by Javier E. David (CNBC) Imagine a world where leftover corn, wheat and wood chips can be used to power your car.
That’s the aim of cellulosic ethanol, a budding sector of the renewable fuel industry that …

(EurActiv)

Leaders of the EU and their partners in the G8 nations are under mounting pressure to reconsider their support for biofuel targets amid concern that plant oil production competes with food output in poor countries.

Britain, …

by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Several biofuel trade organizations have weighed in on white paper published by the House Energy and Commerce Committee on the impact the renewable fuel standard (RFS) has had on the U.S. …

(Renewable Fuels Association)  In seventeen pages of comments, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) answered questions put forth in the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Energy and Commerce Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Assessment on Agricultural Sector …

by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine)  If RFS detractors get their way, biodiesel may become a casualty of the war against ethanol. It’s up to all of us to make sure this doesn’t happen
In editorials and …

(Environmental and Energy Study Institute)  The House Committee on Energy and Commerce is continuing its assessment of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The Committee has issued its second white paper focusing on “Agricultural Sector Impacts.” …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Darling of the mid-2000s, still beloved by its many fans — biodiesel is increasingly a key to delivering advanced biofuels volumes now — and even more so between now and …

by Robert Vierhout (ePURE/Ethanol Producer Magazine)  …Member states, however, are faced with the reality of an economic crisis and cannot think of any good reason to kill investments and opportunities for more investments in agriculture.
Maybe …

by John Davis (DomesticFuel.com)  Apparently tired of false claims that biodiesel takes from the food supply, biodiesel maker Renewable Energy Group has put out a whitepaper that actually shows how the green fuel is helping …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Belgium, PANGEA (Partners for Euro-African Green Energy) launched an update to its report “Who’s Fooling Whom? The Real Drivers Behind the 2010/11 Food Crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa”.
The report demonstrates …

Food production and distribution are dependent on energy, and some say renewable forms of energy make food production more sustainable in the long run.  In this webinar, part of a National Biodiesel Board webinar series, we’ll …

by Sally Blakewell (Bloomberg BusinessWeek)  Biofuels will cost U.K. motorists about 460 million pounds ($707 million) this year as the government increases their use in transport fuel, driving up food prices in poorer countries, Chatham …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Iowa, the Renewable Energy Group has released a white paper called “Food THEN Fuel: American Biodiesel’s Role in Strengthening Food Security” that seeks to demonstrate how biodiesel supports the nation’s …

by Amanda Peterka  (Governors Biofuel Coalition)  Cellulosic biofuels can become profitable for farmers and help displace oil, but they must use already-available agricultural land, according to a study released by a nonprofit yesterday.
Commissioned by the …

by Anna Simet (Biomass Magazine)  There is enough land available to produce more food, more feed and more biofuels, which are not the cause of global malnutrition problems, according to the World Bioenergy Association.
WBA makes …

by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  The world will be capable of meeting its needs for food, fuel and fiber in 40 years, according to a paper from the Council for Agricultural Science and …

(UFOP/Biodiesel Magazine) The German Research Center for Biomass (DBFZ) was commissioned by the German oilseed promotional council (UFOP) to explain the proposals by the European Commission regarding the amendment of the Renewable Energies Directive and …

by Scott Faber (Environmental Working Group/The Hill E2Wire)  It’s time to face facts: the biofuels mandate Congress established in 2005 is creating too much bad biofuel and not enough good biofuel.
This year, that mandate requires …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In the Netherlands, PANGEA (Partners for Euro African Green Energy) is launching today a booklet outlining Myths and Facts about Bioenergy in Africa. The brochure is intended to demystify the …

by Robin Whitlock  (Renewable Energy Magazine)  …The Renewable Energy Association (REA) has welcomed Energy Secretary Ed Davey’s stance on biofuels at the European Energy Council. Mr Davey said that the idea of a one-size-fits-all approach to the issue …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Take some process heat and steam and CO2 from an ethanol plant — add a greenhouse, then stir and bake — what do you get?   A whole bunch of …

by Ed Ulch (The Gazette)  … World Grain stated in its February issue that “Grain-based food companies had record stock performance in 2012.”
Big oil companies are touting high food prices to stir the public and …

