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Articles tagged with: Indirect Land Use Change

Reducing the Impacts of Biofuels on Biodiversity
February 9, 2012 – 2:39 pm | No Comment

(Netzwerk Biotreibstoffe)  There is mounting concern that increasing biofuels production is having significant biodiversity impacts. A study by the International Food Policy Research Institute estimated that achieving the EU target would lead to a global …

As EU Ramps Up Biofuels, Climate Debate Intensifies
February 6, 2012 – 3:14 pm | No Comment

By Alessandro Torello (Wall Street Journal)  …But this plant, with a capacity of 800,000 metric tons a year, and others built by different companies around Europe face a new challenge: a possible shift in EU …

Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy Paper Probes Deeper Implications of ILUC Debate
February 3, 2012 – 3:51 pm | No Comment

by Susanne Retka Schill  (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Looking for a middle ground where environmentalists and ethanol advocates could meet, the Minneapolis-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy released a paper by Julia Olmstead reflecting on the lessons learned …

Biodiesels Pollute More than Crude Oil, Leaked Data Show
January 31, 2012 – 1:42 pm | No Comment

(EurActiv)  Greenhouse gas emissions from biofuels such as palm oil, soybean and rapeseed are higher than those for fossil fuels when the effects of Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC) are counted, according to leaked EU …

Low Carbon Fuel Standard: A Petroleum Marketer’s Perspective
January 23, 2012 – 5:17 pm | No Comment

by Erin Voegele (Biodiesel Magazine)  California’s low carbon fuel standard is a hot topic at this week’s California Biodiesel & Renewable Diesel Conference in San Francisco. During a panel titled “California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard …

The ILUC Debate, Four Years Later
January 12, 2012 – 3:26 pm | No Comment

by Bob Dineen (Renewable Fuels Association/Ethanol Producer Magazine)   …The scientific community has better data, improved modeling tools, and a better appreciation of the uncertainty and complexity involved in ILUC analysis. But, above all, they …

Biofuel Subsidies Need Reform
December 30, 2011 – 11:19 am | No Comment

by Nathanael Green (Energy Now/Natural Resources Defense Council)  …Our dependence on oil hurts our economy, helps our adversaries and puts our security at risk. Each day we send over $1 billion overseas for oil, often …

US – Ethanol Growth Not Leading to Cropland Expansion-New USDA Report Shows
December 23, 2011 – 11:04 am | No Comment

(BiofuelsChat.com)  An in-depth analysis of U.S. land use patterns released today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows total cropland decreased by 34 million acres from 2002 to 2007, the lowest level since USDA began …

Doing the Ethanol Shuffle
December 14, 2011 – 10:33 am | No Comment

by Geoff Cooper (Renewable Fuels Association)  There’s a hot new craze called the “Ethanol Shuffle” that’s sweeping seaports from Sao Paulo to Los Angeles. No, it’s not a new dance, this shuffle is all about …

Solving ILUC by Thinking Out of the Box
December 8, 2011 – 3:10 pm | No Comment

by Robert Vierhout (Ethanol Producer Magazine/ePURE)  In various circles, the current thinking on indirect land use change (ILUC) is very much driven by negative perceptions. In the EU, the concern is that biofuel policy is …

Implications of Biodiesel-Induced Land-Use Changes for CO2 Emissions: Case Studies in Tropical America, Africa, and Southeast Asia
December 7, 2011 – 9:56 am | No Comment

by Achten, W. M. J., and L. V. Verchot (Ecology and Society)  Biofuels are receiving growing negative attention. Direct and/or indirect land-use changes that result from their cultivation can cause emissions due to carbon losses in …

Study Shows High Emissions from Growing Biodiesel from Palm Oil
November 28, 2011 – 12:31 pm | No Comment

(Transport & Environment)  Biofuels produced from palm oil grown in tropical peatlands are a significant source of greenhouse gases. This is the finding of a new study done for the International Council on Clean Transportation …

European Union Biodiesel Production Slumps in 2011
November 4, 2011 – 1:29 pm | No Comment

by John C.K. Daly (http://oilprice.com)   Greening the European Union has suffered a setback.
The European Biodiesel Board is reporting that the European Union biodiesel industry production forecasts are noting a 2011 decrease in output, the first …

