The German start-up car maker Loremo says it is still on track with production in 2010 and they announced a couple of weeks ago that they will offer the Loremo in three flavors: Electric (EV), Gasoline (GT) and Diesel (LS). While I understand the idea of adding diversity to their product lineup, I hope they […]

This is very cool: A US airline has completed the first test flight of a plane partly powered by biofuel derived from algae. The 90-minute flight by a Continental Boeing 737-800 went better than expected, a spokesperson said. One of its engines was powered by a 50-50 blend of biofuel and normal aircraft fuel. Wednesday’s […]

The biofuels landscape has changed quite a bit since I brewed my first batch of biodiesel in Aug. 2006. Demand for alternative fuels skyrocketed when the price for barrel of crude oil surged to almost $150 this summer. Yet, now the price for crude is back below $40 a barrel, while biodiesel feedstock cost remails […]

My current batch of biodiesel is my greenest yet because I used homemade, bio-electricity to cook it (instead of Duke Power’s dirty coal-based electricity). A couple of weeks ago I bought a little 5KW diesel generator at Costco, plus a 10-circuit power switch. Last weekend I wired the generator to the circuits. Now I have […]

For quite a while the biodieselers in our area have been wondering what will happen to our cosy little niche when diesel and biodiesel hit price parity at $3.50. Well, here we are – for well over a week now the price of diesel has been well over $3.50 per gallon and since last weekend […]

The Beluga Skysails, a container ship powered in part by a 500sqm towing kite, has “set sail” from the German North Sea port Bremerhaven across the Atlantic. This is reportedly the first commercial trip of a Skysail powered ship. Spiegel Online has a video (in German). As I have said previously, this is a brilliant […]

Green Flight Int’l last month completed what they claim was the first-ever jet flight using pure biodiesel: RENO, NV. (October 5)… Aviation history was made earlier this week in the high desert at the Reno-Stead Airport when an L-29 military aircraft piloted by Carol Sugars and Douglas Rodante succeeded in completing the world’s first jet […]

When we moved closer Durham in June, I started seriously considering the idea of riding my bike to work. Several guys I work with already do that. It’s a great way to stay in shape and reduce your environmental footprint. So, now that the weather is cooler (less than 90F/32°C) I really ran out of […]

My new ride – a black 1991 Mercedes Benz 300D. She’s at 244,000 miles, and going strong. Well, right now she’s actually short a turbo, but that’ll get fixed next week. Even without the turbo she’s a mighty nice ride, especially now that she’s no longer on that stinky diesel, and running on homemade juice.

Today, Governor Mike Easley signed bill S1272 into law. That bill exempts homebrew biodiesel from the NC road tax. The 30-cents-a-gallon cost reduction is certainly welcome. But, as Lyle recently commented, the bigger picture is really huge, because it allows the homebrewers and SVO-ers to get out of the “closet” as the State DOR does […]

On this day in 1893 Rudolf Diesel’s engine ran for the first time, and it ran on peanut oil. So today we celebrate “Internationals Biodiesel Day” and raise our glasses to the genius of using fuel that grows back! Praise the Lard!

In the summer, I like to collect the fryer oil in the morning, especially on a day with more triple-digits in the forecast. So I did my round this morning and “liberated” about 50 gallons – 20 from Alivia’s, 20 from Piazza Italia and 10 from El Rodeo. My new system at Piazza Italia works […]

The BIG list was abuzz today with interpretations of the new biodiesel tax situation in North Carolina. There were some questions about how these recent changes, like how the tax exemption for homebrew biodiesel will be applied to SVO use. Matt Rudolph, the ED of Piedmont Biofuels explained that under NC law, veggie oil as […]

The North Carolina General Assembly has adjourned for this session, and last Thursday the legislators passed S1272: Motor Fuels Tax Exemption for Biodiesel, which removes the requirement to pay road tax on homebrew biodiesel. That’s awesome – a great incentive for homebrewers. Also, legislators changed the tax law to remove the $2000 bond for fuel […]

If this story about these three guys from Wales is true, and their “greenbox” is real, and if it works … then it might well be the holy grail in the struggle to prevent a climate catastrophe. They claim that their invention can capture emissions from IC engines and store it. The waste from the […]

There is so much interesting and important stuff going on: A new film documents the ongoing genocide perpetrated on the Acholi people in Uganda (HT to Vicky), perpetuated by, among other things, US military aid (war-on-terror-dollars) The US Congress is debating about subsidies for a road fuel that releases twice as much pollution as gasoline: […]

Yesterday was the Durham Earth Day Celebration and it was a gorgeous, sunny and very busy day. We had a Piedmont Biofiuels/BullCity Biodiesel booth at the event and Chris brought his brand-new, jet-black 2006 Jetta TDI over for show-and-tell. Interest in biodiesel and alternative fuels in general was really strong, and our volunteers Jeff, Gary, […]

Between the news of the horrible tragedy at Virginia Tech (we’re all Hokies this week!), a slightly hectic, double trip to the beach and another offer on a new house, we’ve had a busy, weird time lately. Last week the kids were off from school, so on Thursday we drove to Atlantic Beach, to join […]

Coming up for air a bit … we have some big projects going on, like getting our house ready to put on the market (to sell it) and looking for a new place to live. We’re planning to stay here in Durham, we just need a third bedroom, and a change in scenery. Anyway – […]

The other day Marc posted a message to the BIG list with a link to an article that is quite critical of the biofuels industry, and a good example of some of the one-sided thinking of the critics of biofuels. THE REAL SCOOP ON BIOFUELS “Green Energy” Panacea or Just the Latest Hype? by Brian […]