Thursday, May 23, 2013
OLYMPIA -- With four years of experience behind them, owners of an anaerobic digester in Snohomish County, Wash., say the operation has brought many benefits -- and some challenges. Dairy farmer Andy Werkoven, systems manager for the nonprofit partnership Qualco Energy, told Thurston County citiz ...
Friday, March 15, 2013 10:53 AM
OLYMPIA -- A pair of bills to allow hydroelectric projects in irrigation canals have crossed paths at the Capitol, one moving from the House to the Senate, the other from the Senate to the House. The bills have identical titles and virtually the same language, and both were approved with unanim ...
Thursday, March 14, 2013 10:52 AM
The Idaho Irrigation Pumpers Association has reached agreements with both Idaho Power and Rocky Mountain Power regarding their separate plans to change programs that pay irrigators who curtail pumping during peak hours of energy usage. The association's proposed settlement with Idaho Power, whi ...
Monday, February 25, 2013 10:44 AM
ODESSA, Wash. -- For lease: One biodiesel plant. Ready for immediate occupancy. Must supply own canola. Terms negotiable. The 24,000-square-foot Inland Empire Oilseeds building in Odessa, Wash., has been empty since December, when the company ceased operation and filed for bankruptcy, laying off ...
Thursday, February 21, 2013 12:00 PM
BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- Idaho Power is studying whether to spend $500 million or more in pollution-control equipment for coal plants it partially owns Wyoming and Nevada. The Idaho Statesman reports (http://bit.ly/U4o6J6 ) the power company must decide whether to put its money into aging plants in ...
Monday, February 11, 2013 7:41 AM
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- The persistent U.S. drought is taking a toll on producers of ethanol, with corn becoming so scarce that nearly two dozen ethanol plants have been forced to halt production. The Renewable Fuels Association, an ethanol industry trade group, provided data to The Associated Pres ...
Monday, February 11, 2013 7:31 AM
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- The farmer-owned CHS cooperative says it will pay $600 million to its owners, including $116 million to Minnesota members. The nation's largest farmer-owned cooperative earned a record $1.2 billion in the last fiscal year, up 31 percent over 2011. The majority of CHS profits ...
Tuesday, February 05, 2013 7:56 AM
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) -- There's a land rush of sorts going on across the nation's most productive farming region, but these buyers don't want to grow crops. They want to plant solar farms. With California mandating that 33 percent of electricity be generated from renewables by the end of t ...
Saturday, February 02, 2013 10:33 PM
CORVALLIS, Ore. -- For Jock Gibson of Lochmead Dairy in Junction City, Ore., it was hearing about the industry's carbon footprint that caused him to seek ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. For Steve and Becky Camp of Lacrosse, Wash., "it finally got down to the financial end of things," Ste ...
Thursday, January 31, 2013 12:00 PM
A federal judge has cleared the way for an energy developer to build a road and underground power lines across public land as part of a wind turbine project in California. Environmental groups tried to stop the U.S. Bureau of Land Management from granting a right-of-way to the energy developer, a ...
Thursday, January 31, 2013 12:00 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Days after a federal appeals court said the Obama administration is setting overly optimistic production quotas for the struggling biofuels industry, the government issued new standards Thursday that raise production estimates for 2013. New standards announced by the En ...
Thursday, January 31, 2013 4:32 PM
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- After decades of talk, the ethanol industry is building multimillion dollar refineries in several states that will use corn plant residue, wood scraps and even garbage to produce the fuel additive. The breakthrough comes at a key time for the industry, after the d ...
Thursday, January 31, 2013 9:10 AM
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal appeals court has ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency is overestimating the amount of fuel that can be produced from grasses, wood and other nonfood plants in an effort to promote a fledgling biofuels industry. At issue is a 2007 renewable fuels law ...
Friday, January 25, 2013 2:36 PM
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A central Missouri ethanol plant is suspending production effective Feb. 1, saying the extended drought has made it virtually impossible to get enough corn to make the fuel. POET Biorefining said Friday that its plant in Macon, Mo., will remain open and all 44 employees ...
Friday, January 25, 2013 2:26 PM
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The U.S. Energy Department has picked the Bonneville Power Administration's deputy administrator to lead the nonprofit federal power marketing organization. The agency announced Wednesday that Bill Drummond will replace BPA Administrator Steve Wright, who is retiring afte ...
Thursday, January 17, 2013 7:54 AM
AUMSVILLE, Ore. -- Tim Bielenberg was working with draft horses at his Aumsville, Ore., farm July 25 when he got a call that the dairy digester on his land had exploded. "I came over the hill and saw the second tank go off," Bielenberg said of the low-temperature anaerobic digester that had been ...
Thursday, January 10, 2013 12:00 PM
BOISE, Idaho -- The Idaho Irrigation Pumpers Association has intervened in separate cases before the state Public Utilities Commission affecting growers who receive credits to voluntarily curtail irrigation during peak power hours. The irrigators intervened Jan. 7 in Idaho Power Co.'s case, which ...
Tuesday, January 08, 2013 11:03 AM
A group that represents irrigators is concerned about proposed changes to Rocky Mountain Power's program that pays them to shut off pumps during times of peak demand. Idaho Irrigation Pumpers Association has requested a hearing on the power company's proposal to contract with Boston-based EnerNoc, I ...
Monday, January 07, 2013 10:10 AM
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- The bill Congress approved Tuesday night providing tax relief for most taxpayers also helps wind energy and ethanol producers by extending tax credits designed to encourage continued development. States like Texas, the nation's leading wind energy producer, and Iowa, th ...
Wednesday, January 02, 2013 10:06 AM
was unable to reach Inland Empire Oilseeds for comment. The company opened its plant in 2008 and urged farmers in the region to grow canola for processing, but was forced to shut down about two years later due to inadequate capital, according to a previous report in Capital Press. The facility wa ...
Friday, December 28, 2012 8:42 AM
Karen Sowers keeps hearing from farmers about how much money they're making with oilseed crops. "More than ever, I've heard from more growers who said, 'I've made more money off of my canola than my wheat,'" said Sowers, a Washington State University research associate. Sowers will help farmers ...
Thursday, December 27, 2012 12:00 PM
Gov. John Kitzhaber has released his long-awaited 10-year energy plan that could shape public policy in Oregon. The plan, developed over several months by a work group, outlines strategies to boost the state's economy by creating opportunities for investment in energy-efficiency and renewable-ene ...
Thursday, December 27, 2012 12:00 PM
An array of seminars will be presented during the Northwest Agricultural Show at the Portland Expo Center next month, and three will focus on renewable energy. Oregonians for Renewable Energy Policy wants to help "rapidly transition Oregon's energy reliance from fossil fuels to decentralized, ren ...
Thursday, December 27, 2012 12:00 PM
ASHTON, Idaho (AP) -- After three years of repair and reconstruction, the Ashton Reservoir in eastern Idaho is on pace to reach its normal water levels by early next week. The reservoir has been drawn down significantly in recent years to allow for crews to focus on upgrades to the dam's earthe ...
Wednesday, December 26, 2012 7:52 AM
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) -- Researchers from West Virginia University are exploring the economic and environmental impacts of wood biomass utilization in rural central Appalachia. The Morgantown school says the team was recently awarded a nearly $350,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agricult ...
Monday, December 24, 2012 1:21 PM
BOISE --Idaho farmers who were hammered by much higher power bills this year are seeking more transparency from the state's largest utilities so they can better prepare for future rate increases. The Idaho Irrigation Pumpers Association, Monsanto Co. and other large power users are negotiating se ...
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