by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA) The following are key excerpts from Pope Francis' Encyclical, “Laudato Si,” or “Praised Be,” in which he calls for renewable fuel use, energy efficiency, transition from harmful, smoky cooking fuels that foster deforestation, and other
economic policy
Back TO HOMENew Report Shows U.S. Biobased Products Industry Contributes $369 Billion, 4 Million Jobs to American Economy
(US Department of Agriculture) 2014 Farm Bill provisions will expand opportunities in the biobased sector by promoting advanced biofuels, renewable chemicals, and biobased product manufacturing efforts Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the release of a new report that shows the
June 17, 2015 Read Full Article
Government Boosts Ethanol Fuels to Create New Industry Jobs
by Tony Moore (The Age) The Queensland Government wants to boost the proportion of sugarcane-derived ethanol in petrol sales from 1.2 per cent to 2 per cent by July 2016, as a catalyst to a $1.8 billion bio-refining industry. It wants to
June 04, 2015 Read Full Article
Argentinian Ethanol Producers Seek 12% Blend in Gasoline
(Platts) Argentinian ethanol producers are pressing the government to boost the blend in gasoline to 12% from 10%, an effort led by the struggling sugarcane sector, an industry source said Thursday. ... With a glut of sugar in the world, it is
May 04, 2015 Read Full Article
In China’s Inner Mongolia, Mining Spells Misery for Traditional Herders
by Simon Denyer (The Washington Post) ... The vast, wind-swept grasslands of Inner Mongolia have been home to nomadic pastoralists for thousands of years, but the rich resources that lay under these rolling prairies have proved a curse to the people
April 07, 2015 Read Full Article
Climate Change: UN Backs Fossil Fuel Divestment Campaign
by Damian Carrington (The Guardian) Keep it in the ground. Framework convention on climate change says it shares aim for strong deal on fighting global warming at Paris summit. The UN organisation in charge of global climate change negotiations is backing the
March 17, 2015 Read Full Article
Dangerously in Denial on Climate Change
by Catherine Rampell (The Washington Post) ... In recent weeks, West Virginia has snatched national headlines for its attempts to doctor school science standards to discredit climate change. The sixth-grade science curriculum, for example, was amended so that, rather than having
January 20, 2015 Read Full Article
Zimbabwe: Govt Okays Ethanol Project
(AllAfrica) The Zanu-PF leadership here has given the Zimbabwe Bio-Energy the green light to set up a US$500 million ethanol plant at Nuanetsi Ranch in Mwenezi in a development expected to help the province attain targets set under Zim-Asset. The proposed
January 15, 2015 Read Full Article
VC Surprise: Spruce Capital, Xeraya Capital Announce First Close of New $150M Biogreentech Venture Fund
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) As a newly-closed venture fund opens for business with a distinctly Malaysian flavor, we look at the state of venture capital and the new role of integrated sovereign investment. From California and Malaysia comes the news
January 09, 2015 Read Full Article
Governor McAuliffe Announces New Virginia Bioscience Initiative
(Augusta Free Press) Governor Terry McAuliffe on Thursday announced a Virginia Bioscience Initiative, kicking off the effort with a public and private sector roundtable discussion on the commercialization of university bioscience research at the State Capitol. University representatives and bio
January 07, 2015 Read Full Article
Cellulosic Ethanol Plant Aided by Controversial Federal Program
by Henry C. Jackson (Capital Press/Associated Press) The refinery in Hugoton, Kan., built by Seville, Spain-based Abengoa, is the largest cellulosic biorefinery in the world. At the RV Park he owns in a remote corner of southwestern Kansas, Jan Leonard is
December 30, 2014 Read Full Article
Plant Expansions Fueled by Shale Gas Boom to Boost Greenhouse Gas, Toxic Air Emissions
by Talla Buford (The Center for Public Integrity) ... By 2018, the land (Stacey) Ryan and other holdouts have fought to keep will be consumed by an $8.1 billion ethane cracker and a multibillion-dollar gas-to-liquids facility, a massive addition to
December 10, 2014 Read Full Article
