A North Dakota commission is recommending that ethanol, biodiesel and wind play a larger role in that state’s energy future.
The Dickinson (ND) Press reports that the state’s EmPower Commission has issued 10 major goals with renewable fuels at the forefront. Here are some of the goals:
*Support the nation’s 25X25 Initiative to derive at least 25 percent of all energy produced from renewable sources by 2025.
*Increase installed capacity of wind generation to 1,500 megawatts by 2020.
*Produce 450 million gallons of ethanol by 2011 and develop both in-state and out-of-state markets for ethanol and associated byproducts.
*Build new biodiesel plants in North Dakota to produce 135 million gallons by 2015.
The commission, created by the state legislature last year, has worked for the last 10 months to come up with these recommendations and suggestions that also deal with conventional energy sources in North Dakota.
Over the next five years, Tuscon, Arizona will be buying more biodiesel buses for the city’s public transportation system.
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.