WASHINGTON (AP) -- Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley says the U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded $1.6 million to the state to help development of biofuels as an energy alternative.
In a statement Monday, Grassley said the payment to Iowa is coming through the Bioenergy Program for Advanced Bio ...
Monday, March 15, 2010 11:28 AM
An effort in the U.S. Senate may resurrect a tax credit considered vital to the future of the biodiesel industry.
Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., has proposed an amendment to a House-passed bill to extend the biodiesel tax credit, said Michael Frohlich, director of federal communications for th ...
Saturday, March 13, 2010 10:09 AM
As the economy recovers, energy prices are rising and that is placing extra strain on families' budgets.
Each spring brings a familiar ritual in gasoline markets -- rising prices -- and this year won't be an exception. But motorists aren't likely to pay much more than $3 a gallon, on aver ...
Saturday, March 13, 2010 12:08 PM
A Washington-based paper company is laying the groundwork to build a 65-megawatt, wood-fueled biomass plant, which would be the largest in the Pacific Northwest.
Longview Fibre Paper and Packaging Inc. has filed a permit request with the Washington Department of Commerce. The company plans to h ...
Saturday, March 13, 2010 11:08 AM
UNION, Ore. (AP) -- For decades, not much has changed in the tiny northeastern Oregon town of Union. Nestled in the Grande Ronde Valley, it lies close to the spectacular Eagle Cap Wilderness.
But a Texas company's proposal to build a wind energy project on the slopes that overlook two sid ...
Sunday, March 07, 2010 9:09 AM
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) -- Three North Dakota rural electric cooperatives are among 29 nationwide getting federal loans and loan guarantees for upgrades.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says the loan money is going to rural co-ops and utilities in 16 states to build and repair more than ...
Thursday, March 04, 2010 11:08 AM
ABERDEEN, Miss. (AP) -- A federal trial is under way for a man accused of defrauding the U.S. Department of Agriculture out of $2.8 million in bioenergy subsidy money.
Testimony began Monday in the case of 56-year-old William T. "Tommy" Tacker.
He's accused of 10 counts of con ...
Thursday, February 25, 2010 7:29 AM
BOSTON (AP) -- Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar is vowing to work closely with Atlantic Coast states to streamline permitting for offshore wind energy projects.
He says those states are leading the way in developing offshore wind power.
Salazar said the federal government must coll ...
Sunday, February 21, 2010 3:29 PM
Burt Hamner has a simple idea: Tap the nearest running water -- say, an irrigation canal or a river -- to generate electricity.
That electricity, he figures, could be used on-site to operate irrigation pumps or tools. Excess electricity could be sold onto the commercial grid.
Hamner, ...
Saturday, February 20, 2010 10:09 AM
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) -- The House Revenue Committee advanced a bill that would suspend the use of eminent domain to condemn land for building transmission collector systems for wind farms.
House Bill 79 now goes to the full House for consideration.
The bill would freeze condemna ...
Saturday, February 20, 2010 11:08 AM
NEW YORK (AP) -- Natural gas prices tumbled nearly 3 percent after the government said supplies are still higher than average despite a rash of snowstorms that blanketed the East Coast during the past few weeks.
Natural gas is used to both heat homes and power electric generators, and suppli ...
Saturday, February 20, 2010 9:09 AM
KENNEWICK, Wash. -- The future use of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in agriculture all depends upon the battery.
Use of electric vehicles is a new but growing movement, said Ron Johnston-Rodriguez of the Port of Chelan County, during a seminar at the Harvesting Clean Energy conference Su ...
Sunday, March 14, 2010 12:09 AM
KENNEWICK, Wash. -- Even the protesters outside the Harvesting Clean Energy conference were in favor of new energy alternatives.
Rather than protest the conference itself, members of the Tri Cities Tea Party were pro-testing Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., who was scheduled to kick off the ...
Saturday, March 13, 2010 10:09 AM
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A Southern California group has declined about $11 million in federal money that was earmarked to build ethanol fueling stations across the region.
The Southern California Association of Governments rejected the stimulus funds Thursday. It says using more ethanol ...
Sunday, February 07, 2010 11:28 AM
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama's administration recommended using more government money to produce and develop larger supplies of biofuels such as ethanol. The move came as an energy task force prepared to give Obama a report that predicted the United States would fall short of congressiona ...
Thursday, March 11, 2010 6:29 AM
The coordinators of a rural energy development conference hope it will spark a variety of new opportunities for Western farmers.
The 10th annual Harvesting Clean Energy Conference takes place Feb. 7- 9 at the Tri Cities Convention Center in Kennewick, Wash.
Wind power is just the beg ...
Thursday, March 11, 2010 6:29 AM
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) -- A Senate committee has approved legislation that would establish ownership rights for the empty spaces that lie beneath New Mexico's dusty landscape.
Supporters of the measure say the so-called pore space will be valuable as technology advances to capture and sto ...
Saturday, February 06, 2010 3:49 PM
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- The federal Agriculture Department has issued a proposed rule for the next phase of the Biomass Crop Assistance Program championed by Sen. John Thune.
The South Dakota Republican wrote the program, which was part of the 2008 Farm Bill. It makes payments to p ...
Saturday, February 06, 2010 8:49 AM
ELLENSBURG, Wash. (AP) -- Gov. Chris Gregoire has approved the Desert Claim wind farm project eight miles north of Ellensburg, following the recommendation of a state energy council.
The Yakima Herald-Republic reports Desert Claim will have up to 95 turbines across eight square miles ...
Saturday, February 06, 2010 8:49 AM
BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- Idaho Power Co. has filed a plan with the state's energy regulator detailing how it will meet growing customer demand over the next 20 years.
The state's biggest utility says it intends to add 3,000 megawatts of power generated by a mix of natural gas, wind and g ...
Sunday, January 31, 2010 9:08 AM
OLYMPIA -- Kevin Maas distributed quart-size bags of a dark, powdery substance to each member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Rural Economic Development.
"This is digested fiber, a by-product of an anaerobic digester," he said. "It has a mild odor."
The senators sniffed and disa ...
Thursday, March 11, 2010 6:29 AM
The Oregon Public Utility Commission cut in half a rate increase requested by PacifiCorp, but still allowed the utility to raise rates between 3.4 and 6.8 percent.
Under the PUC-approved increase, the average residential monthly bill will increase $2.81, from $83.14 to $85.95. Commercial and in ...
Thursday, March 11, 2010 6:29 AM
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) -- The nation's first plant that exclusively makes ethanol fuel from non-edible switchgrass and corncobs has its grand opening Friday.
DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol LLC and University of Tennessee-Genera Energy LLC will show off the 74,000-square-foot demonstratio ...
Saturday, January 30, 2010 1:08 PM
HALFWAY, Ore. (AP) -- A prototype plant in northeast Oregon has stoked hopes of dozens of jobs for workers turning wastes from forest thinning and chicken coops into soil amendments and fuel.
Eric Twombly, a former U.S. Forest Service employee who heads the plant, said it could provide a mar ...
Monday, January 25, 2010 5:09 PM
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- A $10.5 million research project aimed at mapping the DNA sequence of sunflowers could one day yield a towering new variety for both food and fuel.
Researchers envision crossbreeding a standard sunflower with the Silverleaf species out of Texas to produce a hybri ...
Thursday, March 11, 2010 6:29 AM
KALISPELL, Mont. (AP) -- The Northwest Power and Conservation Council has elected a Montana attorney has its chairman for this year.
Bruce Measure, of Kalispell, is one of Montana's two members on the council. Measure has been the council vice chairman for the last two years.
Measure sa ...
Friday, January 22, 2010 11:29 AM