Government to Promote Alternative Fuels and Hybrid Engines
(Business Standard) Speaking during the Conference on Biofuel 2014 here today, the Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shri Nitin Godkari said that his Government would take all efforts to remove hurdles in the increased production and usage of biofuels
November 06, 2014 Read Full Article
Roussef Re-Elected: How It Impacts the Ethanol Sector in Brazil
by Laís Thomaz* (Advanced Biofuels USA) The final round of the Brazil election happened on October 26th, 2015, and Dilma Roussef, from the Workers Party (PT), was re-elected with 51.4% of the votes. This election was full of unexpected events
November 06, 2014 Read Full Article
Conservative Swing! Udall, Hagan Fall as US Republicans Take Control of the US Senate
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... The most prominent casualties of the night, in terms of the Advanced Bioeconomy, were Democrats Mark Udall of Colorado and Kay Hagen of North Carolina, whose crucial support in 2012 saved the Navy’s biofuels
November 05, 2014 Read Full Article
Carbon Correctness, or Alice in Carbonland
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... Let me get this straight. The EPA says that emissions from petroleum are bad. Landfilling carbon is really bad. Climate change is really, really bad. Recycling is good. So far, understood. But now the
November 03, 2014 Read Full Article
The Next Revolution: Discarding Dangerous Fossil Fuel Accounting Practices
by Alex Nicolson (Renewable Energy World) ... Economists recognize the existence of these costs and call them “externalities.” Other than this recognition, externalities are still not assigned to their correct sources. As just one example, consider the enormous U.S. military budget,
October 29, 2014 Read Full Article
Creating a Strong Economy through Biobased Products
by Brent Erickson (Biotechnology Industry Organization/The Hill) In a recently released report entitled “Why Biobased?” the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) answers the question of why America should invest in a biobased economy. The report explores the economic impacts of
October 29, 2014 Read Full Article
Biofuels Help Boost Sustainable Transport and Support Rural Development in Africa: GRFA
(Renewable Fuels Association) Today, as the first African Sustainable Transport Forum gets under way in Nairobi, Kenya, the Global Renewable Fuels Alliance (GRFA) called on forum attendees to adopt biofuels friendly policies and regulations that would kick-start the increased use
October 29, 2014 Read Full Article
National Algae Association Encourages US Algae Producers to Label Algae-based Products “Made in the USA”.
(National Algae Association) The National Algae Association is pleased to see commercial algae production taking place in the US, and is encouraging all US-based algae producers to label their algae products made in America “Made in the USA.” Those that qualify should
October 20, 2014 Read Full Article
Green Growth: A U.S. Program for Controlling Climate Change and Expanding Job Opportunities
by Robert Pollin, Heidi Garrett-Peltier, James Heintz, and Bracken Hendricks (Center for American Progress) ... This report quantifies the level of investment required for the United States to align emissions reductions with international goals in an economically beneficial and
September 18, 2014 Read Full Article
Divest/Invest: Global Charities Challenged to Help 'Save Civilization'
by Deirdre Fulton (Common Dreams) Could world's wealthy philanthropic foundations spur a 'tipping point' on climate action? A group of 160 leading environmentalists is calling on the world's philanthropists and foundations to use their money to "create a tipping point on
September 16, 2014 Read Full Article
USDA REAP Sinks $3.4 Billion into Rural Economies
by Anna Simet (Biomass Magazine) Though the USDA Rural Energy for America Program has been hugely successful since it was first implemented in the 2002 Farm Bill, numerous changes have been implemented over the years in order to maximize program value. To
August 28, 2014 Read Full Article
Honduras Opens Ethanol Production Plant
(Caribbean Journal) Honduras has opened its first ethanol plant in the eastern portion of the country. It plant is part of a wider initiative led by the Organization of American States to broaden cooperation on biofuels within the hemisphere. The plant was
