The idea seems simple enough, in a time when all of the good ideas for reality TV have come and gone: take Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe and hip-hop star Ludacris and pitch them against each other in a show called Battleground Earth. The goal of the show is for each of them to go green and become more environmentally aware, while performing stunts and having the whole thing filmed.

The show won't air until this late summer, but the two performers are out and about filming episodes right now. Last week, the two and the crew were in Texas where they, among other events, needed to find ways to refuel their biodiesel tour buses. The stunt was to outsell the other at Keller's Drive-In. By selling a lot of greasy food to customers, the kitchen could make more grease, which could then be turned into the biofuel. Ludacris offered $20 to the person who could eat the most corn dogs. Looks like they've got the recycling angle down, but not the reduce part. Maybe next season.

[Source: Star-Telegram via Ecorazzi]

Hey cowboy, got one of those little flex-fuel badges on your truck? If so, you can now fill 'er up with E85 at 20 Kroger gas stations in the Dallas and Houston areas. Kroger and VeraSun Energy announced today that VeraSun's mix of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline (which VeraSun calls VE85) will now be sold at the Kroger filling stations. There's a list of these stations and their addresses after the jump. The 20 new ethanol retail pumps brings VeraSuns national total to over 140 in 13 states and DC. 44 of these pumps are at Kroger stores.

Texas is a good place to expand ethanol availability, because the Texas State Energy Conservation Office says that there are more registered flexible fuel vehicles in Texas than in any other state. According to the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition, it's likely there are more than 500,000 registered flex-fuel vehicles in Texas and, now, thirty pumps to feed them all.

Almost a hundred new ultra-low-emission locomotives are cruising the rails in Texas (98 total, with 46 based in Dallas-Fort Worth, 43 in Houston, and nine in San Antonio) thanks mostly to a $75 million Texas Commission on Environmental Quality grant. According to this article in the Dallas Morning News, the $75m covered about 75 percent of the cost of the Union Pacific Corp.'s 98 new locomotives, which would mean that each one costs roughly a million dollars. The good news? "Officials said Wednesday that the benefits to Texas air quality would be even larger than they bargained for," DMN reporter Brendan Case writes. He continues:

Union Pacific places a value of $118 million on the emissions the new locomotives will eliminate over the 10-year agreement with the state. That's 57 percent more than the amount of the state's grant. Compared with the older engines being replaced, Union Pacific's new ones cut emissions of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter 54 percent to 63 percent, while using about 30 percent less fuel, the railroad company said. Diesel locomotives emit about 26 tons per day of smog-causing nitrogen oxides in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, just under 7 percent of the region's total "Nox" emissions, according to the TCEQ.

The locomotives were built by the Montreal-based RailPower Technologies Corp.

So, for $75 million, Texans get $118 million worth of emissions not pumped into the air? Don't quite know how they calculated the figures, but am I reading that right? If so, that's one heck of an investment return.

[Source: Brendan Case / Dallas Morning News, h/t to Domenick, from whom I also cribbed the headline]

It seems like no matter what kind of fuel it is, it always comes from the Middle East or Texas. The latter is the case here, as Greenline Industries (no relation to Saturn) and Valco Bioenergy have just started up a new 3 million gallon per year biodiesel plant in Harlingen, TX. In Greenline's pursuit of alternative fuel happiness, they have won EPA awards for their designs in biodiesel production facilities.

At the new plant they will be making their biodiesel from cotton seeds and other vegetable oils locally available. The remarkable thing about this new facility is that it started up literally without a hitch. According to Hollis Sullivan, Valco Bioenergy's CEO, it was "one of the most trouble-free start ups I have ever witnessed." Because of their extensive testing and planning, they are able to build their facilities quickly, and bring them up to full production capacity even faster. Of course, 3 million gallons per year in the grand scheme of things is really not a lot. However, if they can start more plants as quickly, they could be well on their way to being a biodiesel leader in the U.S.

