Two University of Maryland scientists believe a strain of bacteria that decomposes everything from algae to newspapers to crab shells could help produce cheaper fuel. Found on marsh grass in the Chesapeake Bay, this organism could soon be used to generate ethanol from cellulosic sources such as waste paper, brewing byproducts, leftover agriculture products, including straw, corncobs and husks, and energy crops such as switchgrass..
A process using the bacteria, developed by University of Maryland professors Steve Hutcheson and Ron Weiner, is the foundation of their incubator company Zymetis. When fully operational, the Zymetis process could potentially lead to the production of 75 billion gallons a year of carbon-neutral ethanol.
The bacterium is called Saccarophagus degradans, which translates as “sugar eater,” because it has the largest known concentration of enzymes that eat carbohydrates.
If you have a video camera and/or a computer, plus a little creativity and some time, you could win $10,000 and the chance to have your creativity seen by millions. 
At last week’s Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC) 2008, Agriculture Secretary Ed 
Eligible applicants may seek loan guarantees to cover up to 50 percent of a project’s cost up $10 million and grants are available for up to 25 percent of a project’s cost, not to exceed $250,000 for energy efficiency improvements and $500,000 for renewable energy systems. USDA Rural Development has invested $674 million in more than 1,763 renewable energy and energy efficiency projects since 2001 including ethanol, biodiesel, wind, solar, geothermal, methane gas recovery systems and biomass.
Coming up this week in Omaha is the 
The first large-scale ethanol plant in Texas will hold its grand opening this weekend near Hereford.
Automaker Volvo has unveiled seven trucks that the company sees as the future for long-haul transportation in the country.
The trucks, powered by everything from biodiesel and ethanol to biogas and hydrogen, are touted by the company as being carbon dioxide neutral. That means they don’t add any carbon dioxide to the air through the combustion process.
The 
A Minnesota company has developed a process to convert waste beverages into fuel.
What’s being billed as “the premier technical conference for solar energy and energy efficiency professionals in the U.S.,” SOLAR 2008 is set for May 3rd-8th in, appropriately enough, sunny San Diego, California.
To do that, he mentioned just about every alternative, domestic energy source possible – from ethanol and biodiesel to wind and solar, hydrogen and nuclear. He discussed the need for vehicles that run on alternative fuels, including plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and he visited with manufacturers of those types of vehicles at the WIREC trade show.