At the National Biodiesel Conference, both Ford and GM have now announced that they will support B20 (20% American biodiesel, 80% diesel) in —ALL— their 2011 and forward diesels! Like American independence from the oil cartel and green energy jobs in the U.S.? Use a biodiesel blend in your diesel vehicles and equipment.
Read or watch GM’s announcement here: http://bit.ly/c9QZJ1
Add to that Ford’s emblem on the truck that literally says “B20” and you have American trucks headed in the right direction: http://bit.ly/dv1ugA
Renewable fuels are a good bit more back on track now thanks to the EPA’s making the right decisions about life-cycle GHG emissions - http://bit.ly/9qTXUY
A retelling of a good, straightforward assessment of indirect land use change and biofuels by the editor of BBI International (analysis by ISU)… http://bit.ly/50TJuQ
Rogers Oil has finished opening four (4) new B20/E85 locations in East Tennessee, and Pilot Oil is beginning work on two locations:
Rogers (Zoomers/Mobil/On the Run) -
— On I-40 - Kingston and Newport
— On I-81 - Bulls Gap
— On I-26 - Kingsport
Pilot -
— On i-40 - Knoxville (Straw Plains) and Crossville
All the Rogers are now open, and the Pilot stations should be open by summer (Straw Plains will open first). Funding from the state of Tennessee (through TDOT) made these possible!
See these stations and all the public biofuel stations in Eats Tennessee here: http://eerc.ra.utk.edu/etcfc/refuel.html
So the Nissan LEAF Tour hit Knoxville on Friday, January 15, and about 100 turned out for the opportunity to see this new generation vehicle. The LEAF itself was on display, and another vehicle (a Versa with all internal parts same as the LEAF) was availabe for test drive. (The vehicles look quite similar, so the test drive vehicle was about as close as you could come to the real thing.)
The test drive was great. Smooth, powerful, roomy enough for me at least (at 6’3”; I’m not that wide). Shifting is simple - we’ve got a video of just how simple - I like the button for returning to Park.
The LEAF it self was a beaut. We’ve included a largely external video that shows all around the vehicle and the truck and drivers view, and ends up showing the charging ports in front (through which all 3 levels can charge - levels 1 and 2 charge through the right port as Nissan provides a cable that converts your household current [120V] to charge through that one).
The greater Knoxville area team has some good work to do to select the right locations to get the public charging level 2 and level 3 charging installed and operating. I know they will do a great job.
This is a game changer… I’m excited to see how this evolves in all the test markets where this is getting started. Certainly we are destined to learn stories of how it was done right, and how it was done wrong. For Tennessee sake — considering that the vehicle and its batteries will be built in Smyrna, TN — let’s hope all three major cities really come through strong to make Tennessee an example of how to do it right.
See all four videos we have posted (more are coming) right now right here:
http://www.youtube.com/ETCleanFuels#p/a/u/1/dPfqv-Zk5WM
A good USA Today article on global warming.
Our federal legislators had full plates at the end of ‘09 with health care reform, but let lapse the biodiesel tax credit that is critical to this industry succeeding now and in the future.
Biodiesel is one of the best alternative fuels and needs to help to grow up and prosper in the United States, and that tax credit is crucial.
Please consider taking a moment to call your legislator(s) or to send a hard copy letter to them reminding them to retroactively pass legislation to continue the biodiesel tax incentive!
You can see the NBB’s short info to help you here:
http://www.biodiesel.org/news/taxcredit/default.shtm
Other than perhaps talk and surf at the same time, what doesn’t it do? I’m in shock at what all it does… like scan barcodes and QR codes, control everything within the user environment, and have Gorilla Glass (wickedly unscratchable - check this video). If your phone will do it, scan this for a surprise…
Model Year 2010 AFV line-up - info sheet
A clear sign that WALKING MORE would not be a bad thing for Tennesseans!!
Tennessee is the 4th most obese state and ranks 5th in obese and overweight children. I am liking what the NFL is pushing right now for kids in the “Play 60” ads, meaning kids should play for at least 60 minutes a day to stay physically and mentally healthy. If I can get 5-year-old son Conner out for even half of that on most days over the winter, I’ll be pleased (because he burns of 500 calories/hour indoors just being his hyper self).
The clean fuels link is simple: walk when you can. Choose to park far away from the store, in lieu of right next to the door. Take the stairs. Actually walk over to the post office instead of driving. Any little bit you can do helps!!
Here’s the study that produced these results:
http://healthyamericans.org/reports/obesity2009/
J-Go