As naysayers try to bash the promise of biofuels, a man in Washington state is doing his part to spread the word through his brotherhood of biodiesel.
This story in the Othello (WA) Outlook says Bill Riley, the director of Big Bend Economic Development Council, has been making his own biodiesel for several years. He’s taking the approach that every little bit helps:
“It isn’t rocket science,” he said, referring to making biodiesel fuel at home. “It’s easily done.”
Riley opted to start making his own biofuels because it helps lower pollution, is a form of recycling (using restaurant waste oils), means he can save on his own fuel bills and is a way of keeping more money in America. For every gallon of foreign oil coming into the U.S., $2 per gallon goes to the country of origin, he said.
Riley had a $99,000 USDA grant to tout the benefits of biodiesel around the Basin, and gave his last demonstrations last week in Othello and Ritzville and in Lind this week to show people how easy it is to make biodiesel and how inexpensively a processor can be made.
“You can make a processor for a couple hundred bucks — all the guys I’ve met who make their own processors have all used different methods,” he said. “And some guys are making biodiesel fuel for less than a buck a gallon.
Riley admits that making biodiesel is a bit addictive. But he adds the real addictive part is spreading the Gospel of biodiesel to more members of the biodiesel brotherhood.
Citigroup is presenting “Ethanol on the Cob II,” a biofuels conference, October 2 in New York City.
The largest dry mill ethanol producer in the United States has now become the first to have its own YouTube site. 
Dutch-based insurer and financier, ING Group, will buy wind energy credits to make up for the power it will use at its American locations.
Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell has unveiled his plan to his state legislature to increase the use of renewable fuels in Pennsylvania. Now, to follow up that call, Rendell has made a call to Beaver County, PA at will be the biggest producer of biodiesel in the state. 
Rendell used his appearance at the grand opening of Pennsylvania Biodiesel in Potter Township to reiterate the plan he presented in Harrisburg on Monday, one that would set aside money for development of a fund for alternative energy grants and a requirement that will boost the production and sales of alternative fuels in the state.
Midwest farmers and truckers, as well as environmental enthusiasts, have long admired the green benefits of biodiesel… green because of how clean it is and green because of the money it saves its users. Biodiesel gets 30 percent better mileage than gasoline (although, I realize the engines are different, and you can’t make a direct comparison between the two).
The article goes on to say how the biggest player is Renewable Energy Group, a biodiesel plant builder and producer from this author’s home area. Accounting for more than a quarter of the total American biodiesel production, REG is poised to increase its total capacity to 340 million gallons a year by the end of next year… thankls in part to its relationship with soybean growers. And it’s also ready to make a hit on Wall Street:
CNN.com has an interactive special report called 
Congressman Randy Neugebauer from Texas has proposed and the U.S. House has approved a study to look into his measure to put a public database online to find out what kind of wind turbines could go up without causing problems for aviation sites.