Washington, D.C. – In its mission statement, the National Biodiesel Board has a simple goal. By 2015, the Jefferson City, Mo.-based trade group would like to see 5% of the U.S.’ diesel needs met by biodiesel, a fuel made for diesel engines from feedstocks such as animal fats, greases and vegetable oils.

The U.S. goes through 60 billion gallons of diesel annually. In 2007, 500 million gallons of biodiesel were produced. So for the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) to complete its 2015 mission, biodiesel production will have to increase at a 29% annualized clip over the next seven years.

Six years ago, biodiesel production stood at just 15 million gallons, implying a headturning 111% yearly growth rate since. But maintaining the momentum will be tough. The industry faces loud skepticism from environmentalists, who fret about biodiesel and byproducts getting dumped into streams, and economists who question whether biofuels can ever be viable without heavy government support.

So a favorable terrain in Washington will be key, as the biodiesel industry’s biggest players make clear. In its annual report, for example, biodiesel refiner Nova Biosource Fuels warns investors that the “U.S. biodiesel industry is highly dependent on a myriad of federal and state legislation and regulation.”

Full story at Forbes.com

Washington, D.C. – Gregory Wetstone has overseen government affairs for the American Wind Energy Association, a Washington trade group, for a year.

“Nonstop action,” he says of his tenure.

The action will stay intense in the near term. Next week, Wetstone expects a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on his group’s most important legislative priority, a long-term extension of the wind energy production tax credit (PTC). The subsidy provides an income tax credit of two cents per kilowatt hour for electricity produced by windmills. Since its creation in 1992, the PTC has expired on three occasions, each a big setback for the wind business. It’s set to expire again at the end of this year.

Wetstone predicts the PTC will make it through the House, as it did when that body passed a broad energy package in December. Prospects look difficult, however, in the U.S. Senate, where partisan maneuvering and disputes over funding offsets have caused the PTC to twice fall short of passage in recent months. (See: “Why The Energy Bill Will Die.”)

Full story at Forbes.com

Washington, D.C. – A modest crowd of 50 or so gathered Wednesday in Washington, D.C., for a conference on global warming. The event, organized by a fledgling trade association called the Carbon Management Council, contemplated impacts on business as governments seek to check global warming with restrictions on carbon emissions.

The crowd may have been small, but the discussion covered the major–and relatively immediate–implications of climate change.

One of those implications: Given the emerging regulatory response to global warming, all businesses should get their ducks in a row now when it comes to keeping track of their output of carbon dioxide and other gases blamed for climate change.

“The assumption is going to be that, as an organization, you will already have your data in line,” said Jerry Schmits, a conference panelist and director of product marketing for expense-management consultancy Cadence Network. “All this is going to almost act like the next Sarbanes-Oxley.”

Full story at Forbes.com

Washington, D.C. – Like any big industry, energy has an array of trade groups representing its various sectors and sub-sectors inside the Beltway. Biofuels, coal, gas, oil, nukes, solar, wind, utilities of various stripes: They all field associations that jostle for position on energy policy.

Since 1981, Jeffrey Serfass has made a living in this milieu. The approach behind his $2 million (revenues) Washington consultancy: connect the dots.

“We have a significant network of companies and spheres of knowledge that allow us to uniquely bridge the entire gamut from fossil fuels to renewable energy,” says Serfass, 62.

Suitably, Serfass’ company carries a rather non-descript name: Technology Transition Corporation. In addition to corporate and government consulting, the 12-person, for-profit outfit manages trade groups, notably the National Hydrogen Association and the internationally focused Partnership for Advancing the Transition to Hydrogen. Serfass heads both organizations.

Full story at Forbes.com

Washington, D.C. – As the table below indicates, Wall Street has cooled on the coal business lately. Particularly hard hit, in share price terms at least, have been two concerns, Headwaters and Rentech, specializing in turning coal into liquid fuel.

At a Wednesday hearing on Capitol Hill, those two companies pleaded for Washington to nurture the fledgling coal-to-liquid industry.

“Oil price volatility continues to discourage potential [coal-to-liquid] investors,” Robert Freerks, Rentech’s (amex: RTK – news – people ) director of product development, told the House Committee on Science and Technology’s Subcommittee on Energy and Environment. “Congress should enact policy to help reduce risk and encourage investment in these plants.”

“Until we get the first few plants built, there’s tremendous resistance from the private capital market,” agreed John Ward, Headwaters’ (nyse: HW – news – people ) vice president for marketing and government affairs (note: half of Headwaters’ sales come from residential construction materials).

As we’ve observed elsewhere, (See: “Its Not Easy Being Green”], Washington tends to stand by long-shot energy technologies, even after the stock market has given them the thumbs-down. But the members at today’s hearing weren’t an easy audience.

Full story at Forbes.com