Is There Too Much Land in Europe?
November 2, 2011 – 3:19 pm | No Comment

by Robert Vierhout (Ethanol Producer Magazine/ePURE)  …Even if that extra demand would not exist, why would European politicians want to increase idled land, knowing that year-on-year, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the …

Publication: A Review of Environmental Issues in the Context of Biofuel Sustainability Frameworks
November 1, 2011 – 12:35 pm | No Comment

by Guariguata, M.R.; Masera, O.R.; Johnson, F.X.; von Maltitz, G.; Bird, N.; Tella, P.; Martínez-Bravo, R  (Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) Bogor, Indonesia)  With the rapid growth of biofuel production and consumption and the …

Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC) Risks Can Be Mitigated, Says E&Y Report
October 11, 2011 – 4:06 pm | No Comment

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …ILUC mitigation practices identified by Ernst & Young include the development of advanced generation biofuels, improvements to crop yields on existing agricultural land, the use of co-products for animal feed …

Industry Split Emerges over Biofuels’ Indirect Impact
October 6, 2011 – 8:20 am | No Comment

by Charlie Dunmore   (Reuters)  European bioethanol producers have broken ranks and urged EU policymakers to introduce rules on the indirect climate impacts of biofuels that distinguish between “good and bad biofuel pathways,” Reuters has …

From Feedstocks to Finance: Upscaling Sustainable Biofuels
September 23, 2011 – 3:10 pm | No Comment

(Netzwerk Biotreibstoffe News)  Deployment of innovative biofuels technologies, possible, but requires strong political commitment, say European biofuels stakeholders. The annual meeting of European biofuels stakeholders stressed that advanced biofuels technologies are now available and called …

Exclusive: EU to Delay Action on Biofuels’ Indirect Impact
September 10, 2011 – 9:14 am | No Comment

by Charlie Dunmore  (Reuters)  The European Union’s top climate and energy officials have agreed to delay by up to seven years rules that would penalize individual biofuels for their indirect climate impacts, details of the dealshowed.
The …

3 Things You Need to Know about Biofuels
August 10, 2011 – 10:41 am | No Comment

by Maggie Koerth-Baker (BoingBoing)  …In a nutshell, that’s why liquid fuel is so valuable. So far, it’s the clear winner when we need energy for transportation—especially air transportation and heavy, long-distance shipping—because it allows you …

European Biodiesel Board Slams EU Thinking on Biofuel Land Use Impacts
August 10, 2011 – 8:56 am | No Comment

(Argus Media)  Europe’s biodiesel producers have commissioned an independent review of a policy document on biodiesel’s indirect effects on land use change, which the European Biodiesel Board (EBB) maintains has skewed the European Commission’s thinking …

Seeking Common Ground
August 9, 2011 – 11:48 am | No Comment

by Julia Olmstead (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Traveling together to Brazil, Americans representing a range of perspectives on ethanol and environmentalism attempt to forge a shared path toward ethanol sustainability
…The divisiveness of the indirect land use …

New Study Finds U.S. Ethanol Production Growth Has Not Triggered Indirect Land Use Change
July 28, 2011 – 9:56 am | No Comment

(PR NewsWire/– Prior studies failed to compare land use predictions to historical data
A new study published in the July 2011 Biomass and Bioenergy Journal on indirect land use change (ILUC) due to biofuels production indicates that the …

First EU Sustainability Schemes for Biofuels Get the Go-Ahead
July 20, 2011 – 10:53 am | No Comment

(European Commission)  Brussels, 19 July 2011 – Biofuels can represent an environmentally-friendly replacement of fossil fuels. However, we need to make sure that tropical forests and carbon rich peatlands are not turned into oil palm …

Analysis: EU Cushions Biodiesel from Damning Carbon Research
July 18, 2011 – 8:03 am | No Comment

by Charlie Dunmore  (Reuters)  The EU will protect existing investment in its $13 billion biodiesel sector even as it acts on new evidence that suggests making the fuel from food crops can do more harm …

