Burning Bio News

Issue #7 of my Newsletter has been posted!  I just realized that some of the thousands of visitors to my site may not realize that I post a free newsletter once a month, Burning Bio News.  It is a scorecard of bioenergy adoption.  You don’t even have to register to read the newsletter.  This month you can follow the hyperlink in this note.  There is also a hyperlink on this web page between the registration field and the list of categories.

EPA releases a report on the environmental benefits of developing a biobased economy.  EPA’s full report can be accessed at http://es.epa.gov/ncer/publications/statesci/bioengineering.pdf.

The BMW plant in Greer, SC is getting more than 60 percent of its electricity from the methane gas generated at a nearby landfill.

A dairy manure digester in Petaluma, CA begins methane production for electricity. The 240 cow dairy will power an 80 kW generator.

Groundbreaking held for 40 million gallon Nexsun ethanol plant in Garden City, KS.

Plans are underway to build a second ethanol plant in Oklahoma. The proposed Guyman, OK plant would produce 40 million gallons of ethanol, market distillers grains to local cattle ranchers and sell 135,000 tons of CO2 to oil companies to pump underground.

Plans are underway to build an ethanol plant in Muskegon, MI at a former wastewater treatment plant.

Indiana Biofuels Inc., a subsidiary of NexGen Biofuels has applied for permits to build a 110 million gallon ethanol plant in Shelbyville, IN

Aventine Renewable Energy Holdings, Inc. announced that it has received an air construction permit for construction of its previously announced 226 million gallon ethanol plant at the Port of Indiana - Mt. Vernon.

USDA-ARS Scientists found that crude glycerin provided a supply of caloric energy that equaled or exceeded the caloric energy available in corn grain. It proved to be an effective feed ingredient in poultry and hog rations.

DuPont has pledged $1 million in funding to the Iowa State University, New Century Farm, the first research effort in the United States to focus on the production of cellulose-based ethanol on a farm setting. Research efforts also will seek to find ways of enhancing the production, processing, and utilization of feedstocks in the creation of biofuels and biomaterials.

With Tahoe forests characterized as a “tinderbox,” Tahoe Basin fire chiefs pleaded Friday to the Blue Ribbon fire commission for relaxed rules on fuels management. Rules must be changed for fuels (forest fire) management.

Allied Waste announced plans to convert its entire fleet of 225 diesel garbage trucks to run a blend of petroleum diesel and cleaner-burning biodiesel. With the change, the trash collector says it will reduce its carbon footprint by 3.3 million pounds, the equivalent of taking 315 cars off the road or powering 650 homes for a year.

Kettle Chips, Beloit, WI, was awarded Gold level certification for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) by the US Green Building Council.

Chetek, WI, City Council approved the development of a 12,000 ton per year fuel pellet mill.

Global biofuel leaders tour Dynamotive’s biofuel production facility in Guelph, Ontario. When fully operational will process 66,000 dry tons of biomass per year with an energy output equivalent to 130,000 barrels of oil.

Peat Resources Limited was formed to develop, produce and market peat fuel. Government agencies in Ontario and Newfoundland have begun looking at peat fuel as a component of the energy mix for these two provinces.

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver said that Iowa stands to gain hundreds and perhaps thousands of new jobs in the next couple of years from manufacturers of wind turbine parts. Iowa has attracted three major wind turbine manufacturers in the past two years and the next phase of wind energy development is to attract manufacturers of parts such as gearboxes and bearings.

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns today announced the selection of 162 recipients in 40 states and Puerto Rico to receive $22.7 million through the Value-Added Producer Grant program. Approximately one-third of the grants, 56, will go to recipients who requested $50,000 or less in federal assistance.

Methane from the 54-acre city landfill in the Curtis Bay section of south Baltimore to power US Coast Guard Shipyard. A 2005 Homeland Security Law requires agencies to generate 3 percent of their energy from renewable sources each year between now and 2009.