Energy

The USDA Forest Service’s Fuels for Schools and Beyond program promotes and encourages the use biomass to energy as a renewable and natural resource. Recently the U.S. Forest Service recognized the Darby School District in Montana for success in the Fuels for Schools Program for their innovation...

On April 5, USDA Rural Development in Ohio hosted the first in a series of ‘Flexible Fuels Roadshows’ aimed at broadening awareness of Secretary Vilsack’s recently announced objective of deploying 10,000 flexible fuel blender pumps into the nation’s motor fuel delivery system by 2015. The Secretary...

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development conducted a meeting in Indianapolis in early April to discuss the agency’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). The event, hosted by the Indiana Soybean Alliance/Indiana Corn Growers Association presented information on RD’s new...

A newly released report Solar Energy Use in U.S. Agriculture. Overview and Policy Issues published by USDA’s Office of Energy Policy and New Uses, serves as an overview of solar energy use by farmers and ranchers in the U.S.

Local media had a glimpse into one of the largest biofuels plants in the United States and the high-profile biofuels production industry last week. Inside HERO BX in Erie, Penn., camera crews rolled video and snapped photos of energy’s future—the conversion of materials like animal fat and vegetable...

This winter, I had the opportunity to see an energy audit on a family farm near Amherst, Mass. Bruce LaFlamme and his son, Phil, had requested the audit to help them find ways to conserve heat and better insulate their greenhouse, where they grow vegetables year-round, as well as other plants during...

With the thoughts of spring planting on their minds, over 200 farm producers and local agricultural staff discussed the many ways USDA can strengthen the partnership between small farmers and the USDA agencies that serve them. Eleven different USDA agencies converged earlier this month at the...

This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the U.S. Department of Agriculture blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from the agency’s rich science and research portfolio. Whether visiting Napa or making my way across California’s central valley, I see more and...

Speaking before a capacity crowd this morning at the USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum, a distinguished panel representing three federal agencies and a member of the agricultural media discussed Federal renewable energy policy and its prospects to reduce consumption of imported oil, improve...

President Barack Obama visited three businesses in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, this week on the heels of the State of the Union address. The main event was his address to the employees of Orion Energy Systems Inc. Orion designs and produces energy management systems consisting primarily of high...