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I kid you not. Democrat presidential nominee Barack Obama and his running mate Joe Biden kicked off their campaign today at a chicken fat factory in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. The chicken fat factory converts the fat to biodiesel.The Pittsburgh Tribune Review reports Obama and Biden, accompanied by their wives, toured the Pennsylvania Bio Diesel plant that produces 35,000 gallons a month.Obama is scheduled to address a rally of "hundreds" of supporters tonight in Irvine Park in Beaver County, the paper reported.US Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) smells a sample of bio diesel fuel during a tour of the...

A small group of unassuming mid-westerners has discovered what could be a complete game-changer for the global biodiesel industry. Their new system makes biodiesel in mere seconds, creates a product that costs half the price, produces no waste, and can use any animal fat or vegetable oil as a feedstock.

In the world of alternative fuels, there may be nothing greener than pond scum. Algae are tiny biological factories that use photosynthesis to transform carbon dioxide and sunlight into energy so efficiently that they can double their weight several times a day, producing oil in the process — 30 times more oil per acre than soybeans, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Like soybean oil, the algae oil can be burned directly in diesel engines or further refined into biodiesel. University of Virginia researchers have a plan to greatly increase algae oil yields by feeding the algae extra carbon...

If, say five years from now, you're filling your car's tank with low-cost fuel made from grass, algae or another non-food plant, you might have a University of Northern Colorado professor to thank. Chhandak Basu, an assistant professor of biological sciences, is researching whether a gene from a tropical "diesel tree" can be cloned into other plants for mass production of biofuel. Basu has received $100,000 for the two-year collaborative project with researchers at the University of Tennessee. Basu got a $49,643 grant from the Colorado Office of Economic Development & International Trade, along with matching funds from UNC. "I...

A Northamptonshire man destroyed his garage and badly injured himself at the weekend while attempting to make biodiesel from used cooking oil. A devastating explosion levelled the makeshift reprocessing plant on Saturday afternoon, when sparks from an electric drill being used to mix ingredients ignited explosive vapours. Firemen hastened to deal with the smoking wreckage, in Middleton Cheney, and the unnamed thrifty motorist was airlifted to hospital with 20 per cent burns. "Firefighters would like to urge members of the public to take extreme caution if undertaking such chemical mixtures in their own homes," said a statement from the Oxfordshire...

Oil prices recently hit $140 per barrel. The cost to grow and transport food is rising in tandem, and the global economy is being squeezed. Meanwhile pollution from burning fossil fuels continues to pollute the planet. The world needs an abundant source of clean, transportable, inexpensive fuel. Could microscopic algae hold a key to that future? There has been a lot of hype surrounding oil production from algae lately. Visionaries claim algae holds the key to energy independence, but as exciting as oil produced from algae is, the reality is that a fossil-fuel-free economy is probably farther off than many...

Imagine a three-way chicken and egg question. What came first: the chicken, the egg or the nest? That is the latest conundrum facing anyone trying to get started in the biodiesel business. How does one ensure that over a plant’s life that production will find an open market, access to feedstock, will not contravene local ordinances, and will have a trained and efficient pool of employees? The best answer begins with feedstocks because they determine how far and how fast one can adapt to changing market conditions. Feedstock prices typically represent approximately 85 percent of the price of biodiesel. Never...

Mark Rosenzweig, owner of San Jose Tallow, was driving home through suburban San Jose, Calif., one mid-April day when he noticed a pumper truck pulling into a shopping center. He was immediately suspicious. Rosenzweig knew the only eatery in that center was a Burger King because he held the contract for grease removal. “I followed him until he pulled into the Burger King where I watched him steal the grease,” he says. Rosenzweig is no stranger to grease theft. “It’s a common problem out here,” he says. He told Biodiesel Magazine that in one week during the month of June...

he steep rise in fuel prices is creating opportunities for entrepreneurs to innovate and discover new low-cost feedstocks for biofuels production. Neptune Industries, a Florida company, is looking to collect waste generated byits fish farming operation to fertilize algae production for biodiesel feedstocks.

