Christmas trees are collected curbside in San Francisco. Credit: SFGate.com
In many American cities, nothing quite marks the end of the holiday season (or the beginning of the New Year) like gutters strewn with discarded Christmas trees.
But for the past 25 years, the city of San Francisco has been breathing new life into these signs of yester-yule with Recology’s “Treecycling” Program — an initiative that not only rescues Christmas castoffs from the local landfill but goes one step further by chipping the trees into valuable biomass, which can be used for things like renewable fuels.
According to Bob Besso, Recology’s waste reduction and recycling manager, who spoke with the Bay Citizen about the program, more than 500 tons of Christmas trees were collected in San Francisco in 2010.
Because of fir trees’ high acid content, they shouldn’t be mixed with regular compost, so turning the trees into wood chips is the preferred, if not perfect, alternative.
While the chipping process does result in air pollutants, it’s superior to allowing the trees to decompose, which would produce methane and 21 times the gases associated with chipping, according to Kevin Danaher, outreach and communication program manager with San Francisco Department of the Environment.
Perhaps the best solution for a city constantly on the cutting edge of eco-friendly practices? Renting fresh, if unconventional, Christmas trees that can be replanted following the holiday season through organizations such as Friends of the Urban Forest (the program was so popular, it sold out in 2011).
Still, fans of tradition and the environment can rest a little easier knowing that the fresh-cut variety can fuel more than the holiday spirit thanks to Treecycling efforts. To learn more about the program and to read the full story, vist The Bay Citizen online.
production with their Project Liberty plant in Emmetsburg, Iowa. The 25 million-gallon-per-year plant reached a significant benchmark yesterday receiving a 20 million dollar commitment from Lt Governor Patty Judge. Former four-star General Wesley Clark spoke to attendees about the important role they would play in providing more homegrown fuel for the nation.
High quality biodiesel refined from waste sources is becoming common, and has the lowest carbon footprint of any liquid fuel. In fact, much of the biodiesel sold by Propel, the highest-quality clean fuel available, comes from recycled fats and oils. And now strides are being made in waste-to-ethanol production through advances by companies like Fulcrum Bioenergy. Fulcrum is working to derive commercial-scale ethanol from municipal waste — and recently ran their first demo proving they are on their way to reaching that goal.
Not Corn…Cobs. This harvest refuse, typically plowed back into the field, is now a source of fuel for American drivers, and new profit for American farmers.
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Propel Fuels, in partnership with Bosch and Neste Oil, helped power California Diesel Days with next generation NExBTL green diesel. Green diesel, also known as renewable diesel, is a synthetic diesel product derived from bio-based oils and fats, and is suitable for use in all diesel motors. This renewable alternative to petroleum improves air quality by reducing particle emissions and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Several of the top-end diesel vehicles displayed at Diesel Days ran on NExBTL.
California Diesel Days brought together automotive industry, state government, and environmental organization representatives focusing on clean diesel passanger vehicle technology. The conference topics included CO2 reduction strategies for California, the latest clean vehicle technologies, and the future of Clean Diesel passenger vehicles. 
Arctic Circle Mission — A hearty group from the Indiana Soybean Alliance set off March 4th to test B100 biodiesel in the frigid temperatures of Alaska. The group aimed to run two trucks and a generator on 100% biodiesel in temperatures down to -25 degrees Fahrenheit. The specially formulated biodiesel was five years in the making — ISA, in collaboration with a researcher from Purdue University, developed Permaflo™ Biodiesel, a cold-weather biodiesel made from 
