More in Energy Issues

As global petroleum resources decline and the cost of imported oil escalates, agriculture producers around the world have been researching and testing food and non-food biofuels as an alternative to meet the growing demand for energy...More

Flawed carbon accounting schemes at both the federal and state level are creating a dynamic where the U.S. is importing ethanol from Brazil while simultaneously exporting greater volumes back to Brazil. The heart of the issue is how both the EPA and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) are calculating carbon emissions for corn-based ethanol and Brazilian sugar ethanol....More

A recent Associated Press story discussed how certain members of the meat industry want to see changes made to our nation’s Renewable Fuel Standard, for the sole purpose of giving them access to cheaper corn....More

A new report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) found that the animal feed produced by U.S. ethanol plants (known as distillers grains or DDGS) is replacing even more corn and soybean meal in livestock and poultry feed rations than previously thought....More

Feeling pain again at the gasoline pump? Don't blame it on corn and the cost of ethanol. Well, at least don't blame it entirely on corn, said Dr. Mark Welch, Texas AgriLife Extension Service grains marketing economist in College Station....More

Annual spending on renewable energy by the Department of Defense (DOD) will reach $10 billion by 2030. While a significant portion of this will be spent on Facilities operations, including permanent bases, the majority of the spending will be for Mobility applications including portable soldier power as well as land, air, and sea vehicles. “The DOD is positioned to become the single most important driver of the cleantech revolution in the United States,” says Pike Research President Clint Wheelock....More

A bipartisan coalition of members of Congress, led by U.S. Representatives Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Jim Costa (D-Calif.), heeded concerns of livestock producers that current U.S. renewable fuels policies are artificially manipulating corn prices and putting a strain on corn supplies....More

The biofuels industry will not be able to meet the cellulosic production requirements of the Renewable Fuel Standard without significant advancements in technology or investment, according to a National Academy of Sciences study prepared for Congress....More

Windmills have long been the traditional source of pulling water from wells at remote agricultural outposts, but now, solar panels may be popping up in place of these icons of the American West....More

Farm Service Agency (FSA) State Executive Director Val Dolcini announced that Friday, Sept. 23, 2011 is the extended deadline to sign up for participation in the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP). This extends the original deadline for this U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) program by an additional week for producers in the 17 California counties that are approved for this program....More

U.S. ethanol exports in July set a new monthly record. Exports of denatured and undenatured (non-beverage) ethanol totaled 127.4 million gallons in July, edging out the April 2011 total of 120.1 million gallons to set a new record....More

U.S. biodiesel production reached a new monthly high of 81 million gallons in June according to the latest Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) statistics....More