[Source: Greenline Industries]

Oil giant Chevron has invested in a new 20-million gallon per year / 75.7 million litre per year soybean oil biodiesel production plant in Galveston, Texas. Plans are already underway however to increase production initially to 60 million gallons and then 110 million gallons over the next year.

Chevron owns 22 percent of the $10 million plant which is run by BioSelect Fuels. BioSelect has said that to be successful in the long-term, the plant will have to move away from expensive food crop feedstocks to cheaper nonfood crops with higher energy potential, such as castor beans or Chinese tallow trees.

Analysis: It's good to see big oil have a go with biofuels. A new biodiesel plant is a whole lot cheaper than developing a new oil field (are there any new oil fields left?), the trick, as always, is to get the feedstock for the right price.

Related:

• Interview with Emily Horgan, Director of the Greaseball Challenge, part one
• ABG POLL RESULTS: Best way to spend the DOE's money
• Biomass-to-liquids synthetic SunDiesel to launch in Europe this year

[Source: MyWestTexas.com]

The US Department of Energy is looking for a site for their FutureGen demonstration power-plant project, and Texas Governor Rick Perry really, really wants it to be built in Texas. Perry has committed $20 million of state funds to the project, to help make it happen. The experimental plant is intended to gasify a variety of different fossil fuels and then use that to produce 275 megawatts of power. The other major part of the plant that is new is carbon sequestration to minimize the emissions coming from the plant. The plant is expected to eventually capture as much 1 million tons per year of carbon dioxide for underground storage. As part of the incentive package the state assumed liability for any issues associated with the carbon transportation and storage.

One of the reasons that Texas wants the $1 billion plant is because of a current debate over building 11 new coal fired power plants that are needed to meet the state's future power demands. Environmental impact studies of the proposed sites in Texas and Illinois are due to be completed by July 30, with site selection completed by September.

[Source: Weatherford Democrat via TreeHugger]

The Dixie Chopper (pictured) is a propone-powered lawn mower and was one of many alternative fuel vehicles shown at an event sponsored by the Southeast Texas Regional Planning Commission and the National Alternative Fuel Training Consortium. Electric vehicles like the GEM, CNG busses and E85 trucks were on display. Experts were also available to tout the benefits and economics of alternative-fuel vehicles. Researchers also described the MixAlco process, which is a method of turning sewer sludge and rotten fruit into fuel. The event was part of many celebrated around the country to recognize National Alternative Fuel Vehicle Day Odyssey last week.

[Source: Beaumont Journal]

The thorny mesquite tree is great for cooking up Texas bar-b-que. Nothing gives brisket a better flavor. Now a group of researchers from Texas A&M wants to turn mesquite into cellulosic ethanol. The potential is enormous as Texas sports 52 million acres of mesquite.

Often considered a tree that no one wants, the mesquite also has a poetic quality that would translate nicely into a future alternative fuel. Ethanol made from corn and soybeans is gaining most of the attention these days. But there is also extensive research into making ethanol from cellulosic or non-edible plant matter sources such as agriculture waste, forest products, switch grass and peanut shells. Even termites are under study.

The regrowth rate of mesquite is high in Texas and it usually grows on flat surfaces for easy harvesting. Landowners are enthusastic about the possibilities.

Related

• Termites could be next frontier in cellulosic ethanol production

[Source: AP via Dallas Morning News]

Next time you're driving in Denton, Texas, and smell french fries or catfish from the big rig or school bus near by, don't cuss or give it the finger (unless it illegally cuts you off.) That vehicle is most likely powered by biodiesel made by a local company.

Biodiesel Industries has contracted with the city to create the alternative fuel. The company gathers its raw material not only from the city landfill where it's located, but collects used cooking grease from various restaurants in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Even better, the plant uses the methane gas emitting from the landfill to provide all its electric needs. Currently the plant produces 1.5 million gallons of biodiesel a year though has the capability to produce 12 million. Biodiesel Industries hopes that more restaurants will contribute their waste products as its reputation grows. According to spokesperson Blake Morgan, "The Dallas-Fort Worth area generates more than 10 million gallons of grease each year, and the vast majority of that is thrown away."

[Source: Star-Telegram]