Exclusive: Climate Impact Threatens Biodiesel Future in EU
July 13, 2011 – 10:27 am | No Comment

by Charlie Dunmore  (Reuters)  Europe’s biodiesel industry could be wiped out by EU plans to tackle the unwanted side effects of biofuel production, after studies showed few climate benefits, four papers obtained by Reuters show.
Europe’s …

Dr. Bruce Dale Receives FEW Award of Excellence
June 30, 2011 – 2:15 pm | No Comment

by Chuck Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com)  …(A)t the 2011 International Fuel Ethanol Workshop, the 2011 Award of Excellence was presented to Dr. Bruce Dale, Michigan State University, by BBI International VP, Tom Bryan.
Dale, professor of chemical engineering …

Commission Study Questions Carbon Dioxide Benefits from EU Biofuel
June 29, 2011 – 2:31 pm | No Comment

(E-Energy Market/European Voice)  Biofuel from palm oil, soybean and rapeseed produces more greenhouse-gas emissions than fossil fuel, once the environmental side-effects of its production are taken into account, an impact assessment prepared by the European …

2011 Biomass Program Peer Review Meetings Final Meetings June 27-28, 2011 Chrystal City, VA
June 24, 2011 – 9:33 am | No Comment
2011 Biomass Program Peer Review Meetings  Final Meetings June 27-28, 2011 Chrystal City, VA

(US Department of Energy)  The U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Biomass Program will be conducting detailed biennial peer review meetings of its activities throughout the first half …

Battles over Biofuels in Europe: NGOs and the Politics of Markets
June 1, 2011 – 2:01 pm | No Comment

by Sarah Pilgrim and Mark Harvey  (Sociological Research Online)  In this paper, we argue that a consortium of NGOs has played a significant role in shaping the market for, and restricting the use of, biofuels …

Vilsack: Food Price Hike More than Ethanol
May 31, 2011 – 9:48 am | No Comment

by Jerry Hagstrom  (AgWeek)  Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told a gathering of international agricultural development activists recently that U.S. biofuels should not blamed for most of the increases in food prices in recent years. “With …

Do Biofuels Reduce Greenhouse Gases?
May 20, 2011 – 12:56 pm | No Comment

by Kevin Bullis  (MIT’s Technology Review)  A new study fuels the debate over the impact of growing crops for fuel.
Greenhouse-gas emissions from biofuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel, may be lower than many researchers have …

UK Renewable Energy Review: Another Acceptance of International Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC) Arguments Without Analysis
May 17, 2011 – 3:48 pm | No Comment

by Robert Kozak  (Advanced Biofuels USA)  The UK Committee on Climate Change, an “independent statutory body which was established under the Climate Change Act (2008),” recently published their recommendations on future renewable energy in the …

New Study Breaks Link Between Land Use, Biofuels
May 17, 2011 – 11:21 am | No Comment

by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com)  In a new study released today (May 16, 2011) by Michigan State University (MSU), biofuel production in the United States through 2007, “probably has not induced any indirect land use change.” The …

Quantifying Variability in Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Inventories of Alternative Middle Distillate Transportation Fuels
May 13, 2011 – 11:37 am | No Comment

Russell W. Stratton, Hsin Min Wong, and James I. Hileman  (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)   The presence of variability in life cycle analysis (LCA) is inherent due to both inexact LCA procedures and variation of …

Biodiesel 2011: The Real Opportunity
May 12, 2011 – 7:48 am | No Comment

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  An interview with James Garton, president of Mission Biofuels USA subsidiary. We look at the jatropha 1.0 catastrophe, actual biodiesel capacity in the US, palm biodiesel, the RFS, and more.
…The …

Brazilian Renewable Energy: Attitude before Altitude, Part I
May 11, 2011 – 8:24 am | 2 Comments

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …Over the past 12 months, it has become hard to count the number of advanced biofuels companies that are setting up partnerships, or exploring them, in Brazil – but it …

Europe May Introduce Land Use Sustainabilty Criteria
May 5, 2011 – 8:43 am | No Comment

by Joelle Brink (Biofuels Digest Asia)  This was one of the best weeks yet in the Asian biofuels industry. China decided to promote 2G biofuels production and reduce its CO2 emissions by up to 45 …

