Free Republic

Two years ago Imperium Renewables feted U.S. senators and other bigwigs at the opening of a biodiesel plant at the port of Grays Harbor, Wash. The $88 million plant was heralded as a great green hope in the fight against global warming. At the event, Imperium chief executive Martin Tobias dipped his finger in a container of biodiesel and took a taste for the crowd. Imperium's prospects aren't looking so sweet today. The plant at Grays Harbor is sitting idle. Most of Imperium's employees (110 two years ago), including Tobias, have been sent packing. The company has not much to...

The U.S. biodiesel industry will suffer from new trade barriers that threaten to end its lucrative export business to Europe, and in Texas the measure could be devastating. As the largest U.S. producer of the alternative fuel, Texas has a number of companies that relied heavily on selling biodiesel in Europe and now face gaping holes in their businesses that may prove difficult to fill. In addition, the Port of Houston has been a major hub for storing, handling and shipping biodiesel overseas, and companies in those businesses also stand to lose. “The impact on Texas is going to be...

President Obama drew rave reviews for his unorthodox selection of Dr. Sanjay Gupta as the nation's surgeon general. Not only is Dr. Gupta an accomplished neurosurgeon, but as CNN's in-house doc he has also proven himself a bona fide celebrity. People magazine tagged him as one of 2003's "Sexiest Men Alive," and the swooning that met Obama's announcement suggests... --snip-- TAKING THE IDEA mainstream has brought its share of problems, though. The Los Angeles Times profiled a mechanic last year who has converted his fleet of vehicles to be fueled by fryer grease from a local chowder house. Then Sacramento...

Proper biodiesel blending can prevent flow performance problems in freezing conditions and should not inhibit the use of the fuel in cold climates, trade sources in Asia said Wednesday. On Friday, schools in one Minnesota district had to close because the biodiesel in its school buses was not cooperating with the frigid weather. Elements in the biodiesel fuel turned into gel-like substance due to subzero temperatures, and the problem left dozens of students stranded in frigid weather, a district's spokesperson was quoted as saying by local reports. "It just reinforces the need to use the correct biodiesel blends in the...

US-subsidized biodiesel exports which have overshadowed growth in the European biodiesel industry could be blocked by Europe's biggest fuel market in the next few months, according to industry sources. The German government proposed a bill in October to turn away biofuels manufactured from imported soybean oil (SME) and palm (PME) and which benefit from foreign tax relief. Soya-based biodiesel imports from the US are the subject of formal EU anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation after European biofuel makers said last year they were hurting Europe's fast-growing biofuel industry. But in Germany a timeframe has been adopted towards completion of proposed alterations...

Minnesota officials are coming to the defense of biodiesel after the Bloomington, MN schools cancelled classes when buses couldn't run in cold weather. Classes were cancelled in the Bloomington School District on Friday when 12 of its buses wouldn't start. The problem was clogged fuel lines and filters. First Student bus company blamed the problem on the biodiesel fuel required by the state but the State of Minnesota argued that condensation in the fuel tanks or lines was the culprit and not biodiesel.

For those who lament the demise of American manufacturing, Innovation Fuels offers a glimmer of optimism. The privately held Newark company converted a 120-year-old former Standard Oil terminal on the banks of the Passaic River into a "refinery" that produces up to 950,000 barrels of biodiesel a year, with approximately 80 percent of it exported to Europe. "There's not a whole lot of companies doing that these days, and it's something we're really proud of," Chuck Weinberg, senior vice president, said of the conversion of a five-acre "brownfield" site into a manufacturing hub. Biodiesel, one of the fastest-growing alternative fuels,...

All schools in the Bloomington School District will be closed today after state-required biodiesel fuel clogged in school buses Thursday morning and left dozens of students stranded in frigid weather, the district said late Thursday. Rick Kaufman, the district's spokesman, said elements in the biodiesel fuel that turn into a gel-like substance at temperatures below 10 degrees clogged about a dozen district buses Thursday morning. Some buses weren't able to operate at all and others experienced problems while picking up students, he said. "We had students at bus stops longer than we think is acceptable, and that's too dangerous in...

All schools in the Bloomington School District will be closed today after state-required biodiesel fuel clogged in school buses Thursday morning and left dozens of students stranded in frigid weather, the district said late Thursday. Rick Kaufman, the district's spokesman, said elements in the biodiesel fuel that turn into a gel-like substance at temperatures below 10 degrees clogged about a dozen district buses Thursday morning. Some buses weren't able to operate at all and others experienced problems while picking up students, he said. "We had students at bus stops longer than we think is acceptable, and that's too dangerous in...

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- The Bloomington School District is closing schools Friday, after extremely cold temperatures caused the biodiesel fuel in school buses to clog. The problem left dozens of students stranded Thursday -- some for up to 30 minutes in the dangerous cold. Superintendent Les Fujitake said the district could not ensure the buses would not encounter the same issues Friday mornning as temperatures remain below zero in the Twin Cities and therefore they decided to close schools in Bloomington. Elements in biodiesel fuel turn into a gel-like substance at temperatures below 10 degrees. District spokesman Rick Kaufman said some...

