Omega Protein Turning Sewage into Energy

Omega Protein uses new fuel source at Va. facility

REEDVILLE - The company that operates the menhaden fishery in the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia says it has been able to reduce its fossil fuel use thanks to a new oil source.

Omega Protein Inc. said a partnership with an Arizona-based company for a new fuel source has cut energy costs and decreased fossil fuel consumption by up to 80 percent at its Reedville facility.

Omega is a Houston company that operates the fishery in Reedville that processes an oily fish called menhaden that is used in fish oil and other products.

The company says that since 2012 it has replaced more than 3 million gallons of oil with renewable diesel oil made from everyday food and cooking oils collected from wastewater.

It's not clear to me from this article whether this is was general waste water from Reedville, or waste water from the Reedville processing plant. Certainly, the oils in menhaden could be turned into diesel, but who wants a car that smells like menhaden, although, it would probably go without notice in Reedville. Besides, the oils are one of the primary product of menhaden; it wouldn't be waste at all.

If it's done with ordinary city wastewater, why haven't bigger municipalities jumped on the option to save money?

Algae Barons Want Their Tax Break Back, Too

Biofuel producers snuggling up to Congress to beg for their subsides back

Much like their fellow “green”-energy lobbyists in the wind industry struggling beneath the oh-so-crushing burden of not yet having their egregiously generous production and investment tax credits restored after their expiration at the end of 2013, biofuels enthusiasts are again ramping up their own calls for their restoration of their particular pork-tastic tax credits. Via The Hill:

A coalition of biofuel advocacy organizations sent a letter Monday to the top tax lawmakers in the Senate urging them to renew expired tax credits that helped their industry.
The credits, which incentivized advanced biofuel production and infrastructure, expired Dec. 31, along with a slew of popular tax breaks.
“Advanced biofuel tax credits have allowed the biofuels industry to make great strides in reducing the cost of production and developing first-of-kind technologies to deploy the most innovative fuel in the world,” the groups said in their letter to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). …
Representatives of the Advanced Ethanol Council, the Advanced Biofuels Association, the Algae Biomass Organization, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, Growth Energy, the National Biodiesel Board and the Renewable Fuels Association signed the letter.

Yep. There is an Algae Biomass Organization, and it too wants its specially interested due.

I've grown algae; and I don't think it's going to be worth the trouble until the price of oil is up somewhere near the price of gold; or at least silver.  Besides, oil and natural gas are just algae that have been processed by Gaea.  Why not let her do all the dirty work?

EPA Increases Biodiesel Mandate

EPA boosts biofuels target amid oil-and-gas industry resistance

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday raised biofuels targets for 2013 despite an ongoing legal battle with the oil-and-gas industry on the issue.

Refiners will be required to blend 1.28 billion gallons of biodiesel — which EPA includes in its definition of “advanced” biofuels — into traditional transportation fuel in 2013, up from 1 billion gallons this year.

“This action, which meets goals designated by Congress, is another step that strengthens America’s energy security by reducing dependence on foreign oil,” EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said Friday in a statement. …

“Over the past three years, we have doubled generation from renewable energy and today’s announcement by EPA will ensure that we are continuing to utilize biodiesel to help meet our energy needs, create jobs and strengthen the rural economy,” [Agriculture Secretary Tom] Vilsack said.

I'm already on record previously as abhorring the gasohol requirements; the biodiesel requirement is more of the same.  I was going to rant on all the stupid reasons why, but Erika Johnsen at HotAir aleady took care of that:

How many different examples of the unintended consequences of propping up the biofuels industry do we need before the federal government will admit that they’re wrong? Let’s see. Mandated biofuel quotas (the majority of the market for which is comprised of corn-based ethanol): 1) Produce questionable-to-negative environmental benefits, most notably because they encourage farmers to bring marginal land into production, which in turn stresses the water supply, increases pesticide use, and incentivizes people to chop down forests; 2) Cannot actually survive on their own in the marketplace because they’re more expensive and less efficient — hence why the federal government must mandate their usage — which drives up fuel prices and eats into Americans’ disposable income; and 3) Incentivize farmers to grow corn-for-fuel instead of corn-for-food, which can help drive up food prices, further cutting in on people’s disposable incomes. To name a few.

The only reason they can get away with this at all is that the Navy is supporting this bad idea by buying large amounts of biodiesel at inflated prices.  Without that support, the model would never fly.  One reason sequestration might be beneficial to the military. They might actually have to stop and think about what to spend money on