The number of “green collar” jobs is on the rise in America. By 2015, the biodiesel and ethanol industries will create more than 240,000 full-time jobs in all sectors related to renewable fuels production, economic experts project. Biodiesel curriculum developer Renewable Energy Group today joined with U.S. Department of Labor at the biodiesel conference to announce a new program to … Read More

One of the big issues at this year’s conference is the search for additional feedstocks for biodiesel. Solazyme, one of the conference sponsors, is looking at the viability of making biodiesel out of algae as an alternative to more expensive conventional sources. In fact, the folks from Solazyme brought a sweet ride to the conference… a Mercedes Benz C320 that … Read More

This morning, the 2008 National Biodiesel Conference and Expo started the day with a general session, where NBB CEO Joe Jobe briefed attendees on the state of biodiesel and the direction he sees it heading. During a quick break between the numerous events at the conference (including his time with Agritalk this morning as pictured here), I caught up with … Read More

Country music star Michael Peterson was one of the featured speakers at this morning’s “Ride-and-drive” event at the 2008 National Biodiesel Conference and Expo in Orlando, Florida. Cindy grabbed Michael for a quick interview right after he returned from a test drive of a 2008 Dodge Ram 3500 diesel pick up truck running on B20. As he stepped out of … Read More

The NBB featured a “Ride-and-drive” session this morning, where people could get a chance to get behind the wheel see how biodiesel performs in real vehicles… a Dodge pickup truck, a Jeep Cherokee, and a Volkswagen TDI. This is the first year the Ride-and-drive event was opened to the public in an effort to show people that biodiesel needs no … Read More

Green actress and “sustainable summiteer” Daryl Hannah has been a part of every National Biodiesel Conference since the beginning and this year was no different. “We need to educate ourselves in sustainable feedstocks, production and distribution models,” said Daryl. “We need to take the lead and rebuild the faith and the promise of biodiesel. We need to support the still … Read More

The leadership of the biodiesel industry sat down on stage for a “truck stop” conversation. NBB Chairman Ed Hegland conducted the meeting with Vice Chairman Gary Haer of REG, Inc., Emily Bockian Landsburg of Philadelphia FryoDiesel who is chair of the newly formed Sustainability Task Force, and NBB Secretary Graham Noyes of Imperium Renewables. The conversation runs a little long … Read More

National Biodiesel Board Executive Director Joe Jobe got the first general session underway this morning with condolences to New England Patriot fans. Being a Giants fan himself, Jobe was doing the happy dance for his team! New feedstocks for biodiesel is really the main focus of this year’s convention, with the theme “Navigating a Changing Landscape.” To emphasize the opportunities, … Read More

One of the things going on at last night’s Super Bowl party was the National Biodiesel Foundation raising money for research, especially in issues such as feedstock development and climate change. In charge of that fundraising effort is the NBB’s Tom Verry. We chatted a bit about how the foundation would use the money raised from the donations for autographed … Read More

What a game was last night’s Super Bowl! It was an exciting, hard-fought game that went back and forth, and it came down to heroics from both teams on both sides of the ball. One of the best parts was being able to enjoy the game with a crowd of great biodiesel folks with a great spread thanks to party … Read More

Just after we flew into the sun and warmth of a beautiful Central Florida day, Cindy was off to track down Ed Hegland, chairman of the National Biodiedsel Board. She caught up with Ed at a session on sustainable biodiesel production where a new sustainability task force was announced. Listen to Cindy’s interview with Ed: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/nbb/nbb-08-hegland.MP3] We’ll be here through … Read More

At our general session this morning we got the political perspective from both sides of the aisle. On hand were James Carville and Mary Matalin. The couple have figured out how to get along even though they look at life through very different political eyes. After their presentation they conducted a short question and answer session with the press and … Read More

Each year the National Biodiesel Board bestows the “Eye on Biodiesel” awards, designed to recognize individuals and groups who have advanced the board’s mission of public education and industry growth. The awards were presented by NBB Chairman Darryl Brinkmann (left) and NBB CEO Joe Jobe (right). Award for: Influencer – Bill and Cindy Mack. Bill and Cindy Mack, known and … Read More

Each year the National Biodiesel Board bestows the Eye on Biodiesel awards, designed to recognize individuals and groups who have advanced the board’s mission of public education and industry growth. The awards were presented by NBB Chairman Darryl Brinkmann (left) and NBB CEO Joe Jobe (right). Michael Peterson is pictured in the hat. Award for: Innovation “Gene Hemphill/New Holland Co., … Read More

Each year the National Biodiesel Board bestows the “Eye on Biodiesel” awards, designed to recognize individuals and groups who have advanced the board’s mission of public education and industry growth. The awards were presented by NBB Chairman Darryl Brinkmann (left) and NBB CEO Joe Jobe (right). Award for: Inspiration – Brie Mathews and Mike Ferry/San Francisco Fire Department. The San … Read More

Each year the National Biodiesel Board bestows the “Eye on Biodiesel” awards, designed to recognize individuals and groups who have advanced the board’s mission of public education and industry growth. The awards were presented by NBB Chairman Darryl Brinkmann (left) and NBB CEO Joe Jobe (right). Award for: Impact – Sprague Energy – Steve Levy. A progressive Northeastern petroleum distributor … Read More

Each year the National Biodiesel Board bestows the “Eye on Biodiesel” awards, designed to recognize individuals and groups who have advanced the board’s mission of public education and industry growth. The awards were presented by NBB Chairman Darryl Brinkmann (left) and NBB CEO Joe Jobe (right). Award for: Industry Partnership – Rod Lawrence/Magellan Midstream Partners LP, Manager of Quality and … Read More

The National Biodiesel Board has launched a one-stop marketplace for biodiesel interests to do business over the Internet. It’s AllThingsBiodiesel.com, and was introduced at the Conference. AllThingsBiodiesel.com takes its place as the world’s largest biodiesel marketplace, focusing on products, services and industry-related companies. A variety of services assembled within it include online ads and classified ads, the biodiesel store and … Read More

I want to thank our sponsor for this year’s Biodiesel Conference Blog, John Deere, represented here by Don Borgman. The conference is winding down with the NBB Board meeting and a few workshops still taking place. I’m headed home but have a number of posts that I’ll add within the next day, including all the Eye on Biodiesel award winners. … Read More