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. - It's a concept gaining in popularity, homemade hydrogen fuel cells attached to cars and trucks in order to squeeze out a few more miles per gallon. If you're willing to do some homework and make a trip to the hardware store, you could save some money. "It just helps the fuel completely burn in the engine," said Doug Batton. He explains how this hydrogen fuel cell, or booster attached in the bed of his truck, helps him get more miles per gallon on the road. His Dodge truck still needs fuel, this device just helps him...

Gabe Schwartzman, a tall, lanky high school senior from Montgomery County, can fill up the tank of his 1980 Volvo sedan for less than $20. And he's happy to share his secret: "I take what would be thrown away and turn it into fuel." Over the last several months, Gabe has been hunkered down in the basement of his parents' Garrett Park home, converting used fryer oil from a restaurant up the street into fuel for his car. Brewing biodiesel, once a quaint hobby for green-minded citizens and budding chemists, is becoming more mainstream. The spike in gas prices is...

Rice engineers ID 'green' methods to make valuable organic acidsHOUSTON -- June 30, 2008 -- In a move that promises to change the economics of biodiesel refining, chemical engineers at Rice University have unveiled a set of techniques for cleanly converting problematic biofuels waste into chemicals that fetch a profit. The latest research is available online in the journal Metabolic Engineering. The new paper and others published earlier this year describe a new fermentation process that allows E. coli and other enteric bacteria to convert glycerin -- the major waste byproduct of biodiesel production -- into formate, succinate and other...

In 2007 this subsidy cost the American taxpayer $300 million, and it’s projected to cost the American taxpayers $600 million next year,� said Rep. John Shadegg, R-Ariz. The scam — as Shadegg and others call it — is known as “splash and dash.� It stems from an existing $1 subsidy for every gallon of biodiesel fuel blended with regular diesel in the United States. Here’s how it works: Biodiesel is produced abroad using South American sugar cane or Asian palm oil and shipped to the United States, where it’s blended with just a “splash� of regular diesel. A typical tanker-load...

BRUSSELS: Picking a new trade fight with the United States, the European Union on Thursday accused U.S. producers of biodiesel of benefiting from subsidies that threaten to put European producers out of business. Biofuels are bitterly contested because of allegations that they raise food prices and do little to fight global warming. But they are also a big business, with sales of about €8 billion, or $12.3 billion, annually in Europe. EU trade officials say European producers are at risk because of a tax credit that is granted to American exporters. The commission said it would begin a formal anti-dumping...

Texas expanded its lead as the biggest producer of biodiesel fuel in the U.S. with the opening today of the nation's largest biodiesel refinery at the Houston Ship Channel. The facility, owned by Grapevine-based GreenHunter Energy, will have capacity to produce 105 million gallons a year of the fuel, which is touted as a way to help reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil. But the refinery may be more notable for its ability to make biodiesel from non-food sources. While most U.S. producers use soybean oil or other vegetable oils to make the fuel — and have been hammered by...

WACO, Texas — There's a reason David Cole's diesel pickup truck smells like fried chicken. It's fueled by the glistening, golden waste oil of a restaurant fry pit. Every two or three weeks, Cole visits a North Waco chicken joint and empties out a 50-gallon oil barrel. He takes the free fuel home and filters it through a homemade system of pipes and barrels. Then he pumps it into a tank in the bed of his 1995 Ford F-350. The four-door truck, which can switch easily from diesel to cooking oil, is the only vehicle for his family of four....

The mere mention of moving biodiesel through pipelines brings so many related aspects into question that Biodiesel Magazine decided it was time to address the totality of these interrelated concerns.

What started as a student research project at Augsburg College may become a major change in the biodiesel industry. A team of scientists and engineers have turned a tool for purifying and separating chemicals into a six-second process for turning the poorest quality vegetable oil into biodiesel. The first commercial-scale plant using the process should come on line this year.

The oil from the Moringa tree is considered to be a more sustainable biodiesel feedstock than jatropha oil by those who argue that sustainability is better served by feedstocks that can yield both food and fuel.