(American Chemical Society)   Amid efforts to expand production of biofuels, scientists are reporting new estimates that downgrade the amount of additional land available for growing fuel crops by almost 80 percent. Their report appears …

by Ewa Krukowska (Bloomberg) The European Union should phase out support for land-based biofuels that displace food production and indirectly boost emissions, eight lobbies said in a letter to the bloc’s energy ministers.
The groups, including Transport …

(ActionAid)  At a seminar on biofuels in Dublin yesterday, David Barissa, a leading expert on food security and land rights from ActionAid Kenya spoke of the litany of broken promises, rights violations and destruction which …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In the new USDA long-term forecasts, rising global meat consumption stands out as a driver of rising food prices, exports.
…But you might ask yourself — in a world where you …

(Renewable Fuels Association) A new research article published last month in the academic journal Biofuels concluded that the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is producing significant positive economic effects in the United States. According to the paper, authored by researchers …

by Steve Raabe (Denver Post)  A Colorado ethanol producer is set to employ a landmark technology that could help resolve the food vs. fuel controversy swirling around corn-based ethanol.
Front Range Energy in Windsor successfully has …

by Tom Doran  (AgNews) …Under the current Renewable Fuels Standards, continued growth in corn-based ethanol use is uncertain do to several factors, including the 10 percent blend wall, slow implementation of higher blend, declining total …

by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  On Feb. 4, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources, released an energy blueprint that calls for a wide variety of …

by David Brough (Reuters)  A director of commodity trading giant Glencore on Sunday questioned the conversion of corn into ethanol biofuel, saying it can contribute to higher prices.
Critics of using foodstuffs to make fuel say the …

by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA)  “Why,” I asked an expert audience at the National Biodiesel Conference in Las Vegas this week, “if you have to take the oil out of soybeans to make your …

(PR NewsWire/Yahoo! News)  Top 5 States For Advanced Biofuel Companies: Calif., Ill., Colo., Texas and Iowa; New Web Site at www.FuelingGrowth.org Documents Impact of Growing Industry
California is home to nearly 30 advanced biofuel companies, but dozens of …

by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com)  Earlier this month, the U.N. Committee on World Food Security (CFS) has released a draft study on biofuels and food security with a public comment period until January 30, 2013. Yesterday, the Renewable Fuels Association …

by Geoff Cooper (Renewable Fuels Association)  Food prices rose just 1.8% in 2012, the second-lowest annual rate in the last 20 years, according to recently released consumer price index (CPI) data. The new data demonstrates …

by Bob Dineen (Renewable Fuels Association)  Flint, Mich., is known throughout the world as the birthplace of General Motors. When an economist from Flint gets the facts about motor fuels all wrong, it’s time to …

by Rudy Ruitenberb  (BusinessDay/iAfrica.com)  Biofuel output from agricultural commodities has contributed to surging world food prices in the past decade, says Nestle chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe.
…Mr Brabeck-Letmathe described making biofuels from food crops as “nonsense”.
The agriculture ministers …

by Bob Dinneen (Renewable Fuels Association)  … In his column, “Ethanol Scam Driving Up Food Prices,” (Tulsa World, January 11), Andrew P. Morriss presents his own opinions and his own facts.
Contrary to Mr. Morriss, ethanol …

by  Kylie Schultz (The International)  With the possibility of an oil crisis on the horizon, a scramble for renewable and sustainable energy sources is underway. In recent years, plant-based fuels known as biofuels have emerged as …

by Geoff Cooper (Renewable Fuels Association)  Here is a fact check of the January 6th New York Times article “As Biofuel Demand Grows, So Do Guatemala’s Hunger Pangs” by Elisabeth Rosenthal:
NYT: In the tiny tortillerias of …

by Robert Vierhout (ePURE/Ethanol Producer Magazine)   … Hopefully, European regulators will take note of what has happened. If they are intellectually honest, they should acknowledge that if the U.S. biofuel policy has no real …