August 28, 2014 Read Full Article
Grant for Ethanol Plant to be Matched
by Katherine Johnson (Progress-Index) City Council has adopted the Vireol performance agreement, which is a matching funds grant for $250,000 for the firm that has opened a long-delayed ethanol plant in Hopewell. City Manager Mark Haley said the city controls the
August 14, 2014 Read Full Article
Thai Govt to Aim for Rubber Supply Cut to Support Prices
by Apornrath Phoonphongphiphat (Reuters) Thailand's military government will encourage farmers in the world's biggest rubber producer and exporter to cut down more rubber trees in a bid to restrict supply to help shore up prices, a senior government official said
August 12, 2014 Read Full Article
Robert Rubin: How Ignoring Climate Change Could Sink the U.S. Economy
by Robert Rubin (The Washington Post) Good economic decisions require good data. And to get good data, we must account for all relevant variables. But we’re not doing this when it comes to climate change — and that means we’re
July 27, 2014 Read Full Article
Ethiopia Continues Jatropha Biodiesel Production
by Zerihun Getachew (All Africa) Ethiopia is producing biodiesel from jatropha plant with 56 million birr said Water, Irrigation and Energy Ministry. According to Public Relations Director with the ministry, Bizuneh Tolcha , the production of biodiesel from jatropha is
July 22, 2014 Read Full Article
Some Good News for a Change: Why The Farm Bill Is a Big Win for Biofuels and Biorefineries
by Brent Erickson (Biotechnology Industry Organization/Biofuels Digest) ... The true good news is that the Senate conferees prevailed in getting $881 million in mandatory funding over the next ten years to renewable energy and biofuels initiatives and extending incentives for the
February 20, 2014 Read Full Article
A Few More Storms Like Typhoon Haiyan May Finally Make Our Leaders Act on Climate Change
by Jeffrey D. Sachs (The Washington Post/Earth Institute at Columbia University) ...Through all of this, Congress sits supine. And it’s no mystery why: The oil and gas industry has spent about $1.5 billion on registered lobbying in the past 15 years and hundreds
November 18, 2013 Read Full Article
Cheap Corn Deters Buyers in U.S. Sugar-for-Ethanol Program
by Alan Bjerga and Marvin G. Perez (Bloomberg) A glut of corn has damped interest by biofuel makers in a U.S. government program to sell surplus sugar for ethanol, potentially decreasing its effectiveness in propping up sugar prices. With the U.S.
August 29, 2013 Read Full Article
Infrastructure, Energy and Natural Resources: Senate Finance Committee Staff Tax Reform Options for Discussion
(US Senate Finance Committee) This document is the fourth in a series of papers compiling tax reform options that Finance Committee members may wish to consider as they work towards reforming our nation’s tax system. This compilation is a joint product
April 26, 2013 Read Full Article
If 90% Acknowledged Their Belief that the Middle Class Are the Job Creators….
by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA) At the conclusion of the Center for American Progress’s special presentation on “Competing Visions for the U.S. Economy and Implications for the 2012 Elections,” featured presenter, Nick Hanauer summed up the gist of the
June 04, 2012 Read Full Article
The Government Wants Your Advice on Biofuels
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) What do they need, you ask? Your insight on, broadly speaking, how to structure the national bioeconomy blueprint, in the case of the US. In case of Canada, how to best structure the Clean Energy
October 21, 2011 Read Full Article
Congress Needs Courage to End Oil, Gas Subsidies
by Ryan Alexander (Taxpayers for Common Sense/Seacoastonline.com) ...For 16 years, Taxpayers for Common Sense has been advocating for the elimination of federal spending that does not deliver a fair return to taxpayers. Topping our list are a menu of tax
September 19, 2011 Read Full Article
Ralph Avalone Letter to Mitt Romney
Dear Mr. Romney, I have just finished watching your press conference from Las Vegas, Nevada introducing your plan for job creation here in America and I heard your question: "Where are the Green Jobs?" You said that we are an energy rich