Land Use Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Conventional Oil Production and Oil Sands
May 5, 2011 – 8:18 am | No Comment

by Yeh, Sonia, Sarah Jordaan, Adam Brandt, Merritt R. Turetsky, Sabrina Spatari, David W. Keith  (Institute of Transportation Studies/University of California-Davis)   Debates surrounding the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from land use of biofuels production …

Next-Generation Biofuels Panel Discussion
May 4, 2011 – 8:23 am | No Comment

(Milken Institute Global Conference)  With oil prices spiking and concern over climate change growing, biofuels hold tremendous appeal. But they must overcome considerable hurdles. Further process and technology refinements are needed to ensure that biofuels …

Europe’s Biofuel Dispute Splits the Industry
May 4, 2011 – 7:30 am | No Comment

by Pete Harrison  (Reuters)  A divisive European debate over the green credentials of biofuels has stalled investment and threatens the future of some producers, but could also create lucrative opportunities, companies said on Tuesday.
After a …

Group Brings Different Views on Biofuels to Brazil
April 28, 2011 – 3:25 pm | No Comment

by Heather Thorstensen  (AgriNews.com)  Four Minnesota farmers were part of a group that traveled to Brazil in March to learn more about indirect land use change, a divisive issue surrounding biofuels.
The Minneapolis-based Institute for Agriculture and …

IEA Releases Technology Roadmap Biofuels for Transport
April 28, 2011 – 1:11 pm | No Comment

(Industrial Fuels and Power)  A new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) says that the widespread deployment of biofuels can play an important role in reducing CO2 emissions in the transport sector and enhancing …

Vilsack Testifies on Biofuels
April 18, 2011 – 9:21 am | No Comment

by Andy Eubank (USDA/Hoosier Ag Today)  Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently testified before a Senate committee on the effect and influence of biofuels. Testifying before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Vilsack responded to …

Indirect Fuel Use Change (IFUC) and the Lifecycle Environmental Impact of Biofuel Policies
April 5, 2011 – 1:35 pm | No Comment

by Deepak Rajagopal, G. Hochman, and D. Zilberman (Science Direct)  A common assumption in lifecycle assessment (LCA) based estimates of greenhouse gas (GHG) benefits (or costs) of renewable fuel such as biofuel is that it simply …

Indirect Land Use Change: A Second-Best Solution to a First-Class Problem
April 5, 2011 – 1:29 pm | No Comment

by David Zilberman, Gal Hochman, and Deepak Rajagopal  (AgBioForum)  Concern about the possible effects of biofuels on deforestation have led to assigning biofuel producers with the responsibility for the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the …

Food and Fuel Debate Important to All Ethanol
March 30, 2011 – 7:40 am | No Comment

by Bob Dinneen (Renewable Fuels Association/Biofuels Digest)   …This faux debate is as important to future ethanol producers as it is to existing ethanol producers. And those looking to capitalize on starch-based ethanol’s public relations …

Action Required Now if Alternative Aviation Fuels Are to Help Meet Emissions Targets, Concludes Major European Study
March 16, 2011 – 1:34 pm | No Comment

(GreenAirOnline)  The transfer from fossil fuels to biofuels is a must if the air transport industry is to survive beyond the middle of century, was the stark message from Dirk van Vreckem of the European …

Sustainability and the Environment I: Uncertainty in Indirect Land Use Change in the Life Cycle of Biofuels: Impacts for Legislation
March 16, 2011 – 1:01 pm | No Comment

by Adam J. Liska (Department of Biological Systems Engineering at University of Nebraska-Lincoln)   Liska opens his presentation with the formerly impending climate change legislation H.R. 2454, and states that the act would have done …

Biofuels: Ethical Issues Launch Seminar April 13, 2011 London
March 1, 2011 – 2:11 pm | No Comment
Biofuels: Ethical Issues Launch Seminar   April 13, 2011  London

Increasing concerns about climate change, energy security and economic development are driving the production of liquid biofuels for transport. Current biofuel production, which mainly uses food crops, has led to deforestation and disputes over rising …