Workers Available, Ethanol Producers Wanted

By Kris Bevill

Representatives of the ethanol industry often list an increase of domestic jobs as one of the many reasons why ethanol production would benefit the United States. While these jobs are often thought to be new jobs, ethanol could also play a significant role in replenishing jobs that have been lost in other industries.

2010 US Ethanol Industry Salary Survey

By Erin Voegele

Back by popular demand, EPM presents the results of its recently conducted salary survey of U.S. ethanol plant personnel.

Ethanol Education: A Window to Employment

By Erin Voegele

Like most businesses, ethanol companies employ a variety of white-collar professionals. However, ethanol plants also need skilled workers who possess knowledge of ethanol-specific process technologies and plant operations. To fill this niche, an increasing number of community colleges have begun to offer biofuels-specific training programs.

Rewarding Greener Biofuels

By Susanne Retka Schill

A long-time sustainable agriculture advocate proposes a producer tax credit tied to performance.

Methane Migraine

By Anna Austin

Are stringent air quality regulations impeding dairy digester implementation in California?

Bad Boy Crop Deserves a Second Chance

By Rona Johnson

Mention Jerusalem artichoke in some farming communities in the Midwest and there's a good chance you'll be run out of town on a rail. The tubers' reputation was tarnished in the early 1980s by scandal, but some people still believe in its potential as a biomass resource.

Stack Attack

By Lisa Gibson

Biomass power plant emissions, if not properly controlled, can cause health problems and stir up opposition groups that can impede a plant's development.

Building on its Biomass Base

By Lisa Gibson

The biomass industry is flourishing in and around Sacramento, Calif., where new biomass-based technologies are nurtured and innovative proven processes are embraced.

Product life-cycle analysis is a relatively new but important science to the renewable fuels industries. In conjunction with the USDA, University of Idaho researchers have produced a new energy balance study for soy biodiesel concluding that methyl ester manufacturing returns more than four times the fossil fuel energy it requires. Biodiesel Magazine talks with UI¡¦s Dev Shrestha about the study¡¦s details.

Sweet Catalysis

By Susanne Retka Schill

A chemistry professor at Wake Forest University has been working on a new catalyst for biodiesel production, and catalyzing his students to become biodiesel boosters.

Reinventing Oilheat

By Ron Kotrba

Oilheat leaders convened in September and resolved to clean their industry's image by greening its fuel. Ultra-low sulfur fuel oil and biodiesel blends are the tools prescribed to get the job done.

Biodiesel Brand Names

By Nicholas Zeman

As the industry evolves, companies are trying to distinguish themselves with branding campaigns that emphasize service, additive packages and premium quality.

Distillers Dried Grain Yields High-Fiber, High-Protein Flour

By PADMANABAN KRISHNAN

A flour made from distillers dried grains used in the flat bread being baked at the food science lab at South Dakota State University. The flour could be a solution to global hunger.

Strategy and implementation of biomass conversion at Mt. Poso

By Desmond Smith

In switching from coal to biomass power, the most challenging issues facing the Mt. Poso Cogeneration Co. plant have been receiving and ensuring reliable sources of quality biomass that can be handled within the plant's operating, storage and recovery parameters.

SDSU Scientists ‘Re-discover' Switchgrass Moth

By Lance Nixon

The rediscovery of the switchgrass moth indicates that native prairie plants are just as vulnerable to insects as other crops are, and that pest management programs will be needed if these prairie grasses are going to be produced commercially.