Over the next five years, Tuscon, Arizona will be buying more biodiesel buses for the city’s public transportation system.
This story from the Arizona Daily Star says Sun Tran, Tuscon’s bus system, is increasing the number of biodiesel buses… even as the green fuel already goes into a majority of the buses:
The transit system has a contract to expand its fleet of buses running on biodiesel, which already makes up about 56 percent of the buses on our streets. The other 44 percent of the buses run on CNG, said Michele Joseph, spokeswoman for Sun Tran.
Sun Tran plans to buy an additional 119 biodiesel buses over its five-year contract with bus manufacturer Gillig Corp. The buses are also capable of running on regular diesel, but Sun Tran does not use regular diesel in any of its buses.
Sun Tran uses B20 and B5 biodiesel blends in its 114 biodiesel buses.
The article points out that the new biodiesel buses are replacing an even cleaner-burning fuel, compressed natural gas (CNG). But the problem with CNG is that the city would need a new CNG fueling station… a costly proposition at this point. In addition, CNG-fueled buses have to refuel more often.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal this week signed into law the Advanced Biofuel Industry Development Initiative, the most comprehensive and far-reaching state legislation in the nation enacted to develop a statewide advanced biofuel industry. Louisiana is the first state to enact alternative transportation fuel legislation that includes a variable blending pump pilot program and a hydrous ethanol pilot program.
One of the newest board members of the 
The amount of biofuels being produced in the world will double between 2010 and 2030… and that represents a significant increase from previous U.S. government estimates of how much ethanol and biodiesel will be produced in the future.
A group of junior high students from Boise, Idaho has won first place in the National Fuel Cell Competition at the 2008 National Middle School Science Bowl in Golden, Colo.
“This year we got a monster trophy, so we can show everybody this is what we did and this is what we got,” said Eddie Smith, an eighth grader on the team.
On May 25th, 2008, an F5 tornado ripped through the town of Parkersburg, Iowa… killing six people and practically wiping out the small town in Northeast Iowa. Now, with some help from biodiesel, the town is rebuilding.
Due to the current market volatility, 
To wrap things up here at the Farm Foundation Transition To A Bio Economy conference I spoke with board member, Cornelius Gallagher. He says the conference brought together world class leaders who were able to listen to some fantastic presentations. I’ve posted interviews with almost all of them so please scroll back through them.
What we know and what we need to know was Peggy Caswell’s, USDA-ERS, topic here at the Farm Foundation Transition To A Bio Economy conference. She says we need to know things about how farmers or the providers of biofuels and feed stocks are going to have to change the way they do business. She used the example of having to look at different types of contracts and financing.