by Orrie Swayze  (AgWeek)   Both sides of the food versus fuel debate assume ethanol wastes food and the debate simply circles around how much food is wasted. Compared to what?
Before determining informed judgments, both …

by Sarah Bittleman (Dairy Herd/USDA)  Rob Green’s recent Wall Street Journal op-ed “The cause of higher grocery bills isn’t the drought. It’s the failed federal ethanol policy” fails to take into consideration a host of factors, other than …

by Susanne Retka Schill  (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  The National Corn Growers Association has launched a new web-based resource,www.EthanolFacts.com.
…The home page of EthanolFacts offers links to short articles on hot topics in ethanol circles: flex-fuel vehicles, …

by Christopher Goins  (Politic365.com)  The chairman of Wendy’s Restaurant’s supply chain cooperative, which is responsible for food purchases for Wendy’s Restaurants, says that because of EPA Renewable Fuel Standards every individual Wendy’s Restaurant has to pay …

(International Institute for Sustainable Development) “Rational policies should be based on understanding the real impacts of government support to biofuels on the environment and the society,” said Sirpa Pietikäinen, MEP and chair of GLOBE EU. …

(Hveiti)  European policymakers should focus on how to organize the synergies between food and fuel rather than wasting time on theoretical models of land use changes that do nothing to improve matters in the real …

by Bob Dinneen (Renewable Fuels Association)  … In regard to the November 28th op-ed, “A Mandate to Raise Food Prices” by Rob Green, Executive Director of the National Council of Chain Restaurants:
If he really believes that …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Michigan, a research team led by Michigan State’s Bruce Dale, writing in the November 2012 issue of Biomass & Bioenergy, that they believe that a lifecycle analysis approach to ILUC …

by Tim Portz (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Advanced Ethanol Council Executive Director Brooke Coleman talks controlling the industry’s narrative and the delicate challenge of battling ethanol’s only customer for market share.
Recognizing that the arguments for advanced …

RP Siegel (TriplePundit)  … We know that the 14 billion gallons of ethanol produced by American agriculture last year displaced close to 10 billion gallons of gasoline, reducing carbon emissions that contribute to warming. Biofuel …

(United Arab Emirates/AMEInfo.com)  Abu Dhabi’s abundant sunshine and climate make it a near-ideal location for growing algae for commercial production of biofuels. Such unique geographic and climatic conditions further enhance the opportunity for the Emirate …

by Kenneth P. Green and Elizabeth DeMeo (American Enterprise Institute) The ethanol mandate continues to do more harm than good — inflicting environmental damage, raising food prices, and distorting energy markets. …
Ethanol and Food Prices  …
Ethanol and …

by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Is there something deeper going on in all this anti-ethanol rhetoric? Is there some sort of philosophical underlying problem?
…So, is it anti-corn? Is it anti-industrial agriculture? I can understand …

by Gene Lucht (Iowa Farmer Today)  …That’s what Craig Floss did when several speakers spoke derisively about biofuels during this past week’s World Food Prize symposium.
Floss, executive director of the Iowa Corn Growers Association, says …

by Olivier De Schutter (The Guardian)  …The new starting point should be to put food security first. Globally, 25% of land is already degraded, and the remaining productive areas are subject to ever-greater competition from industrial …

by Louise Downing and Ewa Krukowska  (Bloomberg BusinessWeek)  The European Union wants to limit the contribution of crop-based biofuels toward the bloc’s renewable energy target to avoid competition with food and spur the development of clean …

(Deutsche Welle)  Lufthansa has stopped testing biofuel in its aircraft because it has exhausted its stocks of biosynthetic kerosene and no other reliable supplies are available. The final test flight was a long-haul service to …

