Just when I thought we would not get much on renewable energy in tonight’s presidential debate from Belmont University in Nashville, a question from the crowd has started the conversation in earnest. A lady asked if the candidates would take the same quick call-to-action approach to solve the looming global warming crisis as we saw in the recent financial crisis.

Republican Sen. John McCain says he supports the development of cleaner-burning vehicles, such as hydrogen-powered cars as part of the solution to solve the climate crisis.

Democrat Sen. Barack Obama says this country has the potential to create five million green jobs in the near future, if we development the alternative energy sources available. He compares what renewable energy could do for the economy with what the computer did for it. Obama reiterates his commitment to solar, wind, geothermal and nuclear power as well.

Obama has taken a direct shot at McCain’s renewable energy record by pointing out that McCain has voted against alternative fuels 23 times. McCain countered that some of those included votes against big tax breaks for Big Oil.

Both men have touched on the issue of a resurgent Russia, fueled by petro dollars… which comes back to the issue of how they are going to make that a non-issue by freeing us from foreign oil.

That’s it for the night. We’ll get together again in about a week when the third and final presidential debate comes on.

Presidential candidates Republican Sen. John McCain and Democrat Sen. Barack Obama are back at this evening, debating from the campus of Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn… and I’m here on my couch watching and listening carefully to what they say, paying special attention to what they say about renewable energy.

Both have just touched on the renewable energy issue, mostly from the standpoint of weaning America from foreign sources of non-renewable petroleum. McCain says we need to take an “all of the above” approach that includes biofuels, wind and solar energy, as well as nuclear and domestic petroleum. Obama counters that we need to have an energy plan that frees us from foreign oil in 10 years time, once again, through renewable energy.

Obama says we each need to think about how we use energy and how we gather more petroleum and alternative energy sources. He says incentives and tax breaks for people who buy American-made, fuel-efficient vehicles are very important, as are home conservation efforts.

Pretty light on any specifics on either side on renewable energy… or any other issue for that matter.

I’ll keep my eye on them and update again if something comes up. Stay tuned…

A gas crisis is striking the area of Georgia around Atlanta. With the recent spate of hurricanes and storms knocking out the Gulf Coast’s and Southeast U.S.’s refining of non-renewable petroleum, drivers are finding a shortage of fuel in the region.

But this story in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says some enterprising Atlantans and other people from across the country are discovering the beauty of alternatives, in particular, biodiesel:

Driven to help the environment, or their own pocketbooks, many Atlantans are seeking alternatives to the gasoline habit. The most adventurous, like [East Cobb resident John] Knop, retrofit their diesel engines to run on waste oil from restaurants, picking up free fuel while their friends wait hours in line and pay through the nose…

These and other concerns prompted former veggie-oil driver Rob Del Bueno to begin brewing his own biodiesel, a product created by using methanol to chemically alter vegetable oil. Del Bueno soon learned that home-brewing fuel also was illegal, for a variety of reasons, and he went through the complex, and expensive, process of going legit.

The article goes on to say that Del Bueno joined the National Biodiesel Board and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and had his fuel certified. Now, he sells a quarter million gallons of biodiesel a year with plans to expand into Tennessee and Illinois.

Things could be looking up for renewal of renewable energy incentives as the U.S. Senate has approved $17 billion in tax credits for wind, solar, geothermal and ocean energy systems.

This article from cleantech.com says passage comes on the heels of last week’s similar vote by the U.S. House (see my Sept. 17th post):

The tax credits, due to expire at the end of the year, now must be reconciled with those approved by the House before heading to the president, who has said he will likely support the measure. The House is expected to take up the bill Wednesday.

* Extends tax credits by eight years for residential and commercial solar systems, one year for wind energy, and two years for other renewable energy sources, such as wave and ocean tide.
* Gives a 30-percent tax credit to homeowners who install solar systems and businesses that install solar, wind, geothermal and ocean energy systems.
* Gives a 10-percent tax credit to homeowners for energy-efficiency improvements, such as insulation, replacement windows, water heaters and heating and cooling equipment.
* Offers a tax credit of $2,500 to $7,500 for plug-in electric cars, depending on the battery capacity of the vehicle.

Senate leaders are encouraging House members to approve this version of the bill as the best chance for the President to sign the bill to get the credits renewed before the end of the year.

It appears that someone might have jumped the gun a bit when General Motors released the first pictures of the production version of its much-anticipated electric car, the Chevrolet Volt, earlier today.

According to this article in the Detroit News, the pictures of the Volt (seen on the right here, thanks to a quick blogger at TheCarConnection.com who was smart enough and in the right place at the right time to save the pictures before they could be taken off GM’s web site) were supposed to go out next week:

Ten photos were briefly posted on GM’s media Web site, and an external site, and promptly picked up by auto bloggers around the world.

The release comes a week ahead of the automaker’s 100th anniversary celebration, during which the Volt is expected to be unveiled officially.

But how much the posting was an accident remains to be seen:

The blogger who found the photos Monday before they were taken down suspects the release was a publicity move by the automaker.

“I think they’re getting very good at playing the game of public relations,” said Marty Padgett, editor of thecarconnection.com. “Everyone is interested (in the Volt), so why not let some teases float out there?”

It looks like TheCarConnection.com is getting a lot of feedback on the new pictures… some good, some bad. You can see more of the photos and read the comments by clicking here.

