The Clean Cities program is a government-industry partnership sponsored by USDOE and has more than 90 local chapters across the United States. These chapters work in their local areas to reduce petroleum consumption. 

“It’s important for the soybean checkoff to demonstrate that we have a cleaner product with soy biodiesel that cities can use in their diesel vehicles without having to make modifications to the fleets,” says Geno Lowe, a soybean farmer from Hebron, Md., and soybean checkoff leader. “Communicating benefits of soy biodiesel helps soybean farmers move more of our product, and it benefits the environment.”

“The research shows it has cleaner emissions, and with the lower sulfur standards in conventional fuel, biodiesel can improve lubricity,” adds Lowe, who uses biodiesel on his farm.

Read more on the Farm Energy News web site. Go to BIOFUELS (in the bottom left-hand column).

I remember my father, who was born in 1924, talking about how some enterprising farmers were using syngas during World War II to power engines, since gasoline was in short supply and being rationed.

Anyway, I’ll try to post some more information and links when I get the time. For now, try these links on for size:

Trash Crops to Cash Crops (published by Miller-McCune)

All Energies (a web site by a young enterprising couple and fellow contributors who have hands-on experience with syngas power)

And last but not least, here’s an interesting article published in the Jan. 2006 issue of Forest Products Journal (as a downloadable pdf) entitlted: Thermal Energy, Electricity, and Transportation Fuels from Wood. It was written by John I. Zerbe, a retired energy specialist, of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wis. Click here . . .

Over the same period, certain other factors—for example, higher energy costs—had a greater effect on food prices than did the use of ethanol as a motor fuel.

Link to the report from Farmenergynews.com web site. Click here . . .

The process, which is described in the Wednesday, Feb. 11 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, is unprecedented in its use of untreated, inedible biomass as the starting material.

The key to the new process is the first step, in which cellulose is converted into the “platform” chemical 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), from which a variety of valuable commodity chemicals can be made.

“Other groups have demonstrated some of the individual steps involved in converting biomass to HMF, starting with glucose or fructose,” says Ronald Raines, a professor with appointments in the Department of Biochemistry and the Department of Chemistry. “What we did was show how to do the whole process in one step, starting with biomass itself.”

–– by Nicole Miller, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison

Note: Read the full release . . .

The national survey showed that 67 percent of respondents were interested in learning more about renewable biofuels. “These findings indicate people are really interested in this issue,” says Hernando Rojas, co-investigator for the study and assistant professor of life sciences communication at UW-Madison.

Biofuels have received substantial media coverage over the past year, and the public is paying attention. –– Hernando Rojas

On the positive side, a majority of respondents perceive some clear benefits of biofuels, with 66 percent agreeing that using them can help the United States reduce reliance on foreign oil. Another 53 percent believed biofuels can have a positive impact on climate change trends by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Respondents had mixed opinions about the advantages and disadvantages of corn-based ethanol (an alcohol biofuel derived from the fermentation of corn), which has become a significant source of energy in the United States. More than 10 billion gallons of ethanol are expected to be included in the nation’s fuel supply this year.

Respondents indicated some concerns about ethanol, with 44 percent believing that the production of corn-based ethanol will create pressure on the food supply, and 43 percent indicating ethanol will create pressure on local water supplies.

Additionally, only 28 percent agreed that biofuels are a permanent solution to the energy problems in our country. Despite high general interest in learning about biofuels, only 24 percent said they were interested in using corn-based ethanol for their transportation needs, while 52 percent disagree, and 24 percent are neutral.

“Our historical data suggests public interest in ethanol may fall when prices drop at the gas pump, but interest will likely rise when oil prices go up again,” says Bret Shaw, co-investigator of the study and assistant professor of life sciences communication at UW-Madison.

There were also gender differences regarding attitudes to biofuels in general and corn-based ethanol in particular.

Women were significantly more likely than men to think biofuels are a permanent solution to energy and environmental problems, are more willing to use corn-based ethanol for their transportation needs, and perceive that corn-based ethanol exerts less pressure on food and water supplies.

“Public perceptions about the positives of biofuels outweigh the negatives, but the corn-based ethanol industry needs to continue to make their case for why ethanol should be a part of the solution to address the long-term energy needs of the United States,” says Shaw.

The survey questions are part of the Cooperative Campaign Analysis Project, a joint venture that brought together more than 60 researchers from 25 academic institutions, to conduct a six-wave panel study of 18,250 respondents throughout the United States.

Surveys were conducted online. Data was collected by Polimetrix. Results reported here are based on a subsample of 1,191 that represents the general population with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percent (95 percent confidence interval), and correspond to observations collected between Nov. 5 and Dec. 1.