Mississippi State University, for the second consecutive year, earned top honors in the GM and US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Challenge X student engineering competition. Over the past nine months, the 2008 Challenge X: Crossover to Sustainability competition challenged 17 university teams from the US and Canada to re-engineer a Chevrolet Equinox that employs advanced powertrain technologies. The Mississippi State team designed a through-the-road parallel hybrid electric vehicle powered by a 1.9L GM direct injection turbo diesel engine fueled by biodiesel (B20). It used a GM F40 6-speed manual transmission and a Johnson Controls 300V NiMH battery pack in conjunction...

Having finally worked out the kinks in using more biodiesel in its 600-bus fleet, TriMet is not sure it can afford it because of skyrocketing biodiesel costs.

Isanti has gained state-wide attention for its Ever Cat Fuels biodiesel facility project. Mayor George Wimmer announced Isanti won the Economic Development Association of Minnesota Business Recruitment award during the May 6 Isanti City Council meeting. Community Development Director Carla Vita said the business recruitment award is presented annually by EDAM, who received two to three times the amount of normal submissions. The city was notified it had won the award May 1 and will be presented the honor during a ceremony June 18, held during EDAM’s summer conference at Ruttger’s Bay Lodge in Deerwood, Minn. “This is a great...

Diesel owners who switch to cooking grease can run afoul of the law. Just ask the governor. Dave Eck, a Half Moon Bay mechanic, had attracted a media spotlight with his fleet of vehicles fueled by used fryer grease from a local chowder house. So when Sacramento called, he figured officials wanted advice on promoting alternative fuels. Not at all. The government rang to notify Eck that he was a tax cheat. He was scolded for failing to get a "diesel fuel supplier's license," reporting quarterly how many gallons of grease he burns, and paying a tax on each gallon....

US Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM), ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, introduced the American Energy Production Act of 2008 (S.2958) to increase domestic production of oil and natural gas and to fund the development of oil shale and coal-to-liquids technology. Eighteen other senators co-sponsored. Included in the bill is language for a coal-derived fuels mandate. The bill would open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) as well as the Atlantic and Pacific regions of the Outer Continental Shelf for exploration and production; and lift the one-year moratorium on developing oil shale in Colorado, Wyoming...

Continental has introduced a new piezo injector with direct drive and closed-loop needle control, enabling engine developers to further reduce consumption and emissions. The new injector offers further potential savings by simplifying other emissions-related components such as sensors and control algorithms, according to Continental. “Even vehicles in higher weight categories will now meet the Euro 6 emissions standard without nitrogen oxides aftertreatment,” said Wendelin Klügl, Senior Vice President, Powertrain System & Technology at the 29th International Vienna Motor Symposium. A piezo injector uses a piezo actuator, consisting of a stack of more than 300 wafer-thin ceramic platelets, to control the...

Iowa With the rapid expansion of ethanol and biodiesel production in Iowa, there are questions about possible uses for what remains after these alternative fuels leave the plant. So far, the use of ethanol by-products in animal feed has received most of the attention. But researchers at Iowa State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Services also are studying a biodiesel by-product in swine and poultry feed. Biodiesel often is made from soybean or vegetable oil, with crude glycerin the resulting by-product. This compound, which currently is used in such things as hand lotions, cosmetics and shampoo,...

AUSTIN, Texas — A newly created microbe produces cellulose that can be turned into ethanol and other biofuels, report scientists from The University of Texas at Austin who say the microbe could provide a significant portion of the nation's transportation fuel if production can be scaled up.Along with cellulose, the cyanobacteria developed by Professor R. Malcolm Brown Jr. and Dr. David Nobles Jr. secrete glucose and sucrose. These simple sugars are the major sources used to produce ethanol. "The cyanobacterium is potentially a very inexpensive source for sugars to use for ethanol and designer fuels," says Nobles, a research associate...

It's beginning to look like the near-term technology for making diesels clean enough to meet 2010 emissions rules will involve urea. Or perhaps we should say, MORE urea-Mercedes alone currently offers four diesel models in North America, including the E320 sedan, that currently rely on a urea-based emissions system. You have probably heard that urea is a way of carrying ammonia, which can be used to catalyze NOx. Selective Catalyst Reduction (SCR) systems are now being developed that use urea to generate ammonia, which in turn cuts NOx. As the dieselization of North America progresses as predicted, there's going...

