Now here is a real biodiesel champion. Last night, the NBB honored staff member Lola Helming, with the Dedicated Service Award. Helming has been the office coordinator for 15 years and was NBB’s first official employee. Most who have contacted the NBB headquarters have received Helming’s warm greeting, and she has helped to keep the office running smoothly from biodiesel’s … Read More
Making Magic Happen with Biodiesel
Universal Studios announced today that it will increase the amount of biodiesel it is using at the popular Orlando theme park. In a press conference today at the 2008 National Biodiesel Conference and Expo, David Winslow, Senior Director Engineering and Environmental Sustainability Technical Services, for NBC Universal, says the park is converting the ourboard engines that take guests from the … Read More
General Session Entertainment
Country music singer Michael Peterson likes to look at things just a little differently and in today’s general session he entertained the crowd with a sweet song about life “From the Grave to the Cradle.” Michael is a great advocate for biodiesel and he is a wonderful entertainer and all around nice guy. He is preparing for a new tour … Read More
NBB Vice Chair See Challenges & Opportunities Ahead
National Biodiesel Board Vice Chairman Gary Haer says he is amazed at the turnout for this year’s National Biodiesel Conference and Expo in Orlando, Florida. He says the thousands of attendees at the event seemed to be determined to take on the challenges that are ahead. Haer, who is also a VP of Sales and Marketing for Iowa-based Renewable Energy … Read More
“Eye on Biodiesel” Awards
The fifth annual “Eye on Biodiesel” awards were presented today at the conference general session. Two Florida-based industries were presented with top honors. Florida Power and Light received the “Initiative” award for using B20 in their entire diesel fleet of almost 2500 vehicles. Director of Fleet Services George Survant, here with Joe Jobe, accepted the award. In addition, NBB presented … Read More
Riding & Driving with Michael Peterson
One of the things the National Biodiesel Board is showing folks at this year’s convention (and outside the convention for that matter) is how biodiesel performs as well as, if not better than, any petroleum diesel out there. To prove the point, the board has a “Ride-and-drive” event where the general public can get behind the wheel of a 2008 … Read More
Training for “Green Collar” Jobs
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
The First Oil Producers Back on the Job
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
EcoJet on Display
Jay Leno’s EcoJet is on display at the conference trade show in the New Holland booth. This futuristic car runs on 100% biodiesel and Jay had it custom designed by General Motors. It actually has a jet engine in it and has been on tour around the country. Steve says that the car is very light weight cranks out 650 … Read More
An Opportunity to Take on Challenges
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
Change the Way You Look at Things
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
Ride & Drive on Biodiesel
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
Daryl Hannah Makes Appearance
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
Leadership Conversation
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
Opening General Session
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
Foundation Raises Money for Research
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
Going Nose-to-Nose with Jack Youngblood
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
Hard Rocking Super Bowl Party
It has become a tradition for the National Biodiesel Conference to really kick off each year with a Super Bowl Party. This year’s event was held at the Hard Rock Cafe at Universal Studios and the place was packed with green biodiesel backers rooting for teams in red, white and blue. One of the highlights of the evening was a … Read More
Green Fuel, Green Conference
It’s easy being green at Gaylord Palms is the sign that greets guests arriving for the National Biodiesel Conference in Orlando and even Kermit the Frog would agree. NBB has retained the services of The Spitfire Agency to ensure that the conference generates as little waste as possible. Greening efforts include waste reclamation, digital marketing as opposed to print or … Read More
Interview with NBB Chairman
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