Fort Benning, Stewart in biofuels pilot program

Fort Benning, Fort Stewart and four other bases across the United States, have been selected to take part in a national pilot program to convert wood chips and cardboard into diesel fuel.

The military installations will take part in a two-year program sponsored by the Department of Defense Energy Security Command.

The project will install truck-sized converters that turn the post's waste products into fuel for combat vehicles.

Other posts participating in the pilot are Fort Drum, N.Y.; Fort AP Hill, Va.; and Fort Lewis, Wash.

(The Associated Press)

Grants help UGA study biofuel

Scientists at the University of Georgia will be studying making bio fuel with the help of two federal grants. The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports the grants are worth $2.5 million dollars. UGA will look at making bio fuel out of switchgrass and sunflowers.

Plains: Biodiesel plant to open

Macon-based Alterra Bioenergy is constructing a biofuels pant in Plains, set to open in November. The company and community leaders say between 25-to-50 employees will work at the facility.

Alterra says the fuel, made from diverse organic materials, can be used on any machine that uses diesel fuel. Alterra officials say they chose to locate the plant in Plains due to it's local agriculture and resident and former President Jimmy Carter's interest in alternative energy sources. Carter, speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony in February, said:

“The production of alternative fuels, such as biodiesel, is a very important step toward energy independence while at the same time being less harmful to the environment and supporting local farmers.”

Georgia the biofuels breadbasket?

Bio-energy experts are wrapping up their meeting in South Georgia. They’re looking at ways to help the Southeast rival the Midwest as the nation’s biofuels breadbasket. On display … a newspaper delivery car that runs on corn, sedans that run on peach and watermelon juice and tractors fueled by peanuts, poultry fat, soy and cotton. Governor Sonny Perdue pitched a plan this week to create a corridor of alternative fuel pumps along Interstate 75 and recently announced a $225 million venture to build the first wood-based ethanol plant in the state.

Clean Cities Coalition comes to Rome

Just days after Bibb County reached EPA attainment for its levels of air pollution, a new partnership hopes to do the same thing in Northwest Georgia.

There may not be any actual cities in the area, but that isn’t stopping the Clean Cities Coalition from locating its newest office here.

Several Northwest Georgia Counties, like Floyd, Walker and Murray, have high levels of air pollution and are in non-attainment with the EPA.

The Clean Cities Coalition is a project of the US Department of Energy. It partners with local industries to decrease the use of petroleum consumption and already has offices in Macon and Tifton.

Georgia Clean Cities Executive Director Charise Stephens said because there are already two bio-diesel producers in Rome, the area has a head start.

Can you imagine the potential? You have the distributor, you have the producers here, and you have 15 counties that can possibly use the project.

Stephens said the coalition will also work to encourage alternative transportation.

Drought threatens Georgia's cotton crop

South Georgia’s cotton crop could get a double blow this year – from drought and from corn. A surging interest in biofuels has led more farmers to plant corn instead of cotton. But the Thomasville Times Enterprise reports that many area farmers who want to plant cotton are holding off because the ground is too dry. Some say they’ll plant soybeans instead if rains don’t come to South Georgia in the coming month. The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center expects drought to persist in south Georgia through at least the end of June with only the chance of slight improvement.

Biofuel facilities to receive state aid

The Georgia Senate has approved a tax break to boost the state's fledging alternative fuel industry. Sen. Bill Heath (R-Bremen) says the break will help reduce the nation's dependency on foreign oil while providing relief to some state employers.

"By encouraging investment in alternative fuel production'" Heath says, "We'll provide good-paying jobs for Georgians and we'll give new life to our struggling forestry industry."

Under the bill, builders of ethanol, butanol, and bio diesel plants could buy construction materials tax-free until 2012. The House already passed the bill, but must confirm some minor changes the Senate made.