The Ride & Drive is bigger and better than ever here at the National Biodiesel Conference this year. If you want, you can drive any of several vehicles like this 2007 Volkswagen Toureg TDI.
You can see a list of all the vehicles involved here: Ride & Drive List (pdf file)
If you’re interested you can also see a list of diesel vehicles which are available here in the United States: Diesel Vehicle List (pdf file)
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One of the newest stars to advocate biodiesel is Merle Haggard. The legendary country star performed for attendees at this year’s Conference after meeting with the press and the board of the National Biodiesel Board.
Before coming to the auditorium where he performed though his bus got a fill up with biodiesel. During the press conference Merle said that he was learning about the benefits of biodiesel. When asked what attracted him to the renewable fuel source his answer was “the smell.”
As someone who is in a diesel powered bus a lot he says he really doesn’t like the smell of burning diesel but heard that biodiesel smelled different and that was what got him interested. He also said that he’s happy for how the development of biodiesel is helping American farmers. (Thanks to Brian Kanof for the picture of Merle filling up)
I recorded the full press conference which you can listen to here: 
Merle Haggard Press Conference (14 min MP3)
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Being a Floridian at heart, if not by birth, I can honestly say I have never been in weather as cold as last weekend in Ely, Minnesota when I had the opportunity to attend Ely’s Winter Festival and visit with the community’s favorite son, arctic exporer Will Steger.
Fortunately I did dress for the part, but I still had to wear fairly thin gloves to take pictures and there was one point that my hands went numb and it took 15 minutes of warming over a pot-bellied stove to get them to stop hurting.
It is a little difficult to operate a camera in sub-zero temperatures. Each of my two digital cameras froze up once on me during the picture taking at the Steger homestead.
The official low Saturday night was 32 below zero, but it had warmed up to a balmy 25 below when we left Ely on Sunday morning to catch a plane out of Duluth.
It was a beautiful place and an interesting experience. Maybe I can go back there in the summertime!
The dogs may be pulling the sled when world-renowned arctic explorer Will Steger departs on his latest expedition February 14, but the trip will be powered by ethanol.
When Steger was looking for sponsors to support his Global Warming 101 expedition, he decided that the ethanol industry would be a natural choice.
“I’ve been talking up the benefits of ethanol for 18 years,” Steger said. “I wrote a book in 1988 and in that book I talked about ethanol as being one of the solutions.”
So, Steger approached Ron Fagen, president of Fagen, Inc. in Granite Falls, Minnesota, about the idea last year and Ron not only jumped at the opportunity, he brought the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) on board as well.
“The world has become acutely aware that the use of fossil fuels is warming our planet at an alarming rate,” said Fagen. “We are honored to support his efforts to document these effects and inspire changes that will halt this trend.”
Steger says he really believes that if Americans use more ethanol it will make a positive difference in the global climate situation and it has other benefits as well. “It’s best for our economy and our national security and above all supporting our people in the rural areas,” he said. Steger is pictured here with Ron and Diane Fagen and Team Ethanol Indy Car driver Jeff Simmons.
Listen to a brief interview with Will done at the Mukluk Ball this past weekend in Ely, Minnesota. 
Steger Interview (1:30 min MP3)
To help support the Global Warming 101 expedition, EPIC is selling cute little polar bears in ethanol t-shirts, like the one Will is holding in the top picture. Go to www.drivingethanol.org and click on the e-mart link on the right side of the home page, then choose “polar expedition” under merchandise categories. They also have t-shirts.
The documentary “Freedom Fuels” is now available for free download.
“Freedom Fuels” takes an in-depth look at renewable fuel sources, such as bio-diesel, ethanol and vegetable oil. It explores the interaction of the petroleum industry and alternative fuels over the last 150 years, and examines the global impact that bio-fuels can have on our future.
Visit www.mofilms.org to download the documentary. Download instructions are on the web page. Quicktime 7 is required to view the movie, and is also available for free download on the site.
