Public Domain Picture: 20120831-OC-LSC-0036

Weather stations and communication antenna masts extend high above team telemetry stations along the Camden Yard Warehouse row, during the Baltimore Grand Prix, centered in and around the Baltimore Convention Center and Camden Yards of downtown Baltimore, MD, during the 2012 Labor Day Weekend. One of the race series held at this Grand Prix is the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), who says it is “the Global Leader in Green Racing the only racing series recognized to comply with the Green Racing protocols developed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Society of American Engineers International (SAE).” Instead of high-octane gasoline all the cars in the series use one of 5 different forms of energy (system). Clean diesel, E85, E10, isobutanol or hybrid energy technology. The specific hybrid system, used by the Porsche GT3 cars, is a (battery-less) flywheel-based Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems. These organizations are accelerating technology development at speeds up to 200 mph, in 650-700 horsepower race cars that are based on two groups of cars; the purpose built prototype race cars and the GT (Grand Touring) cars based on production sports cars seen in showrooms. From these groups, there are five classes of cars, all of which race simultaneously during the race events. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) focuses on renewable fuel sources that are profitable and sustainable. 2011 accomplishments include research and planning for renewable energy and investments in renewable energy production. - Completed a Biofuels Roadmap proposing a plan of action to meet congressionally mandated RFS2 goals for national biofuels production. -Coordinated five regional research centers to work on the science necessary to ensure profitable biofuels can be produced from a diverse range of feed stocks across the nation, not just in the Midwest where the industry is already thriving. -Over three years, USDA invested about $320 million to accelerate research on renewable energy ranging from genomic research on bioenergy feedstock crops, to development of biofuel conversion processes and costs/benefit estimates of renewable energy production. - More than 130 biodiesel and ethanol projects funded by USDA are currently producing almost 3.7 billion gallons of biodiesel and ethanol annually, enough fuel – in equivalence to gasoline – to keep five million vehicles on the road every year. -We are supporting efforts to build five biorefineries to produce advanced biofuels in states from Florida and Michigan to New Mexico, with investments worth about $310 million. We are supporting facility upgrades and feasibility studies for advanced biofuels projects in every region of the country. USDA photo by Lance Cheung.

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Alms, Americanlemansseries, Baltimore, Baltimoregrandprix, Doe, Enviromentalprotectionagency, Epa, Md, Usa, Usda, Usdepartmentofagriculture, Usdepartmentofenergy

May 5, 2014