Free webinar for small producers Jan 28 at 11 am

Montana State University (MSU) will be putting on "DIY: Keeping it safe, keeping it legal" targeted toward home brewers and small producers. The presentation will be put on by experienced home brewers, one of whom I know from other meetings, Steve Fugate of Yoderville Biofuels Coop.. he's great and very knowledgeable. You'll need to register by going to a site 10 min before the webinar starts- see the DIY link for info.

Community Energy Meetings- Jan 29 and June 2,3

A couple of great chances coming up to be involved in discussion of community energy projects:

Meeting:
January 29, 2010
1 - 1:45 pm Tour site to preview 21 Acres Center under construction
2 - 4:30 pm Meeting at Sammamish Valley Grange

21 Acres will host a meeting on Friday January 29 to explore opportunities to partner on energy-related projects. You can download the invitation at the upper left corner of the 21 Acres homepage, which includes links for additional information about the 21 Acres Center for Local Food and Sustainable Living.

This is a meeting targeted to key people in business, academic, and civic communities. Join the meeting or share with others you think may be interested in partnering with 21 Acres.
RSVP to Brenda at: generalinfo at 21acres.org

And June 2, 3 2010:
COMMUNITY ENERGY ROADMAP INNOVATORS SUMMIT & WORKSHOP
Meydenbauer Center, Bellevue, WA
Register by Jan 22 to get $100 off

Earthrace Biodiesel ship rammed and sunk by illegal Japanese whaling ship!

Just heard the following from my friend Ravi who has helped the Earthrace project:

"Earthrace, the futuristic biodiesel boat that claimed the world record for circumnavigating the globe has sunk in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica.

It had been purchased by the Sea Shepherd organization to harass the
Japanese whalers in those waters and it was run over by one of them on
Monday. One person suffered some broken ribs, but the Skipper Pete
and the others are fine and there was no loss of life.

Here are some videos of the incident.

views from Sea Shepherd
http://www.seashepherd.org/matilda/video.html

view from Shonan Maru Whaler
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dXCR9LX-Kc

I wrote to and received a short reply from Pete today and he said that
he is shaken, but that they are all safe.

I wanted to let the biodiesel community here know since many people
helped Earthrace while it was here." Ravi

Be sure to watch the last video on that Sea Shepherd page above to get a sense of their mission to stop such illegal whaling operations. Also, see this video on the role the Earthrace boat was playing..

New additive to counter effects of crankcase oil dilution

I was re-reading the postings by "Neurot" about his trials and tribulations using B100 in his '09 Jetta, which doesn't work well with VW's new emissions control technology. ("Neurot" is Jason Burroughs of Diesel Green Fuels who also wrote about this for BiodieselSMARTER Magazine). One aspect of the problem is that the biodiesel ends up in the crankcase oil where it dilutes the oil but also forms organic acids which can polymerize and coat the pistons. I noticed that his last post mentioned a new additive that Chevron has come out with which supposedly counteracts these negative effects. Check out the article in Biodiesel Magazine that he mentions. Anyone tried this stuff (Oronite Lubricating Oil Additive)?

www.biolyle.com

Not sure how I got associated with this article

On New Year's day, an AP article came out about the problems that the commercial biodiesel industry has been having, and they used a picture of me holding a cup of biodiesel in my garage that they had in their stock photo collection. The article makes no mention of me, which makes sense because I have very little to do with commercial biodiesel. My business is focused on helping people learn how to make their own fuel (although I have had some students go on to start their own biodiesel companies). I do support commercial production of biodiesel as long as it's done in a sustainable manner, which to me means using waste grease, or oil from rotation crops, farm coops, etc. If you support biodiesel as an alternative to petroleum sources, you might want to contact your rep's in congress, because they didn't get around to renewing the $1 / gal tax credit, and if that doesn't get renewed, it'll be the death knell of the biodiesel industry. The House passed it, and word has it that the Senate probably will too (and make it retroactive to Jan 1), but a little pressure will help.

7th Annual Sustainable Biodiesel Conferece: Feb 6 & 7, 2010

The seventh annual Sustainable Biodiesel Summit (SBS) will be held in Grapevine, Texas on February 6th and 7th, 2010. Join community activists, backyard brewers, farmers, and other passionate individuals to discuss the future of sustainable, community-based Biodiesel. As always, the National Biodiesel Board’s Annual Conference and Exhibition will follow the Summit.

This year's keynote speaker will be Bill Holmberg, long time champion of biofuels and sustainable new wealth industry. The schedule this year will feature a series of action-oriented roundtable discussions at a small, local winery and a trip to Willie’s Place at Carl's Corner to visit the truck stop andbiodiesel production facility.

Register before January 22 and pay only $100, saving up to $100 off the price of on-site tickets. For more information or to register online, go to http://sustainable-biodiesel.org

The SBS is a golden opportunity to address today's issues regarding biodiesel and sustainability. This unique Summit is organized through the joint efforts of the Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance, Roundtable for Sustainable Biofuels, and The National Biodiesel Board.