The Akron Metro Regional Transit Authority (RTA) unveiled the largest solar rooftop array in the state of Ohio today. RTA’s new solar rooftop on the RTA bus garages at METRO’s headquarters is rated at 488 kilowatts DC, and is expected to produce around 486,760 kilowatt hours of solar power a year. The $2.5 million project was installed by Ohio-based Third …
Biodiesel Board Urges Tax Credit Passage Before Break
It won’t be long before Senators and Representatives go back home to do what they seem to do best, or at least, the most: work on getting re-elected. But before they head out of D.C. for the break (right now, scheduled for October 8) before the November elections, the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) and the Advanced Biofuels Association (AFBA) are …
Sharp Expands U.S. Solar Business
Sharp Electronic Corporation is growing it’s presence in the U.S. solar market. Last week, the company announced that it has acquired San Francisco-based Recurrent Energy. Recurrent Energy develops and markets solar-based power generation projects and has a multitude of projects underway with utilities in both the U.S. and around the world. The acquisition was a strategic move by the company …
GRFA Calls UN FAO to Reveal ‘True Cost of Crude’
The Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN is preparing to hold a global meeting focusing on grains and rice in response to a recent surge in wheat prices and rising concerns of wheat shortages as a result of drought in the Russian Federation. In anticipation for biofuels to take the blame as a component of rising food prices, the …
Next Gen. Biodiesel Scientists Holding Virtual Conference
They’re some of the newest and brightest scientific minds in the country, so it just makes sense that the Next Generation Scientists for Biodiesel would choose one of the most cutting-edge formats to hold the first interactive virtual conference on biodiesel for students. These biodiesel champions will join one of the nation’s foremost biodiesel researchers from the National Renewable Energy …
States Scale Back RPS’s As Senate Ramps Up RES Efforts
As several senators make one last push for a federal Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) to be enacted before the close of the 111th Congress, several states are considering scaling back their current Renewable Energy Portfolios (RPS). At the federal level, groups such as the bipartisan Governors’ Wind Energy Coalition cite an RES as a way to give the country an …
Is Iowa Putting the Cart Before the Horse?
Is the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission (EPC) putting the cart before the horse in their proposition to add greenhouse gas emission amendments to the Iowa Administrative Code? The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) think so. The two organizations have joined forces to urge the EPC to delay consideration on decisions that would increase the regulatory …
Ethanol Industry E15 Vehicle Study Detailed
A new study released this week makes a good case for allowing up to 15 percent ethanol in all vehicles, to avoid having different standards for older cars. The ethanol industry is hoping it will help the Environmental Protection Agency rule favorably on the request to grant a waiver allowing E15 that was requested nearly two years ago. “Indications are …
RFA Disputes EPA’s Inclusion of Biogenic Carbon Emissions
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering equating biogenic carbon emissions with fossil fuel emissions under the Tailoring Rule, which requires the accounting and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions under the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2). Biogenic carbon emissions are those that are naturally created during the combustion and decay of woody biomass and up until now, have always been considered …
Seaweed-to-Ethanol Startup Partners With Statoil
Berkley-California based start-up venture Bio Architecture Lab (BAL) has announced a partnership with the one of the world’s largest offshore oil and gas producers, Statoil. The partnership will help fund the research & development of seaweed-to-ethanol using macro algae grown off the coast of Norway. Today, Statoil offers Norwegian drivers a 5 percent bioethanol blend at the pump. Should the …