(Reuters)  …The European Commission is under strong pressure from industry groups and some of its own departments to weaken a planned cap on the use of biofuels made from food crops such as rapeseed and …

by Roy Roberson (Southeast Farm Press)  • Sounds like a good deal for grain growers and a bad one for livestock producers and consumers, but are such high prices really good for any of us?
• …

by Rich Keller (Ag Professional)  As most of the reports circulating in the United States are about anticipated grain shortages in meeting demand, a report came out this week from one organization that was headlined: …

by Luzi Ann Javier (Bloomberg BusinessWeek)  Rallies in corn, wheat and soybeans because of drought in the U.S., the top grains shipper, are probably over and it would need worsening weather elsewhere to push up …

by Nigel Hunt and Charlie Dunmore (Reuters)  European Union plans to cap the use of food-based biofuels are a major setback for an industry once seen playing a central role in the fight against climate change, …

(Global Renewable Fuels Alliance)  Today (September 20, 2012) the Global Renewable Fuels Alliance (GRFA) criticized OECD senior counsellor, Carmel Cahill, for making unsubstantiated comments targeting the role of biofuels mandates in food price inflation. Evidence …

by Jean Décotte (Reuters)  * A horsey twist to the search for alternative aviation fuel
* French project targets use of farm waste on a large scale
* Inventor dismisses fears of biofuel vs food competition
Passenger jets …

by Maria Sheahan and Victoria Bryan (Reuters)  …Airlines, keen to cut pollution from jet fuel ahead of EU penalties from next year, and biofuel associations at the Berlin ILA air show this week said their …

(FlightGlobal)The future looks green for US-German relations following an alternative aviation fuels development agreement signed at ILA.
German transport minister Peter Ramsauer and US ambassador Philip Murphy signed the pact designed to strengthen co-operation in a …

(EurActiv)  A French plan to fight food price volatility took further shape yesterday (12 September) with a call to pause global development of biofuels, just a day after President François Hollande pushed for creation of …

by Louise Gray (The Telegraph)  Drivers will be forced to pay an extra £35 a year due to a European climate change target, a report by Oxfam has found.

…The report states that a family currently …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  As reported elsewhere in the Digest today and throughout this week, In Brussels, a draft proposal is under consideration in the EU to eliminate food-crop subsidies for biofuels production by …

by  Robert Vierhout (Ethanol Producer Magazine/EPURE)  …If a magazine like the Economist is writing that the U.S.A. uses 40 percent of its corn for the production of biodiesel (yes, he said biodiesel), you wonder if the …

by Nigel Hunt and Veronica Brown (Reuters)    * USDA report paints less severe corn crop picture than feared
* FAO says situation seems comfortable
* Analysts still wary on prices as U.S. corn harvest in early stages
The …

by Elizabeth Pineau and Sybille de La Hamaide  (Reuters) * France pushes for worldwide pause in biofuel growth
* Biofuels push joins Hollande’s call for strategic food stockpile
* France says will mobilise G20 for better farm coordination
A French plan …

by Terry Daynard  (The Record)   Opinion pieces about fuel ethanol have been popular among national journalists this summer, most seem written quickly and researched poorly.
The one published recently by news services columnist Carol Goar …

(Reuters) The European Union will impose a limit on the use of crop-based biofuels over fears they are less climate-friendly than initially thought and compete with food production, draft EU legislation seen by Reuters showed.
The …

by Nils Klawitter (Der Spiegel)  Creating energy from corn once seemed like a revolutionary idea in Germany. But subsidies for the biogas industry have led to entire regions of the country being covered by the …

by Drew Kershen (BioFortified)  …I do not write to enter the debate focused on fuel standards, markets and commodity speculators.   I acknowledge that other factors also contribute to food crises, particularly in developing nations – …

(ABC News)  Prices of basic foods remained flat in August, offering assurances that a repeat of the global food price crisis that sparked rioting several years ago is unlikely, U.N. food agency officials said Thursday.
While …

(EurActiv)  Europe’s biofuel producers are hitting back at claims that they are at fault for this summer’s high food prices and challenge assertions that crops grown for fuel production are a threat to food supplies.

