During the opening general session of the conference a panel discussion featured Charles Drevna, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers Association; Michael Ferrante, Massachusetts Oilheat Council; Dan Gilligan, Petroleum Marketers Association of America; Joe Jobe, NBB and John Maniscalco, New York Oil Heating Association. It was a session that one person tweeted, “Maybe the most candor I’ve ever seen in a … Read More

Joe Jobe, CEO, National Biodiesel Board, welcomed attendees to the 2012 National Biodiesel Conference this morning. He started out by telling a story about what biodiesel means to him and how he got involved in energy, politics and history. One of the things that really got him interested in the industry was, “I wrote a paper for my high school … Read More

First on the program at the National Biodiesel Conference was the Collegiate Biodiesel Producers Forum. There are more biodiesel production facilities at colleges than ever. I spoke with Susan Williams and Ilya Tabakh, KU Biodiesel Initiative, to learn about this first time session which is meant to guide young producers on their path to joining the biodiesel industry. Ilya says … Read More

Only a couple days now until the kick-off of the Super Bowl – and the 2012 National Biodiesel Conference. We caught up with National Biodiesel Board CEO Joe Jobe at the Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit to get a preview what promises to be a great conference. “Attendance is up, exhibitors are up, sponsorship is up, which is really a reflection … Read More

The 2011 National Biodiesel Conference has been a great one according to everyone I have spoken with. To wrap things up I spoke with Donnell Rehagen, COO, National Biodiesel Board. He says that we had approximately 1,100 in attendance and it looked like business was getting done. Yesterday NBB held its annual membership meeting and approved projects and a plan … Read More

I want to say a big thanks to New Holland for their support of the Biodiesel Conference Blog and in particular Gene Hemphill, past Eye on Biodiesel Award winner. I spoke with Gene about New Holland’s support for the industry. He reminded me of a trip I took with him and NBB CEO Joe Jobe to Jay Leno’s Garage where … Read More

Manning Feraci is the Vice President for Federal Affairs for the National Biodiesel Board. He took the stage during our last general session to talk about advancing to the next level of effectiveness in the capitol halls of America. Some current resources regarding legislative issues are available on the NBB website: * Renewable Fuel Standard – RFS-2 Action Center * … Read More

The full governing board of the National Biodiesel Board took the stage today for a little recognition during our general session. You can find a list of them on the NBB website. 2011 National Biodiesel Conference Photo Album

The “Eye on Biodiesel” Awards were presented today during our last general session at the conference. I’m going to list them with their comments from the stage starting with the Inspiration Award. Accepting was Nick Portonova. Inspiration: Deer Valley Unified School District. This Arizona school district began its biodiesel program in 1999, long before the fuel was a known quantity. … Read More

During the second general session we heard about the role of government policy in advancing biodiesel from a panel of experts. Participating on the panel were moderator Shelby Neal – National Biodiesel Board; Eric Bowen – Renewable Energy Group Inc./California Biodiesel Alliance Chairman; Ed Hegland – Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council/NBB Past Chairman; Steven Levy – Sprague Energy; Rebecca … Read More

The Chairman of the National Biodiesel Board is Gary Haer, REG. Before he took the stage I spoke with him and he says that everyone is upbeat here at the conference and excited about the prospects in 2011. He says the RFS provides a demand that biodiesel will fill as the only advanced biofuel. He also says that NBB will … Read More

Educational sessions are an integral part of the National Biodiesel Conference. The sessions are broken up into different interest areas. As time allows I hope to feature a few interviews from these sessions. Technical Track The technical track is targeted primarily to engineers, chemists and other technical professionals. Sessions will cover subjects from a research perspective and will serve as … Read More

Inside the trade show during lunch you can find some very interesting biodiesel powered vehicles. The showcase session included comments from various auto company and vehicle representatives, some of whom are revealing their latest products here at the show. The vehicles themselves will be on display throughout the show so if you haven’t stopped by take time to visit. Pictured … Read More

The keynote speaker at the opening general session this morning was Michael Shermer, Skeptic Magazine. It was important to hear how pseudo science can so easily affect public opinion. It was also entertaining to hear and see some of his examples. After the session I spoke with Michael and asked him to summarize a key point he made in his … Read More