An Arkansas-based biodiesel consulting group has added a former member of the National Biodiesel Board to its team of biofuels consultants. Lee Enterprises has announced the addition of Jess Hewitt to its team of biofuels consultants. In addition to his work on the NBB, Hewitt has more than three decades of experience in the energy sector, including his current role …
Largest Solar Project in Tennessee Begins
Jackson, Tennessee is about to become the home of the state’s largest solar farm. The new solar project is located at the American Drive Business Center and when completed in December of 2010, will consist of 4,914 Sharp solar modules manufactured at their Memphis facility and become the second 1 megawatt (MW) solar project within the seven-state Tennessee Valley Authority …
Ethanol Industry Watches Closely As Lame Duck Session Kicks Off in DC
The lame duck session has kicked off in Washington and the ethanol industry continues to point out to legislators who are reviewing the ethanol and biodiesel tax credits, that the failure to renew these credits will cause thousands of biofuels workers to lose their jobs. The ethanol industry is scheduled to visit the White House on Thursday along with several …
Maryland Offshore Wind Project Gets Boost from Feds
A proposed massive wind farm off the coast of Maryland got a big boost this week when the federal government issued both a Request for Interest (RFI) and a map of an offshore wind leasing area in federal waters just off Maryland’s Atlantic coast. The Dispatch of Ocean City (MD) reports that Maryland is just the second state in the …
Ethanol Industry Files Against California LCFS
The ethanol industry is proceeding with its lawsuit against the state of California over a rule that they claim would shut corn ethanol out of that state. Late yesterday, the Renewable Fuels Association and Growth Energy filed papers in U.S. District Court in California asking the federal court to declare that California’s low carbon fuels standard (LCFS) violates the U.S …
ILUC From Corn Ethanol “Minimal to Zero”
In a report that will be published soon,”Decomposition Analysis of U.S. Corn Use for Ethanol Production from 2001-2008,”the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory concludes that the indirect land use change (ILUC) as a result from the expansion of corn ethanol production over the past decade has likely been “minimal to zero.” The study was requested by the California …
Navy to Fuel Boats with Biofuels
There will be a Wrigtht Brothers reenactment on Friday as the U.S. Navy prepares to fuel a boat with biofuels. Okay, so I fibbed a bit in the lead….it’s a boat, not a plane, and the boat will be fueled by biofuels and not jet fuel, but you get the point. The full power demonstration of a Riverine Command Boat …
Pennsylvania School Unveils Large Solar Array
A Pennsylvania school district has unveiled a solar array that will generate 1.2 megawatts of power while teaching about the power of clean renewable energy. The Carlisle School District has the 5,192 panel array, designed by Henkels & McCoy, Inc., headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania with panels from Sharp Solar Energy Solutions Group. It’s one of the largest arrays in …
Lame Ducks Could Renew Biodiesel, Ethanol Tax Breaks
Groups that represent the biodiesel and ethanol industries in this country believe when Congress comes back to Washington after the election … for what is known as the lame duck session … members could renew the pending federal $1-a-gallon biodiesel tax credit and the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC). Michael Frohlich, Director of Federal Communications for the National Biodiesel …
EPA Must Move Quickly to Approve E15 in Older Cars
The ethanol industry all agrees that today’s decision by the EPA to grant an E15 Waiver for 2007 or newer model cars and light duty trucks is a step in the right direction. However, most groups feel that the decision didn’t go far enough in moving the US to its renewable fuels goals of 36 billion gallons for biofuels by …