Major drone manufacturers have created their own industry advocacy group focused on unmanned aircraft for the growing consumer market. The Drone Manufacturers Alliance “will serve as the voice for drone manufacturers and our customers across civilian, governmental, recreational, commercial, nonprofit and public safety applications,” Kara Calvert, director of the new coalition. [node:read-more:link]

Ontario's Liberal government took steps to take some pressure off of rising electricity rates, cancelling plans to sign contracts for up to 1,000 megawatts of power from solar, wind and other renewable energy sources. Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault said the move will save up to $3.8 billion of the costs projected in the 2013 long-term energy plan, and will keep about $2.45 a month from being added to hydro bills for homeowners and small businesses. [node:read-more:link]

An emergency relief fund created in 2008 to help New Hampshire dairy farmers was never funded, but state officials said Monday they want to get money to farmers struggling with low milk prices and drought conditions by December. Nineteen of the state’s 120 dairies have closed in recent months. The state had lost 10 dairies over the previous four years combined. [node:read-more:link]

On Oct. 3, the U.S. EPA released its proposed Renewable Enhancement and Growth Support rule, which aims to enhance the renewable fuel standard (RFS) program and related fuel regulations to support the growth of ethanol and other renewable fuels.  The proposal includes an updated regulatory structure to allow biofuels producers to partially process feedstock at one facility and convert the resulting material into fuels at another using existing pathways. [node:read-more:link]

Food and agriculture entrepreneurs took the stage at the White House lawn for SXSL 2016 to discuss the potential and limits of technology to feed a burgeoning world population. According to the most recent available estimates from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) 793 million people in the world do not have enough to eat today.  And with a global population expected to grow to 9 billion by 2050, the U.S Agency for International Development (US AID) expects that agricultural production will need to increase by at least 60% from current levels to serve our nutritional [node:read-more:link]

In the cutthroat competition for supermarket shelf space, rivals had edged his high-protein, gluten-free, California-made nutrition bars out of a major American grocery chain.  Dorf’s company, PureFit, had just three employees and under $10 million in sales, “but we didn’t curl up in a ball,” he recalled. “We kept fighting. We realized, there’s a lot more opportunity outside the U.S.”  Today, PureFit exports to 20 countries from Switzerland to Singapore. [node:read-more:link]