The developers of a proposed 216 million-gallon-per-year ethanol plant in Chesapeake have mounted a major campaign to educate the community about ethanol.
The Virginian-Pilot reports that developer International Bio Energy Virginia LLC has hired a public relations professional and is taking out full-page ads in local newspapers to try and address community concerns about the plant.
“I understand it’s an uphill battle, and I’m going to stay in the fight,” said ITAC Engineers & Constructors Senior Vice President Rick Starnes, a key player in the project who spent more than 20 hours last week walking Brentwood to discuss the plant with residents. “I wouldn’t work this hard if I didn’t think this was the right project for this area.”
Over the past two weeks, the developer has taken six planning commissioners on walking tours of the site and been knocking on doors in Chesapeake’s Brentwood neighborhood near the proposed site.
Company President Sidney Harrison said they are out to give the facts about the alternative fuel.
“We only have a short amount of time to educate the people because they’ve been fed so much junk,” Harrison said. “This is about jobs. This is about tax base. This is about energy security. This is a very serious project.”
Photo credit of proposed plant site: STEVE EARLEY, THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
The exective director of the 
Blume, who sounds like one pretty interesting character, is the author of a soon-to-be-released book called “Alcohol Can Be A Gas,” subtitled Fueling an Ethanol Revolution for the 21st Century. 
The 
NEVC Executive Director Phil Lampert says these include some of the most popular vehicle models. “From a humble beginning of less than 500 FFVs in 1993, we expect that more than 750,000 such FFVs will be produced in the coming year,” he said.
Oil-giant Texas and wind-energy giant Denmark are swapping information are their respective strong suits in energy.
Metro Transit… the public transportation service for the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area… is raising the amount of biodiesel it is using in its vehicles to a 10% blend. For the last 14 months, Metro Transit has been using a 5% blend.
The Iowa Biodiesel Board and Iowa Soybean Association, along with the commercial biodiesel maker and biodiesel plant maker, Renewable Energy Group are offering a series of biodiesel management seminars in different parts of the state.
“This is the type of alternative energy production the Kansas Legislature envisioned when it approved the Soybean Checkoff several years ago as a way to fund research to find potential uses for soy,” Speaker Neufeld said. “This moves our country one step closer to freeing itself of dependence on foreign oil. Instead of importing oil and diesel, we have a company that is meeting energy needs and keeping the profit here in Kansas.”
A state commission in New Hampshire is considering the viability of the green fuel in the state.
Detroit motorists had the opportunity this week to get bargain-priced 10 percent ethanol fuel pumped by some top racers at a Marathon Station in Taylor, Mich.