Five Midwestern states have joined together to develop an electric transmission system that should help promote wind energy in the region.
This AP story from the St. Paul (MN) Pioneer Press says Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North and South Dakota have formed the Upper Midwest Transmission Development Initiative:
The coalition of governors will study the costs of developing more wind energy and delivering it on power lines. The states also plan to propose some form of financing new transmission lines.
Lack of adequate power lines is a major impediment to wind energy development in the region.
The initiative will identify the region’s wind energy resources and the transmission infrastructure needed to develop them in the most cost-effective manner.
State officials also will seek solutions to a number of current barriers to additional transmission investment, such as how costs of new power lines should be allocated.
The group will meet for the first time in October and hopes to have results of a study of regional electrical transmission capacity next year.
Officials in Parkersburg, Iowa recently received a check for $10,520 to help them rebuild their town destroyed by an F5 tornado back on May 25, 2008.
The money will go toward buying biodiesel that runs the equipment that continues to cleanup and rebuild the town. If you remember the photo on the left from right after the storm happened at the end of May, the town doesn’t look like that anymore. But there’s still plenty of work to do. It’s nice to know that biodiesel will be part of that effort.
Following the route of the famous Cannonball Run of the 1970s (made even more famous by the movie in 1981), a pair of advertising copywriters will attempt to go from the East Coast to the West Coast… entirely non-stop and entirely on biodiesel.
The latest investments bring the company’s total funding to substantially more than $100 million, and Sapphire is now financed to scale up its production facilities to full commercial feasibility. 
“Our discovery is one potential avenue for research to facilitate turning inedible cellulosic biomass, including wood, grass, and various waste materials, into ethanol,” said Dartmouth engineering professor Lee Lynd. “In the near term, the thermophilic bacterium we have developed is advantageous, because costly cellulase enzymes typically used for ethanol production can be augmented with the less expensive, genetically engineered new organism.”
The Biomass Program works with industry, academia and national laboratory partners on a portfolio of research in biomass feedstocks and conversion technologies. Through research, development, and demonstration efforts geared at the development of integrated biorefineries, the Biomass Program helps transform the nation’s renewable and abundant biomass resources into cost competitive, high performance biofuels, bioproducts, and biopower. Among its goals is focusing research and development efforts to ensure that cellulosic ethanol is cost competitive by 2012.
Corn grower associations in South Dakota and Kansas have joined with the 
A $14.7 million grant from the state of Iowa was welcome news last week to the company working on a commercial cellulosic ethanol project in the state.
In addition to the $14.7 million that was approved Wednesday, the State of Iowa has awarded another $5.2 million in Economic Development funds. The total amount of funds from the State of Iowa is $20 million. Iowa Lieutenant Governor Patty Judge said the funding insures that Iowa will continue to be a leader in renewable fuels innovation. “The new POET facility in Emmetsburg will be one of the first in the nation to produce cellulosic ethanol.” Judge said. “This represents the next generation in biofuels, and another step towards energy independence.”
This week I’ve had the opportunity to visit the Ohio State University’s annual