Today begins a long weekend as people around the country gather together for Memorial Day.

Yet we too often forget the true meaning of this special weekend. We get so caught up in our own cookouts and celebrations that we don’t often reflect on the service and sacrifice that so many have given us. Few of us will ever be asked to give of ourselves like our military does. As has often been said, in the armed services, uncommon courage is a common virtue. We are free because our troops are so brave.

This Memorial Day Weekend, I hope that we’ll all remember those who have served and those who are serving now.

Earlier this week, we commented on this blog about Texas Tech’s new center that will research wind.  Today, we should comment on how we got to this point:

http://www.governor.state.tx.us/priorities/infrastructure/energy/expansion_of_renewable_energy/

Governor Rick Perry deserves enormous credit for laying down the foundation to make Texas the leader in renewable energy:

“Senate Bill 20, signed by Governor Perry in 2005, contained a critical commitment to expand the state’s transmission grid in order to maximize the ability to move wind power from West Texas to the rest of the state. This unique commitment has provided needed certainty to renewable energy developers and, in conjunction with Texas’ abundant wind resources, competitive marketplace for electricity, and stable regulatory structure, has made Texas the easiest state to develop renewable energy.”

This is what leadership is all about.  It’s about looking beyond today for tomorrow. It’s about turning obstacles into opportunity.  That’s what we’ve done in Texas with renewable energy; and that’s what we need to do in America.

Big news in the alternative energy world: Texas Tech is establishing a wind energy institute:

http://www.reporternews.com/news/2010/may/24/tech-announces-wind-energy-institute/

“Texas Tech University has announced it will become the research hub for the newly formed National Institute for Renewable Energy, a wind energy consortium started with financial help from West Texas organizations such as the Development Corporation of Abilene.”

This is a great next step in the development of alternative energy research. We also need to research renewable sources other than wind, like biomass. That’s why I’m here this week at the University of Idaho looking into the research that the university is doing with my Advanced Trailer for Biomass.

I’m excited about what biomass is and what it could mean to our future.

This week I’ll be in Moscow, Idaho checking in on the research that my company, Advanced Trailer, has been conducting with the University of Idaho.

As readers of this blog know, I believe the Advanced Trailer is perfect for biomass. The trailer can be used to transport, dry and store the wood chips that fuel biomass energy. This has long been the missing link in biomass–how to move, dry and store. But no more. The Advanced Trailer has revolutionized biomass. And biomass is about to revolutionize America.

Check in this week for more about the Biomass Revolution!

Could biomass help clean up the BP oil spill? The answer is yes:

http://www.greeningofoil.com/post/Woodchips-for-Gulf-oil-spill-cleanup.aspx

As the article notes, one renewable energy company is offering its services:

“Green Energy’s plan entails utilizing woodchips inside the booms to absorb and collect oil, skim them off the top and deliver them to power plants to be burned as energy.”

How ironic that the worst of events come sometimes bring about the best of changes. Perhaps this oil spill will showcase the power of biomass during the cleanup. It certainly has already showcased the need for renewable energy.

Leaders are supposed to provide a vision for the future. Unfortunately, the leaders at the Environmental Protection Agency are not providing much leadership or vision when it comes to biomass:

http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/05/14/14greenwire-biomass-industry-sees-chilling-message-in-epas-60072.html

The EPA is charged with determining which sources of energy will be regulated as greenhouse gases. And according to this article, here’s what the EPA decided:

“U.S. EPA’s final rule determining which sources will be subject to greenhouse gas permitting requirements does not exempt biomass power, a decision that has raised concern in the biomass industry.”

What? An environmentally-friendly source of energy is going to be regulated like it’s a pollutant? Looks like we’re going to have to change government policy in order to change our environment.

Leaders are supposed to provide a vision for the future. Unfortunately, the leaders at the Environmental Protection Agency are not providing much leadership or vision when it comes to biomass:

http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/05/14/14greenwire-biomass-industry-sees-chilling-message-in-epas-60072.html

The EPA is charged with determining which sources of energy will be regulated as greenhouse gases. And according to this article, here’s what the EPA decided:

“U.S. EPA’s final rule determining which sources will be subject to greenhouse gas permitting requirements does not exempt biomass power, a decision that has raised concern in the biomass industry.”

What? An environmentally-friendly source of energy is going to be regulated like it’s a pollutant? Looks like we’re going to have to change government policy in order to change our environment.

If you had any doubt about whether alternative energy is the way to go, look no farther than the Gulf of Mexico:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/05/18/gulf.oil.spill.main/?hpt=Sbin

This has always been one of the downsides to oil: it’s dangerous. As the article notes:

“But the well has been spewing an estimated 5,000 barrels a day into the Gulf since late April, when the drill rig Deepwater Horizon blew up and sank about 40 miles off Louisiana. Eleven workers are presumed dead after the sinking, and the cause has not been determined.”

