Most Americans say they would like to know where their fuel comes from, according to a new poll by Growth Energy. The poll of 1200 registered voters found that 68 percent support country-of-origin labeling on gasoline, 15 percent oppose and 17 percent don’t know. The polling data was released in conjunction with an announcement by U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, …
Biodiesel Gets Boost from Palm Oil Genome Project
A joint American-Malaysian effort has completed an important oil palm genome sequencing project that could unlock even more potential from this oil-rich feedstock for biodiesel. Biodiesel Magazine reports that the Malaysian Palm Oil Board and St. Louis-based Orion Genomics have led a consortium that has sequenced three oil palm genomes from two oil palm species: Oil palm plantations on average …
Colorado Town Turning Turkey Oil into Biodiesel
Don’t know what to do with the used cooking oil leftover from frying your turkey for Thanksgiving? The folks in Fort Collins, Colorado will be able to turn their used oil into clean-burning biodiesel. This story in The Coloradoan has details: The city of Fort Collins and Rocky Mountain Sustainable Enterprises, or RMSE, are having its second annual Holiday recycOil …
World’s First Oil Producers At It Again
One of the companies at the 2008 National Biodiesel Conference and Expo is Solazyme, a company that is making biodiesel out of algae. In fact, the folks from Solazyme brought a sweet ride to the conference… a Mercedes Benz C320 that runs on the green fuel made from the green algae. I caught up with Jonathon Wolfson from Solazyme and …
Big Oil, Big Chicken, and Big Soap Fight Over Tax Credit
Only in Washington, DC would you find the genesis of a headline like that. But this story in The Hill.com says a brouhaha is breaking out in the nation’s capitol over the $1-a-gallon renewable diesel tax credit. Lobbyists for ConocoPhillips, Tyson, and the Soap and Detergent Association have jumped into the fight over whether oil companies should be able to …
NBB Says IRS On Side of Big Oil
As we close in on income tax deadline day, biodiesel advocates are blasting the U.S. Internal Revenue Service for allowing petroleum producers to cash in on the same dollar-a-gallon tax credit orginally set up to help the fledgling biodiesel industry. According to a National Biodiesel Board press release, special interests have successfully lobbied the U.S. Department of Treasury to to …
Interview with Jerry Bagley, Chicken Fat Oilman
Back on January 4th, we told you about a plant near Dexter in Southeast Missouri that is using chicken fat to make biodiesel. Read the original AP story here. Today, I talked with Jerry Bagley, one of the co-owners with Global Fuels, LLC. He told me that he thinks they are just on the edge of the potential for this …
Biodiesel Maker Contends Study Proves Algae’s Worth
A recent study that contends algae-based biodiesel is no more environmentally friendly than conventional row-crop feedstocks has generated some controversy, as well as quite a few comments. And even the algal-biofuel industry seems to be split on the issue. As you might remember from my story last week, University of Virginia researchers have concluded that algae’s environmental footprint is larger …
DF Cast: The Past and Future of Biodiesel Feedstocks
Algae is all the rage as the next great feedstock for biodiesel… although the longtime champion for the green fuel, soybeans, might not be ready to give up its crown to the green pond scum. One the one hand, you have guys like Riggs Eckelberry, the CEO of Origin Oil… a company that develops technology to turn algae into oil …
Corn Growers Urge Ford to Make FFVs
Corn growers across the nation are calling on Ford Motor Company to restart production of Flex Fuel Vehicles (FFVs) capable of using up to 85 percent ethanol fuel (E85), and reaffirm its support for rural America. In a joint letter addressed to Ford President and CEO Jim Farley, the National Corn Growers Association and 20 state corn grower groups expressed …