John Deere Agri Services has teamed up with Clean Fuels Clearinghouse, developer of the RINSTAR™ Renewable Fuel Registry, to provide Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) and reports that meet the requirements of the Renewable Fuel Standard.

This press release from John Deere says AGRIS V9 system users will be integrated with the RINSTAR solution:

The RIN-based system was created to identify, measure, and track batches of renewable fuel. RINs are unique serial numbers that renewable fuel producers or importers assign to each batch of fuel produced or imported and must be reported to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and listed on product transfer documents if the batch is transferred to another party. Each year refiners, blenders, and importers obligated to meet the renewable volume requirement must acquire sufficient RINs to demonstrate compliance. RINs can be traded and serve as the currency for the credit trading program.

“The renewable fuel registry interacts with more than 450 companies each day throughout the entire renewable fuel supply chain,” notes Clayton McMartin, president of the Clean Fuels Clearinghouse. “This partnership further expands the universe, bringing more certified RINs to the market and more confidence to the transactions.”

Besides the contest between Sens. McCain and Obama to see who will lead this country over the next four years, voters who go to the polls in California this November will decide if the state will fund some hefty rebates to people who buy cleaner-burning, natural gas-powered vehicles.

This story from CNNMoney.com says the proposal could help put a million vehicles on the roads running on the clean fuel:

Natural gas providers are spending millions of dollars on advertising to convince Californians to pass a ballot initiative allowing the state government to invest in the now-tiny market for natural gas-fueled cars and trucks. The push comes as gas producers, emboldened by a windfall of domestic production, press federal lawmakers to help expand the market for gas as a means for reducing dependence on foreign oil and cutting greenhouse-gas emissions.

So far no opposition has been organized against the proposal, which would authorize the state to sell $5 billion in bonds to fund rebates of $2,000 to $ 50,000 each to people who purchase natural gas-powered cars and trucks. Some of the money would be earmarked for research, development and production of renewable energy technology, and education. The plan would cost the state $9.8 billion over 30 years.

The proposition has some pretty powerful friends, including billionaire Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens, who, as you might remember from my July 8th, 2008 post, is backing a plan to ramp up the nation’s wind energy production. He believes that the wind energy will replace natural gas burning in utilities’ generators… freeing that natural gas to be burned in vehicles… freeing the U.S. from its oil addiction.

A top General Motors executive believes that natural gas could be a replacement for gasoline on U.S. roads in the near future.

This story from CNNMoney.com quotes GM’s top researcher who said that his company sees natural gas an “enticing” alternative to petroleum… and that means new interest in natural gas by the major American automaker:

“It is abundant, affordable and relatively clean,” Larry Burns, GM vice president of research and development, said in a posting on GM’s Fastlane blog.

“In the near term, we can use compressed natural gas in internal combustion engines,” Burns wrote. “In the long term, natural gas could be an excellent source for making hydrogen for fuel cell vehicles, either at the filling station or in people’s homes.”

This is not the first time GM has offered up ideas and practices to help wean us away from petroleum. The company has a large effort to attract drivers to their ethanol-powered vehicles, as well as development of the Chevrolet Volt, a battery-powered car, and vehicles that run on hydrogen.

DuPont recently received confirmation from an independent sources that its ethanol yield calibration system really works.

The external independent validation came from the Illinois Crop Improvement Association (ICIA), which demonstrated that the Ethanol Yield Potential (EYP) near infrared (NIR) calibration does reliably predict the ethanol output of whole corn grain. The calibration, developed by DuPont business Pioneer Hi-Bred, allows ethanol plants to rapidly and consistently evaluate incoming grain, helping both plant managers and growers determine which corn hybrids and management practices can improve ethanol production.

“Rapid determination of EYP of corn can be a valuable step in improving ethanol plant efficiency,” said Dennis Thompson, ICIA chief executive officer. “ICIA recognizes the need for rapid measurement tools based on standardized reference lab methods. Our initial validation procedures have shown a strong correlation between the Pioneer EYP calibration and our laboratory method.”

The calibration has been incorporated into the QualiTrakSM system from Pioneer, a measurement and reporting program that facilitates the flow of ethanol yield information to both plant personnel and corn growers. The technology allows ethanol producers to use analytical data to manage the corn grain feeding for their ethanol production process through rapid analysis and grading at the point of grain receiving. Farmers are then able to take this information and combine it with their on-farm agronomic performance data to tailor the corn hybrids they plant and apply management practices to maximize the ethanol yield on every acre.

Making ethanol from a nuisance weed could be an idea whose time has come.

A Tennessee entrepreneur claims to have found a way to make ethanol out of kudzu - into a product he calls “Kudzunol.”

Doug Mizell is a co-founder of Agro*Gas Industries, LLC, which he promotes on his MySpace page. He and partner Tom Monahan are looking for funding to build a demonstration plant to prove that their technology will work.

Kudzu is an invasive species that grows vine-like throughout the southeast. “There’s 7.2 million acres of kudzu in the south that’s absolutely good to no one,” said Mizell. “It grows a foot a day, 60 feet a season and can be harvested twice a year and not even hurt the stand.”

Agro*Gas plans to break ground on a demonstration plant somewhere in Tennessee by end of the year and hopefully begin production in 2009.