New York and North Carolina Farmers Joining The U.S. Biomass Crop Assistance Program

New York and North Carolina are the two newest states to join America’s growing biofuel industry. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has authorized an investment of $9.6 million that will be distributed for the creation of the two new projects and the expansion of the already existing project in Arkansas.

Graphic courtesy of Environment, Health, and Safety News.

New York and North Carolina are joining 10 other states – Arkansas, California, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington – in the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP), whose purpose is to expand the nation’s non-food grade energy crops to be used in manufacturing liquid biofuels.

The energy crops being grown, such as giant miscanthus, switch grass, and shrub willow, are the “first ever national investments in expanding U.S. biomass resources to meet domestic energy needs,” said the USDA, which adds that the current “total investment in those projects is estimated to be $55 million.”

Click to read more ...

U.S. Renewable Energy Usage Trends Upward as Overall Power Usage Declines

Courtesy of the Energy Information Administration’s Office of Coal, Nuclear, Electric and Alternate Fuels.

Well it’s nice to know that real progress is happening in the renewable energy industry and not just a lot of speculative talk!

Consumer consumption grew by seven percent between 2007 and 2008, despite a two percent decline in total United States energy consumption, according to a newly released report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The total renewable energy consumption increased by 487 trillion Btu (British Thermal Unit) to 7, 301 trillion Btu.

The two biggest consumers of renewable energy were the electric power and industrial sectors, though the transportation sector is starting to take a bigger piece of the pie.

Click to read more ...