Company is One of Only Two Producers of the Alternative Fuel in DFW EULESS, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Direct Fuels, the largest independent regional fuel distributor and specialty refiner in North Texas, has opened a biodiesel production facility at its refinery in Euless, Texas. This makes the company one of two producers of biodiesel in North Texas, yet the only one located at a fuel terminal so biodiesel can be blended directly into petroleum diesel, as per customer need. Direct Fuels has implemented a production technology that allows significant flexibility in terms of the choice of feedstock used to produce the biodiesel. Initially,...

Seaboard Foods, a U.S. pork producing company, has announced the official start up of its subsidiary biodiesel plant – High Plains Bioenergy. The facility, located in Guymon, Okla., conducted start-up procedures in March. The first product shipment was delivered during the second week of April, according to company spokesman David Eaheart. The plant is expected to produce 30 MMgy annually, although Eaheart wasn’t sure if the plant would reach nameplate capacity by the end of this year. The project has cost Seaboard more than $40 million to date. Final cost totals have yet to be released. High Plains is colocated...

A nasty little biodiesel conflict is brewing, fueled by foreign oil, paid for by U.S. citizens and playing a part in the decline of Europe’s biodiesel infrastructure. My company, Euro Marketing Tools, sits squarely in the middle of the conflict, and we have a worm’s-eye view of the issues as we work on projects in the United States and Europe. The so-called “splash-and-dash” issue involves the swift passage of biodiesel from all over the world through U.S. ports to pick up a couple of gallons of diesel fuel and collect up to $9 million in federal blending credits per load....

For most of the past century, diesel engines have been associated with smoky, smelly trucks and buses. Now there's a surprise: A new generation of diesel-powered passenger cars is delivering punchy performance and emission levels so low they pass muster in all 50 U.S. states. Boasting good fuel efficiency, the new "clean diesels" may well overtake hybrids in the market for eco-cars. Built mostly by overseas carmakers, improved diesels already account for more than 50% of new-car sales in Europe. North America is the next target. Volkswagen (VLKAY), BMW, Mercedes-Benz (DAI), Honda (HMC), Kia, Mahindra, and others have announced nearly...

The new four-cylinder diesel family offers improved performance, torque, emission properties and fuel economy. Mercedes-Benz has introduced a new generation of four-cylinder diesel engines with improved performance, torque, emission properties and fuel economy. The new engine family will supersede four different powerplants. The new engine will debut in the C-Class this fall, but will eventually be fitted in a number of variants across a wide range of model series, including the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter. Mercedes-Benz says it also earmarking the engine family for use in hybrid vehicles. In its most powerful variant, the new 2,143 cc four-cylinder unit delivers up...

Paul Reinking, foreground, tests a biodiesel-reactor system recently installed at Middletown Biofuels in Dauphin County. Allen Legrande is plant manager. Reinking works for the equipment's manufacturer, Ohio-based Arisdyne Systems. Photo/Amy Spangler Central Pennsylvania's biodiesel industry has a faint pulse, but it's still alive. Producers of the alternative fuel said they've found ways to hang on for several more months in hopes that prices for raw materials will continue to drop and the state Legislature will approve subsidy bills to help the industry stay afloat until it becomes profitable. Last month, some producers said they were in dire straits and...

The North-East was rocked last night by the news that D1 Oils is pulling outof the region. Deputy Business Editor Deborah Johnson investigates BIOFUELS producer D1 Oils yesterday announced it is planning to close its North-East refinery as it battles to revive the loss-making business. D1, hailed as one of the pioneers of the Teesside process industry, said its hand has been forced by spiralling production costs and pressure from cheap imports of biodiesel. Forty jobs will be lost if the goahead is given for the Middlesbrough plant - previously D1's global headquarters - to close. A 30-day consultation process...