Food prices rose …

(Netzwerk Biotreibstoffe)  IEEP, the Institute for European Environmental Policy, has produced a review of the evidence base on the impacts of EU biofuel policies on global agricultural commodity prices, commissioned by ActionAid. Following up on the …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  With the US drought, food vs fuel has returned as an issue.  What alternatives are scientists, entrepreneurs developing to take us beyond the old debate?
…1. Feedstock diversification.  In biofuels, it …

(EurekAlert!/American Chemical Society) With 1.3 billion tons of food trashed, dumped in landfills and otherwise wasted around the world every year, scientists today described development and successful laboratory testing of a new “biorefinery” intended to …

(The Local: German’s News in English)  Biofuel containing corn should be banned from German petrol pumps, a minister has demanded, as droughts and a dramatic rise in food prices mean more of the world population is going hungry.
“Rising …

by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  …Talk of a possible renewable fuel standard (RFS) waiver request became a reality in mid-August, when the U.S. EPA was officially petitioned. The clock starts on a 90-day deadline …

by Robert Pore (The Grand Island Independent)  Higher ethanol blend could be used by nearly two-thirds of vehicles on road
On Friday, the U.S. Appeals Court for the District of Columbia Circuit sided with the Environmental …

(Reuters)  The chairman of the world’s biggest food group Nestle, Peter Brabeck, has called on politicians to lobby to end the use of food in the production of biofuels.
“This does not mean that biofuel should …

(The Washington Post/Associated Press)  The federal government is on the verge of approving a grain mainly used as livestock feed to make a cleaner version of ethanol, a decision officials say could give farmers a …

by Todd Sneller (Journal Star)  The petroleum mandate forced on U.S. motorists prevents consumers from choosing less costly fuel options at the pump. Artificial impediments imposed on the fuel market restrict the use of less …

(Drovers Cattle Network)  The 2012 drought is not only taking its toll on U.S. Midwest crop and livestock producers. Ethanol plants also are succumbing as high corn prices dry up their operating margins. Suspension of …

(Renewable Fuels Association)  Responding to an official waiver request of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) by North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) released the following statement:
“The Environmental Protection Agency should reject …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …As is sometimes overlooked, the advanced biofuels pool in the US Renewable Fuel Standard is not only a qualifying pool for cellulosic biofuels – which have struggled to come to …

by Russ White and Mackenzie Mohr(Michigan Live) …“One of the things that we’re evaluating with cellulosic ethanol is (if there) are there places we can produce these crops on lands that aren’t producing food crops,” he …

by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com)  … (E)thanol production provides multiple benefits to Midwestern livestock producers:
1. The ethanol industry has driven the production of a larger corn crop. Simply put, there is more corn to go around.
2. The …

by Nariman Gizitdinov (Bloomberg)  Ethanol credits held by U.S. refiners may help reduce demand for the blending fuel and ease pressure on rising prices of corn, from which ethanol is made, the International Energy Agency said.
The …

by James Melik  (BBC News)  …The chairman of the world’s largest food producer is highly critical of the rise in bio-diesel.
Peter Brabeck-Letmathe of Nestle says crops produced for biofuel use land and water which would …

by Robert Vierhout (ePURE/Ethanol Producer Magazine)  …Other favorite critics such as Oxfam also see the present situation as a new opportunity to slam the EU biofuel policy. The head of the EU office crucifies the policy …

by Tom Buis (Growth Energy/Ethanol Producer Magazine)  …Though it sometimes can be easy to lose sight, the increasing challenges we face are directly correlated to our achievements. In particular, with higher blends of ethanol in …

by Gerard Wynn (Reuters)  …It has now become ubiquitous to quote the ethanol industry’s corn consumption at 40 percent of the national crop.
But the estimate is inaccurate, by assuming away ethanol co-products and in particular …

(NextBigFuture.com)  Halophytes are salt-tolerant plants that are found throughout the world. Halophytes can be used to grow both fuel and food, and a NASA facility is attempting to use halophytes for large-scale fuel production. The aim …

(Brownfield Ag News)  Some strong criticism today from Iowa Senator Charles Grassley directed towards that coalition of livestock, meat and poultry groups asking for changes to the Renewable Fuels Standard’s ethanol mandate.
“I think that what …