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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: biodiesel

biodiesel stories: 16 news summaries

 Biofuel Boom Runs Out of Gas 


Aug 27, 09 12:49 PM CDT
(Newser) - Once considered a win-win for the environment and energy independence, America’s biofuel industry is sputtering to a halt, the Wall Street Journal reports. Thanks to the recession, lower oil prices, and government delays, two-thirds of American biodiesel refineries—dozens of plants—are idle, and companies across the country are... More »

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environment • ethanol • biofuel • ecology • Environmental Protection Agency • recession • biodiesel • green revolution • energy independence • oil prices

(Newser) - Despite their reputation for being unfriendly to the environment, several ski resorts have become more sustainable, says Treehugger, which lists seven of the nation’s greenest mountain getaways.
  1. The Aspen Skiing Company, Colorado: This four-mountain resort said to be at the center of the green movement began eco-friendly initiatives
... More »

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recycling • greenhouse gases • carbon footprint • biodiesel • wildlife • Aspen • Colorado • skiing

(Newser) - Scientists have genetically engineered the E. coli bacteria to produce a carbon-rich alcohol molecule equivalent in energy to gasoline, Popular Mechanics reports. The “long-chain” alcohol does not occur in nature, but with six to eight atoms of carbon, it is far more efficient than ethanol, which has only... More »

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E. coli • alcohol • biofuel • biodiesel • carbon • UCLA • scientific research • jet fuel • gasoline

 Winter Chills Green Energy 

Renewable energy industry works to deal with seasonal variations

Dec 26, 08 7:03 AM CST
(Newser) - Winter weather is cooling newfound enthusiasm for renewable energy, the New York Times reports. Solar panels get snowed up or suffer from lack of sunlight on short winter days, and biodiesel sometimes congeals in cold weather. Wintry weather is a plus for wind power, but turbines can get iced up... More »

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alternative energy • biodiesel • green energy • renewable energy • solar power • winter • wind power • winter weather

Doc Used Patients' Blubber
to Fuel Cars? Fat Chance

Beverly Hills surgeon looks to have left country ahead of health officials' raid

Dec 24, 08 4:05 PM CST
(Newser) - A Beverly Hills plastic surgeon who claimed to have turned excess fat taken from patients into “lipodiesel” that could power his girlfriend’s Lincoln Navigator is apparently on the run after California health officials raided his practice, the Times of London reports. A message on Alan Bittner’s site... More »

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biodiesel • Beverly Hills • liposuction • Alan Bittner • lipodiesel

One Man's Coffee Grounds Are Another's Biodiesel

Waste can be turned into cheap fuel

Dec 16, 08 11:25 AM CST
(Newser) - If lattes seem overpriced now, wait until coffee becomes a precious commodity. An engineering professor spied an opportunity in the layer of oil he found floating in an old cup of coffee one morning. He extracted what was left in some used grounds—about 10%-15% oil by weight—with simple... More »

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energy • coffee • biofuel • fuel • biodiesel • green energy • clean fuel • cars

Biofuels Not Worth Upward Push on Food Prices: UN

Nations should rethink subsidies: report

Oct 7, 08 4:33 PM CDT
(Newser) - While use of biofuels is supposed to combat climate change, the effects of its production on food prices is not worth the emissions they offset, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said today. The FAO called for countries to review production quotas and subsidies that encourage biofuel use in... More »

MORE ABOUT:
climate change • United Nations • global warming • biofuel • biodiesel • food prices • carbon emissions

ANALYSIS

India's Effort to Boost Biofuel Encounters Growing Pains

Country aims to feed boom with hardier crops, though it's a tough sell

Sep 22, 08 12:36 PM CDT
(Newser) - Just months after India’s finance minister called converting food crops to biofuels “a crime against humanity,” the government has launched a program that aims to get 20% of India’s diesel from plants by 2017, relying heavily on hardy plants that won’t keep rob needed land.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
India • biofuel • fossil fuel • biodiesel • alternative fuels • oil crisis • jatropha • pongamia pinnata

Biodiesel Gains Converts on Home Front

Reputable retailers selling kits to turn veggie oil to fuel

Sep 15, 08 1:03 PM CDT
(Newser) - Half a billion gallons of it were brewed at home last year, and we're not talking beer. Homemade biodiesel is expanding from the days of hippies converting old electric water heaters to mainstream retailers offering safer, reliable processors, Wired reports. Anyone with the equipment, ranging from $3,000 to $13,... More »

