Politicians, celebrities, race car drivers and investors all helped to make 2006 a year to remember for biofuels. Here’s just a few of the top stories on DomesticFuel this year.
Biofuels Expected to Dominate Farm Bill
It was already a given that energy issues would dominate the writing of the 2007 Farm Bill, but even more support for domestic fuels like ethanol and biodiesel is expected now that the House and Senate Agriculture committees will be run by corn belt Democrats. Forbes reports that with Rep. Collin Peterson of Minnesota and Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa …
25 x ’25 Could Help Rural Economy
The alliance known as 25X’25 has just completed a study that outlines the positive impact producing 25 percent of the nation’s energy supply from renewable sources by 2025 could have on rural America. According to J. Read Smith, co-chair of the 25x’25 Project Steering Committee, “Not only would reaching the goal drastically reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources, it …
Mid-Am Dream Becomes Reality
Exactly one year from the day they broke ground, Mid-America Biofuels held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the opening of their 30 million gallon a year plant in Mexico, Missouri. Lots of good friends, like Senator Kit Bond pictured, were there to congratulate the nearly 400 agricultural producers who purchased shares in Biofuels, LLC and then formed a joint venture …
The President Has Left the Building
This was no tough crowd for the president – with the exception of a anti-war protester who started shouting during the speech and had to be escorted out. He said all the right things to make this group of renewable energy entrepreneurs happy. Here is the president’s full remarks – about 30 minutes worth – I’ll pick out some soundbites …
Media Security
Security has been really tight here for the Renewable Energy Conference, especially for speakers and media. They won’t let anyone through this restricted area unless they have a media badge and only staff are permitted to escort any other attendees to the media room for interviews. There were about 100 media registered for the conference itself, and several more local …
American Agriculture on the Move
The American Agriculture Movement is organizing a “Drive for American Bio-Energy for Jobs, Family Farms, and National Security.” According to the AAM, a “small group of patriotic family farm advocates, business people, and concerned citizens” will travel east from Kansas City to Washington, D.C. in antique tractors and cars “in an effort to raise public awareness about the contribution agriculture …
Shifting Power
HTH PowerSHIFT Group Holdings, Inc. is the new name of HTH Wind Energy, a privately held company previously dedicated solely to the production and operation of small and large-scale wind projects. The company changed its name and created a new logo and website to more accurately reflect its involvement in a variety of renewable energy businesses. HTH PowerSHIFT is a …
Congress May Cut RFS Funding
According to an AP article, House and Senate spending bills would drastically reduce Environmental Protection Agency dollars for a law designed to boost ethanol use. The article reports that of the $11.4 million requested by President Bush to implement the Renewable Fuels Standard in last year’s energy bill, the House has approved only $2.4 million and the Senate only $1.4 …
Getting to Know 25x’25
The alliance known as 25X’25 is gaining more visibility with its goal to have 25 percent of the nation’s energy supply come from renewable resources by the year 2025. Major organizations, congressional leaders and companies are backing the coalition and the momentum is growing. At the Ag Media Summit in Portland this week, Chuck sat down with Mike Bowman, one …