Thursday, October 20, 2005

[Biofuels] Leftovers To Lights Scrape your dinner plate into an airtight container of bacteria and what do you get? In the wrong hands, a stinky mess. But with some engineering finesse, food scraps can be transformed into fuel for electricity. More from Sacramento Bee science writer Edie Lau, 10/16/05. [SEJ Environmental Journalism Today] 2:56:14 PM Google It!    [Alternative fuels] Port of Los Angeles Looks to Alternative Fuels SAN PEDRO, Calif., Oct. 18, 2005 - The Port of Los Angeles is planning to purchase road haul trucks and in-port cargo handling equipment that run on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric power and other alternative fuel sources, such as hydrogen fuel cells and biofuels. [GreenBiz.com] 2:43:44 PM Google It!    [Alternative fuels] Tennessee to Support Installation of Biofuel Pumps The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) will begin distributing $300,000 in federal grant money to support the installation of additional fueling infrastructure storage tanks and pumps for ethanol and biodiesel at fueling stations. [Green Car Congress] 2:20:52 PM Google It!    [Automotive engineering] New Consortium Focuses on Tools for Designing More-Efficient Engines and Fuels Reaction Design, a leader in computer-aided chemical-process simulation, has announced the launch of its Model Fuels Consortium (MFC). MFC's goal is to accelerate the development of software tools and standardized databases to support the design of cleaner-burning, more-efficient engines and fuels. [Green Car Congress] 2:19:36 PM Google It!    [Alternative fuel incentives] Farmers Insurance to Announce Discounts for Hybrid and Altfuel Owners On Monday, Farmers Insurance will announce that it will begin offering a discount to California auto insurance customers who own hybrid or alternative fuel vehicles. [Green Car Congress] 2:16:38 PM Google It!    [Alternative fuels] New Mexico, North Carolina Governments to Employ Alternative Fuels New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has signed an executive order requiring the government and schools to use ethanol or biodiesel for 15 percent of their transportation fuel needs. In North Carolina, a new law will create a fund to help buy alternative fuels, vehicles, and infrastructure. [EERE Network News] 1:58:36 PM Google It!    [Biofuels] Legislation to Spur European Biofuels Market As Europe seeks a reliable fuel supply, and a cleaner and more sustainable fuel on the way to becoming energy self-sufficient, recent legislative initiatives support the uptake of biofuels while promoting environment-friendly fuel alternatives with lower emission levels. [Source: RenewableEnergyAccess.com] 10:19:17 AM Google It!    [Biofuels] Cuphea: New crop designed to replace imported oils It is harvest time for a little-known specialty crop grown in the central Midwest that could have a significant impact on U.S. agriculture. After 20 years in development, the new oilseed crop, called cuphea (koo-FEE-ah), has the potential to lessen the U.S. trade deficit, reduce U.S. dependency on some petrochemicals, and most importantly for U.S. agriculture, deliver profitable alternatives to growers - including rotation with corn. [Source: Farm & Ranch Guide] 10:05:54 AM Google It!    [Ethanol] Raw Material Shortage Fetters China's Ethanol Ambition As the Chinese government seeks to include even more cities in its ambitious push to embrace ethanol fuel, these projects now face a major setback due to rising grain shortages. Ethanol, blended with gasoline, produces an environmentally friendly vehicle fuel. It is produced from crops such as sugar cane, grain, and cassava, and its use can substantially cut oil demand and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. [Source: ChinaWatch] 9:51:47 AM Google It!    [Biofuels] Investing in renewable energy sources Going green just isn't what it used to be. Amid rising fuel costs and climbing consumption, more people are getting involved in environmental issues and concerns in new ways. [Source: Bankrate.com] 9:44:29 AM Google It!    [Biofuels] Green Fuel Revolution a Challenge for Grain Sector The multibillion-dollar US grain sector faces a major challenge as soaring oil prices boost demand for 'green' fuels, setting up a competitive tussle between energy refiners and traditional users of grain as food. [Source: PlanetArk.com] 9:42:35 AM Google It!    [Alternative fuels] China Seeking Alternatives to Fossil Fuels; Worldwatch President Proclaims "Energy Tipping Point" at World Petroleum Congress At the 18th World Petroleum Congress in Johannesburg, South Africa, last month, Worldwatch President Christopher Flavin told Reuters that China will likely be a world leader in renewable energy within the next five years. The interview followed Flavin's keynote address to the Congress on September 28 titled "Renewable Energy at the Tipping Point." The Congress was attended by more than 3,500 petroleum executives, 250 students, 400 journalists, and oil ministers from around the world. [Source: China Watch] 9:38:45 AM Google It!    [Biofuels] U.S. government provides funding for biomass R&D Eleven projects in biomass will receive US$12.6 million under a joint effort of the federal departments of agriculture (USDA) and energy (DOE). [Source: Refocus] 9:36:30 AM Google It!    [Biofuels] Palm oil industry said destroying indigenous land Malaysia's lucrative palm oil industry and unabated logging are destroying native lands in eastern Sarawak state, while indigenous people are left in extreme poverty, an environment group said Tuesday. [Source: The Daily Express] 9:32:39 AM Google It!    [Biodiesel] Cargill to open German biodiesel plant International agricultural company Cargill, has announced plans to build a €25 million biodiesel plant in Germany. [Source: EDIE.net] 9:26:44 AM Google It!

© Copyright 2006 Laura L. Barnes. Last update: 3/22/2006; 12:28:12 PM.