by Theodore Kouadio  (AllAfrica.com)  Senegal’s government has called on the expertise of the country’s researchers in drafting a new national law to regulate the production and environmental impact of biofuels.
The law was developed in collaboration …

by Usman A. Bello (Daily Trust)  The Kogi State government has said its planned biodiesel refinery would be completed on schedule in Itobe area of the state.
Acting Governor of the state, Arc. Yomi Awoniyi said …

by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com)  he debate over ethanol, greenhouse gases and land use continues – and that was the topic of a panel discussion at the recent 17th annual National Ethanol Conference.
The panel, moderated byRenewable Fuels …

by Francesco Guarascio and Barbara Lewis (Reuters)  The EU forestry and farming sectors will have to monitor and report from 2013 any changes to land use that could affect greenhouse gas emissions as part of the bloc’s …

by Nina Chestney (Reuters)   Global warming will get worse as agricultural methods accelerate the rate of soil erosion, which depletes the amount of carbon the soil is able to store, a United Nations’ Environment Programme …

(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 …

(The Costa Rica News)  …Blame it on increased awareness of climate change or on the fact that humans have found this new appreciation for nature but biofuel production is the newest craze to hit Costa …

(US Environmental Protection Agency)  he U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing a Notice of Data Availability (NODA) to release its lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) analysis of palm oil used as a feedstock to produce biodiesel and …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …1. The USDA’s crop land report.
What: An in-depth analysis of U.S. land use patterns released this week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows total cropland decreased by 34 million …

(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 …

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 …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)   Biofuels Digest senior editor Meghan Sapp, in her other role as Secretary-General of the Europe-based PANGEA (Partners for Euro-African Green Energy), released her organization’s breakthrough report on biofuels and …

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 …

by Rick Westhead (The Star)  …Indian industrialist Sai Ramakrishna Karuturi has his eye on this lush scenery, too, but he sees something much different: the potential for large-scale commercial farming.
Karuturi, from the South Indian city …

by Kevin Kelley (The East African)  A leading US environmental group is opposing the planned purchase of 325,000 hectares of land in Tanzania by an American company.
…Opponents charge that the deal amounts to a “land …

(AllAfrica.com)  A biofuels project in northern Senegal has triggered violent clashes between villagers, leaving one person dead and two seriously wounded.
A police source says residents of Fanayé village “fought with sticks and machetes” in a …

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 …

by Damian Carrington (The Guardian/The Observer)  The collapse of Sun Biofuels has left hundreds of Tanzanians landless, jobless, and in despair for the future
“People feel this is like the return of colonialism,” says Athumani Mkambala, chairman …

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 …

(US Department of Energy)  The Biomass Program released the “Land-Use Change and Bioenergy” summary report. This publication describes the Biomass Program’s efforts to examine the intersection of land-use change and bioenergy production. It outlines legislation …

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 …

by Finnigan Wa Simbeye    (AllAfrica.com)  An ambitious biodiesel project which was allocated over 8,000 hectares of land by Kisarawe district officials in 2008 is in trouble.
Employees and casual workers of Sun Biofuels Plc, told Business …

by John C.K. Daly (OilPrice.com/Clean Techies)   …According to PetroChina’s Petrochemical Research Institute deputy chief engineer Fu Xingguo, China is looking at generating 933,000 tons annually of fuel ethanol and 165,000 tons of biodiesel.
According to …

(The Daily News)  THE government has been warned against allocating over 320,000 hectares of prime land in Rukwa Region to an American agro-firm, Agrisol Energy, which is seeking to undertake large scale commercial farming for …

(Radio Netherlands Worldwide)  ”Shell must leave our land… The companies must stop using indigenous land,” said Ambrosio Vilhalva, a Guarani from the Caarapo municipality in the southern state of Mato Grosso do Sul.
“We want justice, …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Can biotech and biofuels relieve pressure on water, land, food and fuel by revolutionizing meat production?
…(O)ne sector that fell outside our focus on biofuels – but has important consequences for …

(AllAfrica.com/The Herald)  Traditional leaders have identified unnecessary politicking as a challenge to the successful completion of the Chisumbanje Ethanol Plant.
The task-force chaired by Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development secretary Mr Ngoni Masoka visited the project …

by  Rajendrani Mukhopadhyay  (Chemical and Engineering News)  Government mandates have shaped the market but not always for the best
By 2050, the global population will hit between 7.5 billion and 10.5 billion. Energy demands will soar, …

by Tiffany Stecker (ClimateWire/Scientific American)  A study looks into giving farmers permission to harvest cellulosic feedstocks on land set aside for wetlands and wildlife conservation
Growing cellulosic feedstocks on federally subsidized conservation land could balance the biofuels emissions …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  At the Biomass 2011 conference in Washington, a lively debate session provided a bumper crop of questions from the audience – too many to answer at the time. At the …

by Matthew Knight (CNN)  It wasn’t so long ago that biofuels were being heralded as the savior of the planet and a thoroughly green solution to our climate woes. But fair winds have been replaced …

(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 …

(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 …

(Guardian News and Mail)  Gamba Manyatta village is empty now, weeds already roping around the few skeletal hut frames still standing. The people who were evicted took as much of their building materials as they …

by Damian Carrington and Stefano Valentino (The Guardian)  British firms have acquired more land in Africa for controversial biofuel plantations than companies from any other country, a Guardian investigation has revealed.
Half of the 3.2m hectares (ha) …

(Minnesota Public Radio News)  The Assertion: The state and federal government should continue subsidizing ethanol
Ethanol’s promise as America’s path to energy self-sufficiency once seemed strong. But in recent years, that attraction has been tempered. Even …

by Joelle Brink (Biofuels Digest Asia)  Before the advent of cheap petroleum, farmers often had their own “fuel patch” of local oilseed crops that served as feedstock for the biodiesel needed to power pumps, generator …

by Daryll E. Ray and Harwood D. Schaffer  (Daily Yonder)  …As we listen to this debate, the implied assumption is that the sole purpose of farming is to provide food and certainly that has been …

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 …

by Nathanial Gronewold (Greenwire/New York Times)  …Though 85 percent of Colombia’s cane crop is harvested this old-fashioned way, industry leaders say they have no intention of mechanizing the harvest, for fear of mass unemployment in …

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 …

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 …

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 …

(AllAfrica.com)  Jatropha should not replace any crops in arable farms and instead should be cultivated by smallholder farmers as hedges for farms, an expert has warned.
Pamoja Inc Co-Director Jonathan Otto said in Dar es Salaam …

by Bright Owusu  (Ghana mma)  The time has never been riper for the people of Ghana to speak out about the terrible negligence of consecutive governments who have allowed horrendous land grabs by foreign nationals …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  The public says “depends on the feedstock,” but generally more moral than converting land for oil & gas or housing. An in-depth Digest survey looks at a wide variety of …

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 …

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 …

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 …

(IITA)  As the world grapples with the challenge of feeding an ever growing population in the face of dwindling natural resources confounded by climate change, findings from a recent research by IITA show that science-based …