I think that I’ve mentioned that many of my interviews and some other audio files like general session presentations are available as a podcast. It’s the National Biodiesel Conference Podcast in fact. You can find the link and instructions on how to subscribe here.
One of the interviews in the podcast series is one I did today with the chairman of the National Biodiesel Board, Darryl Brinkmann, seen here on the left during a rehearsal session yesterday with Larry Hagman and Daryl Hannah.
I spoke with Darryl today about how this conference is growing and what he sees as challenges facing the biodiesel business even in light of all the growth that’s taking place. Darryl says that there are two things to consider, one is quality and the other is public policy.
Listen to my interview with Darryl here: Darryl Brinkmann Interview (4 min MP3)
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At this morning’s general session a panel discussion was held that featured U. S. Representatives, Collin Peterson (D-MN), Kenny Hulshof (R-MO), Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI) and Dave Wheldon (R-FL). These are also the members of The Second Amendments, the band that played at half time during the Super Bowl party yesterday here at the National Biodiesel Conference.
They talked about their vision of our nation’s energy future. The moderator for the session was Gene Gebolys, World Energy Alternatives and NBB Regulatory Chair.
I recorded the session for you in its entirety: Representatives Rock The House (34 min MP3)
During the morning general session the NBB CEO, Joe Jobe gave a speech in which he outlines several key focus areas for the organization. I recorded his speech and you can listen to it here: Joe Jobe Speech (12 min MP3)
Just in case you’d like to read a transcript of his remarks you can find it with this link: Joe Jobe Speech (Word Document)
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As you know by now, the sponsor of my coverage of the National Biodiesel Conference is John Deere. I met with Don Borgman, John Deere representative attending the conference this morning and recorded the interview you can watch on this YouTube.
I also recorded it as an audio interview series as well. Don talks about the John Deere renewable fuel initiative and says that the company has actually been supporting biodiesel for some time.
Listen to my interview with Don here: Don Borgman Interview (7 min MP3)
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Just a quick check of a few letters to the editors in some Sunday papers across the country reveals a possible increase in the understanding and acceptance of biodiesel.
This letter from Chip Keen, a certified mechanic from Puget Sound in Washington state, wound up in the Fort Wayne (IN) Journal Gazette:
Petrodiesel is highly toxic; biodiesel is less toxic than table salt. If the world ran on biodiesel rather than petroleum, oil spills would no longer be the matters of great concern that they are today, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would no longer be a bone of contention, and repressive regimes and global terrorism would no longer be supported by petro dollars.
And in the Billings (MT) Gazette, Mary E. Fitzpatrick, chair of the Clean Energy Task Force, Northern Plains Resource Council in Billings wrote:
Cleaner exhaust and homegrown prosperity helps everyone. Montana farmers can grow oilseed for a local market that is not controlled by agribusiness or multinational energy companies. The infrastructure supporting a biodiesel industry would bring jobs and income to rural Montana. The product could power many farm and ranch operations.
Just a couple of letters? Sure, but when you couple this anectdotal evidence with a recent survey from the Renewable Fuels Association that says 85% of Americans think that the government should be involved in the development of alternative fuels (see Cindy’s January 25th post), it at least seems to indicate more acceptance.
A Slovenian oil refining company has partnered with an Austrian financier to build Slovenia’s largest biodiesel plant. The plant in Lendava, Slovenia (pictured below) will produce about 18 million gallons of biodiesel a year… making it one of the biggest in Europe.
According to a press release on the company’s website, Nafta Lendava, Eko Nafta, Nafta Biodizel and the Austrian firm CMB Maschinenbau with their representative Hypo Alpe Adria Bank joined together in the 15.4 million Euro deal (nearly US $20 million).
Groundbreaking is planned for this spring with the plant expected to be on-line in early 2008. When fully operational, it will represent nearly 90 percent of Slovenia’s biodiesel production.
