Articles in Sustainability
The German Marshall Fund on September 25, 2009, sponsored a debate at the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on biofuels and indirect land use change. The debaters were Tim Searchinger, transatlantic fellow at …
By Mike Mande (The East African) Tanzania has suspended investments worth millions of dollars after a storm of protest over the eviction of farmers to make way for biofuels. The EastAfrican has learnt that the country …
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado, and the US Environmental Protection Agency have published a “State Bioenergy Primer: Information and Resources for States on Issues, Opportunities, and Options for Advancing Bioenergy” aimed at state-level …
… In a paper published in the latest issue of the journal BioScience, David Flaspohler, Joseph Fargione and colleagues analyze the impacts on wildlife of the burgeoning conversion of grasslands to corn for ethanol production …
Brazilian ethanol produced from sugarcane can help the United States meet its advanced renewable fuel targets, while helping reduce emissions. This is one of the conclusions presented by the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA) to …
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) … The Caribbean Basin Ethanol Producers Group, which consists of Trinidad Bulk Traders Ltd., Gasohol de El Salvador, LAICA of Costa Rica, Petrojam Ltd., Jamaica Ethanol Co., and Jamaica …
by Cole Gustafson (INFORUM) … (Indirect land use change) LUC is thought to occur in response to rising U.S. grain prices. As additional U.S. grains are used to produce biofuels, prices for those grains rise due …
(the Nebraska Farmer) … USDA estimates that Nebraska corn farmers will bring in 1.55 billion bushels of corn this year and average 169 bushels per acre. Both numbers would be records–with production surpassing the 1.47 …
World Growth report exposes how attempts by environmental NGOs to restrict production, trade of palm oil (a sustainable oil) would harm successful strategies to end poverty, restrict opportunities for developing countries to reduce emissions. Today …
(Algenol Biofuels) In this presentation, Algenol Biofuels provides a description of it’s developing Direct To Ethanol TM technology, taking algae, sunlight, salt water and CO2 to make ethanol and other bio-based products. Illustrations and diagrams …
by Joseph M. Dougherty (Deseret News) …
The test plot of ground where the seeds were harvested Wednesday is designed to mimic the side of Utah highways, which could be used to grow safflowers instead of …
by Alan Bjerga and Peter Cook (Bloomberg) Archer Daniels Midland Co., the world’s largest grain processor, expects improved yields will deliver enough crops during the next 40 years to supply rising demand for ethanol without …
With this report (Industrial Biotechnology: More than Green Fuel in a Dirty Economy?), the World Wildlife Fund sets out to explore the magnitude and nature of this (industrial biotechnology) sector in (its) search for pathways …
The Council on Sustainable Biomass Production (CSBP) is a multi-stakeholder organization established in 2007 to develop comprehensive voluntary sustainability standards for the production of biomass and its conversion to bioenergy. CSBP intends for its Standard …
The Inter-American Development Bank has released a new version of its Biofuels Sustainability Scorecard, which will enable users to better anticipate the impacts of potential biofuel projects on sensitive issues such as indigenous rights, carbon …
Europe has established a floor of 35%, i.e., any biofuel entering Europe must reduce emissions by at least that amount when compared to a diesel benchmark. According to the European analysis, using palm oil to …
… We believe scientific data aren’t available on a global basis to be able to accurately determine the extent to which biofuel production causes land use changes in remote locations or the greenhouse gas emissions …
On September 10, the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) held a briefing about the national security threats posed by our reliance on fossil fuels and efforts underway by the U.S. armed services to reduce …
… The New Fuels Alliance submitted a letter co-signed by 20 leading advanced biofuel companies to Senators Boxer (D-CA) and Kerry (D-MA) asking for balanced carbon accounting in any upcoming climate legislation. The letter comes …
Sustainable Oils, a producer of renewable, environmentally clean, and high-value camelina-based fuels, announced today it has been awarded a contract by the Defense Energy Support Center (DESC) for 40,000 gallons of camelina-based jet fuel. The …
Highlands EnviroFuels LLC has completed a life-cycle analysis of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that demonstrates that the company’s planned sugar–based ethanol process will result in 80 percent lower GHG emissions than the equivalent petroleum-based gasoline.
