Gulf Ethanol is expanding its search for plant sites throughout the Texas and Louisiana coastal region.
According to a company release, Gulf Ethanol has a non-binding letter of intent to purchase an existing manufacturing facility in Bayport, Texas from Clean-Fuel International Corp., and is actively evaluating additional sites for the processing and production of ethanol and other biofuels.
“We feel there is an exceptional opportunity to grow a production and processing capacity along the gulf coast. The majority of America’s ethanol production is currently in the corn belt,” noted JT Cloud, Gulf’s President. “We see ample opportunity to expand processing and production to the heavily populated south. We expect to use fuel stocks grown in Texas and Louisiana as well as considering the importation of raw sugars from Brazil and other South American countries,” he added.
Biofuel Oasis, a Berkeley-based retailer, said its station will feature credit-card operated pumps, air and water hoses, a convenience store and long hours. But the four well-lit pumps will be solar powered, the convenience store will sell organic lemonade, and the pumps will only dispense biodiesel, which is frequently made from products such as vegetable oil or soy.
“We are excited about the potential the biofuels industry holds for Manitoba,” said Jim Rondeau, Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mines. “This new legislation will provide the framework to ensure real and sustained growth of the ethanol and biodiesel industries for years to come.”
A robotic arm is providing a helping hand for USDA researchers doing cellulosic ethanol research.
Venezuela President Hugo Chavez has appeared to shift his stance on ethanol this week, at least as it relates to Brazil. 
The ethanol industry is firing back over headlined reports of a Stanford University computer model prediction that indicates “nearly 200 more people would die yearly from respiratory problems if all vehicles in the United States ran on a mostly ethanol fuel blend by 2020.”
“There is a great satisfaction in gen-erating your own electricity and do-ing so in a way that reduces global warming emissions and strengthens the country’s energy security,” says AWEA executive director Randall Swisher. “The bill proposed by senators Salazar and Smith empowers consumers and is good energy policy.”
A joint bioenergy project of 
South Dakota-based 
BioTown USA was launched in 2005 and is the first community in the nation working to meet all of its energy needs through the use of biorenewable resources.