Rumors are rumors. Usually there's a grain of truth that gets rolled into something much larger, even though all that's true is the grain that started it. Recently, reports circulated across north-central Indiana that biodiesel plants were making cooking oil instead of soy biodiesel. The not so subtle insinuation by the time the rumor reached Indiana Prairie Farmer was that biodiesel sales were so sluggish and the industry was in such trouble that they were turning to cooking oil instead. Based on reports made for Indiana Prairie Farmer by Darrell Boone, a writer from Wabash, after investigating, it appears the...

Plant physiologist Glen Kertz believes algae can some day be competitive as a source for biofuel. ANTHONY, Texas (CNN) -- Texas may be best known for "Big Oil." But the oil that could some day make a dent in the country's use of fossil fuels is small. Microscopic, in fact: algae. Literally and figuratively, this is green fuel. "Algae is the ultimate in renewable energy," Glen Kertz, president and CEO of Valcent Products, told CNN while conducting a tour of his algae greenhouse on the outskirts of El Paso. Kertz, a plant physiologist and entrepreneur, holds about 20 patents....

Arlington, Virginia - Hillary Clinton has proposed an aggressive plan to reduce our reliance on foreign oil, address global warming, and promote alternative energy. Setting ambitious targets, the plan will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050, and cut foreign oil imports by two-thirds from 2030 projected levels, more than 10 million barrels per day. Her plan focuses on improving energy efficiency, moving to clean, renewable sources of energy, creating green manufacturing. By transitioning from a carbon-based economy to a green, energy efficient economy, Hillary’s plan will help unleash a wave of private sector innovation...

Jatropha curcas, a tree-shrub that shows promise as a new biodiesel crop in the U.S. that could one day power engines and generators The roots for a new energy crop in Southwest Florida have been planted. In LaBelle, a company called My Dream Fuel LLC is cultivating Jatropha curcas, a tree-shrub that shows promise as a new biodiesel crop in the U.S. that could one day power engines and generators. Nearly 1 million seedlings are in the ground at a nursery in Hendry County and promoters are looking for farmers – here and across the country – to raise...

Cleans out the tailpipe and the wallet Will Americans finally warm to diesel cars? EARLY last year, this column predicted that a new generation of lean and clean diesel cars would soon be heading for American shores (“Rudolf’s revenge”, February 9th, 2007). On cue, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Volkswagen have started to introduce American versions of their latest diesel models that are clean enough to be sold even in environmentally conscious California. Japanese and American carmakers aren’t far behind. Diesels are seen as an answer to soaring oil prices. While ludicrously low by European and Japanese standards, pump prices across...

MORGAN HILL, Calif. - Police said Wednesday an Illinois man was arrested after he allegedly stole more than 300 gallons of kitchen grease from a Burger King restaurant in Morgan Hill, Calif. .... they received a call from two people at 2:40 p.m. Tuesday who observed David Richardson, 49, pumping the inedible grease from an on-site storage tank into his restaurant oils truck. While he was siphoning the grease into his truck, the restaurant manager approached him and he handed her a blank service contract, police said in a statement. According to the manager, Richardson then quickly stopped siphoning and...

Transportation Gasoline Grows On Trees Apparently scientists (and some of our readers, surely) have known that we can grow oil for years, and not in the grow-corn-make-oil kind of way. The Brazilian Copaifera langsdorfii can be tapped (ala maple syrup) for a natural diesel fuel that requires only simple filtering before being poured into a truck. (This picture is of the tree's cells.) The catch? The diesel only has a shelf-life of about 3 months.So how many trees would it take to match the oil output of, say, Saudi Arabia? Check our stats after the jump. Saudi Arabia Oil Output...

If your diet consists entirely of bacon, you probably haven’t noticed that food prices in the United States are rising. Practically everything else is going up, and the respite for lovers of pork bellies is temporary. Last week, the American Farm Bureau Federation, an organization of farmers and ranchers, announced the results of its quarterly Marketbasket Survey, and the outlook for producers and consumers is not great. Every quarter since 1989, the federation has conducted an informal survey to determine the price of a basket of 16 basic food items an average American would purchase at a local grocery store....

