra President Wayne Johnson] said. “With a little ingenuity, we turned it into a value-added product.”
Johnson said DieselMaxx has been distributed in Colorado and close to 200 locations in Georgia for the last 60 days. It’s sold at truck stops and auto parts stores in gallon jugs that will treat about 400 gallons of fuel each, he said.
Johnson anticipates rolling out nationwide distribution early next year at a price that is cheaper than many products in the $5 billion American diesel additive market.
DieselMaxx has some testing to back up its emission-reducing, fuel-extending claims. The University of Georgia found that it cut nitrogen oxide emissions by 10 percent, while showing promise in fuel efficiency.
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.”