For generations, oil has resulted in ecological problems and even endangered oil well workers. For safety reason alone, shouldn’t we look for an alternative? We have it. It’s called wind, solar and biomass. It’s better for our economy, better for our environment and better for our safety.

Much has been made in the media about the recent oil spill in the gulf. But not enough has been said about what this means for alternative energy:

http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/energy/gulf-leak-bump-road-game-changer/

Let me say that I remain a fan of all types of domestic energy production. But I also recognize that not all forms of energy are equal. Oil production is inherently messy, as we’ve just seen in the Gulf of Mexico. And it can be detrimental to the environment.

But not renewable energy. It’s the safest and cleanest way to fuel our economy.

And isn’t the recent oil spill in the gulf just one more reason why we need to invest in clean energy now?

Readers of this blog are familiar with my belief that renewable energy is not only good for our economy, it’s great for our national security.  Apparently, the folks at the Pentagon agree with me:

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1020332320100510?type=marketsNews

As the article notes:

“The Pentagon is working hard to promote development of biomass fuels that could power future fighter jets and other warplanes, but defense officials say it could take years to get a full-fledged industry on its feet. Top U.S. defense officials and executives from the petroleum, alternative fuels and renewable energy sectors are meeting outside Washington this week to address new technology developments and initiatives such as the Pentagon’s work on developing biofuels to power military aircraft. The long-term goal is to decrease U.S. dependence on foreign crude oil, said Air Force Colonel Francis Rechner, director of operations of the Defense Energy Support Center, run by the Pentagon’s main logistics agency.”

Can you imagine how much safer our country will be when we can fuel our military vehicles with alternative energy?  I applaud the Pentagon for doing the right thing and finding ways to power our military without foreign oil.

Summer time is fast approaching. That means it’s time to hold onto your wallets as gas prices will soon be rising:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6992974.html

This is a good time for our blog to return to the subject of energy policy in this country. As I’ve often said, every time we fill up at the pump, we are putting money into the pockets of dictators in the Middle East. Can’t we do better than that?

We can and we’ll talk about it this week on the blog!

Today the Biomass Conference and Expo ends and I’m on my way back to Texas.

But the cause of biomass goes on.

It goes on because the stakes are too high not to invest in biomass. We can’t continue to fuel our economy with foreign sources of oil. It’s bad for our economy; it’s even worse for our security. We need domestic sources of energy and we need them now. That’s why I’m so excited that the US government is doing so much to promote biomass. Just this week, you might have seen this in the news:

“The US Departments of Energy (DOE) and Agriculture (USDA) jointly announced up to $33 million in funding for research and development of technologies and processes to produce biofuels, bioenergy and high-value biobased products.”

http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/20273

Biomass is the future. Biomass is the answer.

This week the Biomass Conference and Expo is offering 275 exhibits and 100 speakers. And what will each one have in common? Each one will be a glimpse into the future.

For example, the section of the expo devoted to wood chips has special exhibits and presentations on how biomass can be generated using:

* Sawmill waste

* Logging waste

* Pulp and/or paper mill waste

* Newsprint milling waste

* Paperboard milling waste

* Forestry waste (forest thinnings, etc.)

* C&D

* Urban and yard waste

Biomass is going to change our country. In fact, in many ways, it already has. For more information about biomass and about this expo, log onto:

http://www.biomassconference.com/ema/DisplayPage.aspx?pageId=About

The Biomass Expo and Conference is underway! Here is a photo of the Advanced Trailer booth:

What I’m hoping to achieve at this conference is for more people to learn about the power of biomass and the potential of the Advanced Trailer for Biomass.

We’ve always known how to make biomass work: burn the wood chips and harness that energy for fuel purposes. But what we haven’t known how to overcome is the biggest challenge: drying the wood chips. Now, with the Advanced Trailer, we can do just that. We can ship, store and dry the wood chips in one vehicle and that makes biomass production that much more effective and powerful.

That’s the message I’ll be spreading this week at the conference.

Every great change in history has begun with a single step.

And this has been no less true in the business world. When NASA was building spaceships to carry man to the moon, it had to invent smaller computers that would fit on board. This helped begin the computer revolution. When Ross Perot was a salesman at IBM, he noticed that companies needed service as much as equipment. He decided to launch the IT services industry. And years from now when we look back at our energy supply, we’ll see this moment in time as a step forward.

Why? Because inventors are figuring out ways to get us off of foreign oil and into renewable energy like biomass. That’s why I’m in Minnesota this week at the Biomass Expo. The meetings start tomorrow and I’ll be live blogging the rest of the week. So check it out each day. And remember: the future begins with a single step.

This week I’ll be live blogging from the 2010 Biomass Conference and Expo in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

This is the annual event where all the major players in the biomass industry get together and discuss the future. Exhibits will be set up showing all kinds of new applications for biomass. And speakers will discuss the latest developments in energy policy.

Check in each day this week as I live blog from this important conference.