From his Cessna a mile above the southern Amazon, John Carter looks down on the destruction of the world's greatest ecological jewel. He watches men converting rain forest into cattle pastures and soybean fields with bulldozers and chains. He sees fires wiping out such gigantic swaths of jungle that scientists now debate the "savannization" of the Amazon. Brazil just announced that deforestation is on track to double this year; Carter, a Texas cowboy with all the subtlety of a chainsaw, says it's going to get worse fast. "It gives me goose bumps," says Carter, who founded a nonprofit to promote...

Tim Dutrow transforming used vegetable oil into cost-effective fuel. SANTA ROSA BEACH — Tim Dutrow brews biodiesel for his Volkswagen in his back yard. Dutrow, 44, got interested in alternative fuels a few years ago as a way to help the environment, but mainly to keep money out of the pockets of Middle East nations. “I save some money, quite a bit, but that’s not why I do this,” he said. “We are in bed with people that don’t care about us. We are really over a barrel with them.” Dutrow went to several workshops in 2006 and surfed the...

Audi TT 2.0 TDI quattro. Audi is introducing the Audi TT 2.0 TDI Coupe quattro and Audi TT Roadster 2.0 TDI quattro—the first series-production sports cars to feature diesel engines. The two-liter engine generates 125 kW (170 hp) of power and 350 Nm (258.15 lb-ft) of torque, with fuel consumption of 5.3 liters and 5.5 liters per 100 km (44.4 mpg and 42.8 mpg) on the TT Coupe and TT Roadster respectively. This corresponds to CO2 emissions of 140 g/km and 145 g/km. The TT Coupe quattro with the 2.0 TDI accelerates from zero to 100 kph (62 mph)...

The 2008 Duramax Diesel 6.6L V-8 Turbo. General Motors Corp. (GM) will invest $69 million in its DMAX diesel engine plant in Moraine, Ohio to manufacture a new Duramax 6.6-liter V-8 turbo diesel engine that will meet 2010 emissions standards. DMAX Limited is a joint venture between GM and Isuzu Motors Limited and was established as a diesel engine company in 1998. The 2010 model year 6.6-liter V-8 Duramax diesel will use a selective catalytic reduction NOx after-treatment system with a diesel particulate filter to help achieve the 2010 Tier 2 Bin 5 and LEV 2 emissions standards, and...

Daimler will introduce its new Mercedes-Benz Vision GLK Freeside concept vehicle, a diesel-powered compact luxury SUV, at the upcoming North American International Auto Show in Detroit, 13-27 January 2008. A production version of the GLK Freeside is scheduled to launch in the fall of 2008. The GLK Freeside is powered by a 2.2-liter, four-cylinder BLUETEC diesel, combined with a seven-speed automatic transmission and the new 4MATIC all-wheel drive. The rear camshaft-drive engine delivers 125 kW (170 hp) of power and features a fourth-generation common rail direct injection with an injection pressure of 2000 bar and a two-stage turbocharger system....

BORKEN, Germany -- The European Union's dream of using vegetable-based diesel fuel in cars to cut oil imports and the pollution that causes global warming is turning sour. The bloc made a big bet on biodiesel fuels in 2003, agreeing that its governments would phase in tax breaks and rules to encourage their production and use. The bet seemed to make sense. Most Europeans drive diesel cars, making ethanol -- the U.S. clean fuel of choice for gasoline-powered cars -- impractical. Biodiesel can be mixed with regular diesel fuel and, when blended, doesn't need any special pumps or engine-design changes....

The European Union's dream of using vegetable-based diesel fuel in cars to cut oil imports and the pollution that causes global warming is turning sour. The bloc made a big bet on biodiesel fuels in 2003, agreeing that its governments would phase in tax breaks and rules to encourage their production and use... Mirroring the U.S. experience with ethanol, European companies rushed to make biodiesel out of a range of things, including rapeseed crops and used McDonald's frying oil. Low raw-material costs and generous tax breaks meant margins were high. By last year, Europe's annual capacity to make the fuel...