Jaguar is introducing a new 3.0-liter diesel engine—the AJ-V6D Gen III—in two power levels in its XF Diesel S sedan for the European market. The new V6 engine, derived from the 2.7-liter diesel, improves fuel economy by 12% and produces 10% less CO2 (179 g/km) than the 2.7L, while increasing power by 33%. The new 3.0L engines are Euro-5 compliant. The 275PS (271 hp, 202 kW) version delivers 600 Nm of torque, accelerates the sedan from 0-60 mph in 5.9 seconds, and has combined fuel economy of 35 mpg US (42 mpg UK, 6.7 L/100km)—a 12% improvement in fuel economy...

Winter Cold Puts a Chill on Green Energy By KATE GALBRAITH Old Man Winter, it turns out, is no friend of renewable energy. This time of year, wind turbine blades ice up, biodiesel congeals in tanks and solar panels produce less power because there is not as much sun. And perhaps most irritating to the people who own them, the panels become covered with snow, rendering them useless even in bright winter sunshine. So in regions where homeowners have long rolled their eyes at shoveling driveways, add another cold-weather chore: cleaning off the solar panels. “At least I can get...

A top Beverly Hills cosmetic surgeon says he used fat he removed from patients in liposuction operations to power his 'green' 4x4 car.U.S. authorities have launched an inquiry into claims made by Dr Alan Bittner that the fat he had sucked out of patients in liposuction operations was turned into biodiesel.Bittner wrote on his website: 'The vast majority of my patients request that I use their fat for fuel -- and I have more fat than I can use.'Not only do they get to lose their love handles or chubby belly, but they get to take part in saving...

When a manufacturer expressly tells you that using certain types of fuel in a vehicle will cause damage and using said fuel will void the warranty, it's probably a good idea not to use the fuel in question. The city of Portland, Oregon certainly deserves credit for its aggressive use of biodiesel in its municipal truck fleet. However, if Portland or any other city is going to pursue such a program, they really should make sure the diesel engines in its vehicles are compatible with the fuel. Six of the 50 2008 Ford Super-Duty trucks purchased by Portland have suffered...

Liposuctioning unwanted blubber out of pampered Los Angelenos may not seem like a dream job, but it has its perks. Free fuel is one of them. For a time, Beverly Hills doctor Craig Alan Bittner turned the fat he removed from patients into biodiesel that fueled his Ford SUV and his girlfriend's Lincoln Navigator. Love handles can power a car? Frighteningly, yes. Fat--whether animal or vegetable--contains triglycerides that can be extracted and turned into diesel. .... A gallon of grease will get you about a gallon of fuel, and drivers can get about the same amount of mileage from fat...

A jury sentenced a Lakeview man to 10 years in prison for growing nearly 7,500 marijuana plants. Andrew Stever, 40, was sentenced on Monday after a three-day trial in the Federal District Court in Medford.Ten years is the mandatory minimum sentence for anyone convicted of growing 1,000 or more pot plants. In July 2007, officers from several local, state and federal agencies found 7,459 plants growing on Stever's Lakeview property, which bordered Forest Service land. Two men fled the scene, leaving behind personal property and three firearms, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Portland. Physical evidence and testimony linked...

Japan Airlines (JAL) will be the first airline to conduct a demonstration flight using a sustainable biofuel refined from the energy crop camelina. The demo flight, which will test a blend of 50% biofuel and 50% traditional Jet-A jet (kerosene) fuel in one of the four Pratt & Whitney JT9D engines of a JAL-owned Boeing 747-300 aircraft, is planned for 30 January 2009 out of Haneda Airport, Tokyo. The biofuel component—a synthetic paraffinic kerosene produced by UOP (earlier post)—will be produced from a mixture of three second-generation biofuel feedstocks: camelina (84%), jatropha (less than 16%), and algae (less than 1%)....

NASHUA, N.H.—A biodiesel refinery is opening in Nashua, N.H., next week and another is planned in Keene early next year. Batchelder Biodiesel Refineries is hosting a grand opening of its first refinery on Wednesday. The facility will convert yellow and brown waste grease into biofuel, a process that eliminates the "food vs. fuel" controversy like ethanol, which is processed from corn.

"When oil prices dropped, it killed that push to ethanol – and you could have that happen again," says Chad Hart, an agricultural economist at Iowa State University. But there is a safety net this time, he and others agree: the US Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Today the US produces 9 billion gallons of ethanol from corn but under RFS is mandated to make 36 billion gallons by 2022. That demand, most of which must by law come from cellulosic ethanol and advanced biofuels, is aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving US energy security. The RFS currently pays...

A boy is seen standing in a field in southern Ethiopia. As impoverished and landlocked Ethiopia was choked by high oil prices, the government allocated more than 400,000 hectares (988,000 acres) for biofuel crops development as part of a national strategy enacted last year With a slight reeling in his gait, Ashenafi Chote ventures into his small plot of land and shakes his head, his eyes full of regret: "I made a mistake". For the last 10 years, his plot in southern Ethiopia had kept his family of four alive by supplying enough food to eat and even surplus to...