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biodiesel • alternative fuels • clean fuel • home brewing • eco-friendly

ANALYSIS

Biofuel Firms' African Land Grab Has Colonial Echoes

Western companies shower nations with promises met with some suspicion

Sep 5, 08 5:20 PM CDT
(Newser) - Africa is being seeded for a coming boom in biofuels, as Western companies buy thousands of acres to cultivate vegetable-oil-rich plants like the Jatropha curcas, Der Spiegel reports. In countries like Tanzania, Ghana and Ethiopia, firms are often securing century-long farming rights for nothing but a promise to invest in... More »

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Africa • Ethiopia • biofuel • Tanzania • colonialism • biodiesel • green technology • Ghana

OPINION

 Algae: Lean, Green Biofuel? 

Firm says it can produce algae oil at $60 a barrel; US dare not miss its chance, writer says

Jul 2, 08 2:47 PM CDT
(Newser) - The steam engine wasn’t invented in the eighteenth century—it was invented in AD 60. But Romans instead stuck to their old standby technology: slaves. Now, we’re in danger of repeating that mistake with biofuels, writes David Ewing Duncan for Portfolio. While Congress is pumping subsidies into corn-based... More »

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ethanol • biofuel • biodiesel • innovation • algae biofuel

He Can Stop Terror; Carbon's Another Story

Writer checks up on
24's new eco-mission,
finds mixed results

Jan 24, 08 8:39 AM CST
(Newser) - Fox's 24 has its share of problems—Kiefer Sutherland's DUI imprisonment, rewritten scripts, the writers strike—but one writer still won’t give Jack Bauer a break, hitting the set to probe the show’s promise to reduce its carbon footprint. One exec congratulates himself on picking “our toughest... More »

MORE ABOUT:
carbon footprint • Jack Bauer • biodiesel • Fox • Prius • Kiefer Sutherland • electronic scripts

Green Tech Boosts Heartland

Advances no longer limited to America's coastal cities

Dec 13, 07 8:10 PM CST
(Newser) - Green-tech venture capital is still concentrated in coastal urban centers, but middle America is catching up. Silicon Valley, Massachusetts, and Washington state are among the top five hotspots, but so is Texas and the nation's agricultural heartland, reports CNET, which tracked the money fueling startups and university research. More »

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Silicon Valley • ethanol • MIT • biodiesel • venture capital • green technology • heartland

San Francisco Gases Up,
Goes Green

City switches its
entire diesel fleet to
soy-based biofuel

Dec 6, 07 4:26 PM CST
(Newser) - San Francisco may have the biggest green fleet in America now that all 1,500 diesel vehicles—including ambulances, fire engines, buses and street sweepers—run on B20, a combination of soy-based and diesel fuels. The transformation is part of the city's plan to  reduce toxic emissions to 20% below... More »

MORE ABOUT:
San Francisco • biofuel • diesel • biodiesel • green energy • Gavin Newsom

Big Industries Joust Over Energy Prices

Companies strive to suit their own ends
in tug-of-war over green policies

Nov 8, 07 2:18 PM CST
(Newser) - US industries are at each other’s throats over energy policy as each sector tries to protect its own interests. A prime example came last year, when Dow Chemical's push for tougher automobile fuel-economy standards—which would help keep a lid on Dow's oil expenditures—ran afoul of automakers, who... More »

MORE ABOUT:
climate change • ethanol • vehicle emissions • biodiesel • oil price • auto industry • crude oil • Dow Chemical Co.

Chicken Fat Doubles as Diesel

Tyson, ConocoPhillips team up to produce biofuels

Apr 17, 07 10:05 AM CDT
(Newser) - Two corporate giants are teaming up to produce biofuels and boost their bottom lines. Tyson Foods, the world's biggest meat producer, and third-largest U.S. oil company ConocoPhillips will be using about half of Tyson's animal fat to make a renewable diesel fuel, which will account for about 3% of... More »

MORE ABOUT:
oil • environmentalism • ConocoPhillips • Tyson Foods • biofuel • diesel • animal fat • biodiesel

16 Stories


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