The …
by O.Kay Henderson (Radio Iowa) Two top officials in the Environmental Protection Agency who’ve never visited an American farm were in Iowa today, at Senator Chuck Grassley’s invitation. They toured Grant Kimberly’s farm near Maxwell. … …
“(W)e do intend for Transportation Biofuels in the United States to act as a tool to provide an overview of the current status of major developments in the biofuels industry. We highlight recent changes in …
The study “Jatropha! – A socio-economic pitfall for Mozambique” prepared by UNAC and JA for Swiss Aid (referred in the following to as Swiss Aid Study) provides a very one-sided and negative picture of the …
(Journal of Industrial Ecology) Corn-ethanol production is expanding rapidly with the adoption of improved technologies to increase energy efficiency and profitability in crop production, ethanol conversion, and coproduct use. Life cycle assessment can evaluate the …
Fourteen major Brazilian organizations representing the agribusiness, planted forests and bioenergy sectors announced today the creation of the Brazilian Climate Alliance, to provide concrete, constructive proposals in global climate change negotiations. The group’s main focus …
by Dave Vander Griend (Ethanol Across America) …As commodity prices have returned closer to norms prior to the dramatic speculation-driven increase, we need to take a deep breath and understand the truth. We are meeting …
by Laurent Lardon, Arnaud Helias, Bruno Sialve, Jean-Philippe Steyer and Olivier Bernard (Environmental Science and Technology) This paper provides an analysis of the potential environmental impacts of biodiesel production from microalgae. High production yields of microalgae …
The event is jointly organized by the National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), and the ABIC Foundation with support from …
… (Christian Aid’s report)Growing Pains urges governments to adopt a new vision on biofuels, seeing them as a force for rural development in poor countries, rather than a silver bullet solution to climate change.
‘Christian Aid …
by Scott Stearns (Voice of America News) Africa is central to the worldwide growth in biofuels, with Dutch, American, Swedish, Japanese, German, and British firms all competing for farmland to grow the next generation of …
WorldAutoSteel has released a 2nd iteration of the automotive materials parametric Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) model, which allows for broader evaluations of automotive materials, powertrains, fuels and vehicle total energy consumed. Automakers can now evaluate more …
by Betsey Piette (Worker’s World) Collectively the countries which participate in the Group of Twenty comprise 85 percent of the global gross national product, 80 percent of world trade and two-thirds of the world’s population. …
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (”EPA”) announces the availability of documents pertaining to the expert peer review record completed on the Renewable Fuel Standard Program (RFS2) Lifecycle Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Analysis. On May 5, 2009, …
Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy, evaluated a recent US Government Accountabilty Office report, ““Now it’s the GAO that is saying that farm prices are a fraction of the hike to grocery bills. Whatever is …
In a letter to the US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, the Renewable Fuels Association explains that stakeholders are unable to replicate or verify the analysis used by EPA in its international indirect land use change model.
The best …
…. There is plenty of corn to eat and plenty for making ethanol and plenty for feeding cattle and plenty more to export and still more to make chemicals and fabric. After peaking briefly in …
The bioenergy maritime shipping study published by International Enery Agency Bioenergy Task 40 describes main properties of biofuels in relation to maritime shipping, examine current shipping lanes and major tradable biomass sources (including AR, BR, CA, …
Scientists from around the world – including Tom Richard , Director of the Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment – have joined forces to seek resolution of issues related to sustainable production of …
(25 x25) The USDA reported last week that American farmers are expected to produce 12.3 billion bushels of corn, the second largest U.S. corn crop in history. After estimating all of the uses of corn, …
by Chris Emery (Princeton News) Biofuels derived from renewable sources can be produced in large quantities and address many problems related to fossil fuels, including greenhouse gas emissions, but only if they are made from certain …
While the effects of producing corn-based ethanol on water supply and water quality are fairly well understood, less is known about the effects of the next generation of biofuel feedstocks. … (L)ittle is known about …
by Justin S. Baker, et al. (Duke University) Emerging markets and a rapidly evolving agricultural industry will strongly impact the implementation of conservation programs in the United States. The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is the …
Woody biomass from forest management is a renewable, low-carbon feedstock that can substitute for fossil fuels in the production of energy and other products — a potentially important tool in the national strategy to reduce …
I am writing to you to express our deepest concern that the World Bank is failing developing countries in their desire to develop sustainable biofuels industries and relieve their crippling reliance on imported crude oil. …
A bill introduced in the New Zealand Parliament re-instates the legal framework for selling sustainable biofuels in New Zealand without violating World Trade Organization obligations. It does not distinguish between imported and locally produced biofuel, but requires …
The Brazilian government announced an accord with businessmen in the sugar industry to provide decent working conditions for the nation’s sugarcane cutters following criticism leveled by various human-rights organizations. “This will help tone down criticism of …
A “Gigaton Throw Down Initiative Team” evaluated the potential for the world to scale up clean energy technologies over the next 10 years to have a major impact on job growth, energy independence and climate …
IEA Bioenergy Task 40 commissioned a study on a global overview of bio-oils (vegetable and palm oil) to: i) assess major producers and consumers of vegetables oils, ii) main emerging markets, iii) analyze main policy …
by Robert Ndong, Mireille Montrejaud-Vignoles, Oliver Saint Girons, Benoit Gabrielle, Roland Pirot, marjorie Domergue and Caroline Sablayrolles (Global Change Biology Bioenergy) In recent years, liquid biofuels for transport have benefited from significant political support due to …
