Nearly a dozen states passed legislation this year that will help increase the use of biodiesel, according to the National Biodiesel Board. Among them was Iowa, where Gov. Tom Vilsack today signed into law two renewable fuels and infrastructure bills. One will give point-of-sale retailers a three cent income tax credit on each gallon of a two percent (B2) blend or higher. The second bill establishes a renewable fuels standard, saying sales of ethanol or biodiesel must equal 25 percent of a retailer’s fuel sales by 2020.
Other states which passed some kind of legislation favorable to biodiesel are New York, Washington, Colorado, Arizona, Hawaii, Maryland, Kansas, Arkansas, California, Indiana and Virginia.
NG Diesel Trip Update
Here’s an update to the Sasol-Chevron GTL Challenge. The GTL stands for “gas-to-liquids” and you can learn more about it here. This is the group that’s travelling from South Africa to Quatar to demonstrate the performance of their NG Diesel fuel in one of the caravan vehicles. In the picture you can see oil from the test vehicle on the left and from one of the other vehicles running on conventional diesel on the right.
The halfway stage of the Sasol Chevron GTL Challenge, over 6,500 kilometres, has provided the most graphic evidence so far of GTL diesel’s clean fuel performance. During a scheduled oil change in Nairobi, it became clear that, whilst the oil from the vehicles using traditional diesel had deteriorated and needed to be changed, the oil from ‘African Renaissance’, the vehicle running on GTL diesel, was barely affected. Read More
Going Cross Country
If you liked our coverage from the Indianapolis 500 then perhaps you’ll be interested in some other events coming up that I’ll be blogging from.
First of all, there’s the 50 year celebration of our national interstate system. I will be driving one of the vehicles in the convoy that will be commemorating the 50th anniversary of the federal law that brought the Interstate Highway System to America. The trip begins June 16 in San Francisco and ends June 29 in Washington, DC. You can see the full schedule here. I’ll be writing each day, including interviews and pictures as I find them and I know there will be a lot. My involvement with the trip is being sponsored by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council. In fact, I’ll be driving a truck that will be wrapped with their logo. You can see a current list of the sponsoring organizations for the whole event here.
It looks like I’ll fly from the closing ceremonies of the Interstate event to Kansas City for the Kansas Lottery Indy 300. This is one of the races on the Indy Racing League Schedule and it will be nice to get in a little more race action.
So those are a couple of events on the agenda. I’m really excited about the cross country trip. I’ll be meeting lots of people and learning about their perspectives on alternative fuels which I’ll report for you right here.
CA Motorist Saves With Biodiesel
Tied in with the last story, here’s an article from the Lompoc (CA) Record about a restaurant owner who is saving over $500 a month in fuel costs by using recycled peanut oil in his Mercedes. According to the story – Gary Mead, who communtes about an hour each way from his home to his business, adds a 16-percent mixture of turpentine, gasoline, kerosene and cetane to the peanut oil, which helps thin out the fryer oil and bring the auto ignition temperature of the biodiesel low enough to explode in the engine instead of catching fire.
He says the additives to his free peanut oil cost him about 67 cents per gallon.
Bay-o Fuel
Bay Area Biofuel is striking oil in the San Francisco bay area “fueled by a new partnership with 150 of San Francisco’s oil-rich restaurateurs.” MSNBC gave them a nice write-up about the operation which “pumps close to 12,000 gallons of biodiesel automobile fuel each month, up from virtually none six months ago.”
RFA Rings the Bell
The Renewable Fuels Association today opened trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange at its Marketsite in Times Square. RFA President and CEO Bob Dinneen (pictured with William O’Brien, NASDAQ senior VP) says he was honored to represent the U.S. ethanol industry during the opening bell ceremony. “Ethanol’s growing importance is being felt on Main Streets and more increasingly on Wall Street, and that is a good thing,” said RFA President Bob Dinneen. “While farmers have been and will continue to be the foundation of this industry, teachers, truck drivers, police officers and all Americans should have the opportunity to invest in our nation’s energy future.”
Comments from Bob Dinneen can be heard here.
Photo courtesy of NASDAQ, where more photos are posted for viewing.
Ethanol Consumption Question
I meant to post this yesterday but just forgot in all the excitement. A question came to mind after seeing the massive alcohol consumption going on Friday:
On race day which consumes more ethanol, the fans or the cars?
Feel free to enter your thoughts.
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Ethanol Wins With Car Out
Lap 152 was not a friendly one to the Ethanol Car today as it went out with damage.
It’s a great looking car and Jeff Simmons has been driving it well today but a finish is not meant to be.
As has been pointed to me though, no matter what car finishes today, ethanol wins since it’s in all the cars this year.
The Race Is On
The race has started. After the first lap we had a two-car accident but no injuries and car #17 is looking good right now. After this post I won’t do any until after the race.
The one thing you like to hear here is the famous words, “Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines.” You can hear it here: 
Start Your Engines (1 min MP3) Post Update: I assumed that Ms Hulman would say “Lady” instead of “Ladies” but we thought it came out plural and after listening to my recording from the stands you can’t really tell. Those around me all thought she said it plural.
I’m also listening in on a radio scanner to the driver/pit communication which is very cool. It sounds like things are going well right now.
Watch here: 
Cars Home Stretch (1 min wmv)
Pit Activity
Steve Dixon is the Team Manager for the Ethanol Car out here in the pits.
I interviewed him before the race to see how he feels about the race.
You can listen to the interview here: Steve Dixon Interview (2 min MP3)
I also wanted you to get a feel for what it looks like in the pit area before the action gets started so here’s a short video clip.
Watch here: Ethanol Car Pit Activity (1 min wmv)