by Olivia Messerges and Trent Ford (farmdoc daily) As the United States agricultural system faces the challenges of feeding a growing population, adapting to climate change, and reducing environmental consequences, the concept of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) was established as a comprehensive
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
Back TO HOMERice Straw Researcher Bags 2024 GBEP Youth Award
by Alan Sherrard (Bioenergy International) In Rome, Italy, Czaneil Gomez an Aston University, UK visiting researcher from the University of the Philippines Los Baños and Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) has been announced as
July 01, 2024 Read Full Article
SfL Partner Spotlight: Doug Berven
(Solutions from the Land) Solutions from the Land (SfL) Senior Advisor Doug Berven has been with the non-profit since the very beginning, volunteering his time, insight and guidance. In his full-time role, Berven is the Vice President of Corporate Affairs at POET.
January 17, 2024 Read Full Article
Global Bioenergy Partnership Annual Wrap-Up
(Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) ... 2023 was an important year for GBEP, as it was the first time that Partners and Observers met in person for the governance meetings since the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a chance
December 19, 2023 Read Full Article
Council Details Ethanol Policy Expansion Across Asia-Pacific At Global Bioenergy Forum
(U.S. Grains Council) The U.S. Grains Council (USGC) recently participated in the 10th Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP) Bioenergy Week, sharing with 120 bioenergy stakeholders the growing role of fuel ethanol as a transport decarbonization tool across the Asia-Pacific Region. The 10th GBEP
November 28, 2023 Read Full Article
SfL Envoy Goes to Rome to Share Farmer Perspectives on Ag Data
(Solutions from the Land) Kyle Bridgeforth had never considered Rome an agricultural focal point until he found himself there, speaking to leaders from around the world at the 51st Session of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS). Most international leaders brought
November 09, 2023 Read Full Article
Circular Bioeconomy Conversations in Nebraska, Around the World
(Solutions from the Land) The circles of life are catching on, in and beyond agriculture. Ray Gaesser has been talking about the circles of life on his farm in Iowa for years, and circular agricultural systems were the main focus of the recent Iowa Smart Agriculture Forum. But
July 12, 2023 Read Full Article
Agri-Pulse Open Mic Interviews: Neil Caskey, National Corn Growers Association; Kevin Lucke, Chevron Renewable Energy Group; Meagan Kaiser, United Soybean Board; Tom Ryan, Truterra; and More
(Agri-Pulse) This week’s Open Mic guest is Neil Caskey, CEO of the National Corn Growers Association. At the time Congress is preparing to write a new farm bill, corn farmers are facing a period of high input costs and declining
May 30, 2023 Read Full Article
Modern Bioenergy Provides Opportunities for Developing Countries
(IEA Bioenergy) At the online event ’Opportunities of bioenergy and biofuels in developing economies‘, organized on 22 and 23 May by the IEA Bioenergy Technology Collaboration Programme (IEA Bioenergy) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), more than 500
May 24, 2023 Read Full Article
Watch Farmers Speak at COP27: International Climate Change Conversations
(Solutions from the Land) ... Solutions from the Land was especially pleased to have been selected by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization to co-host the opening event at their pavilion on Agriculture Day, which focused on issues related to adaptation,
November 29, 2022 Read Full Article
Global Demand for Biofuels to Slow in Decade ahead Says Forecast
by Chuck Abbott (Successful Farming) Corn will become less important and sugarcane will become the dominant feedstock for making ethanol in the coming decade, said an agricultural outlook published jointly by the OECD and FAO on Wednesday. The report forecast a
July 01, 2022 Read Full Article
Dev Shrestha: Real-World Data Shows No Food Insecurity or ILUC from Biofuels
by Tammy Klein (Transport Energy Strategies) On this episode of the Fueling the Future podcast, I spoke with Dr. Dev Shrestha of the University of Idaho about the recent paper he co-authored, “Biofuel Impact on Food Prices Index and Land Use Change.” The
March 04, 2022 Read Full Article
FAO and JRC Launch New Guidance Note on Monitoring Bioeconomy Sustainability
(Food and Agriculture Organization) The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) today launched an important new bioeconomy publication for policymakers in countries and macro-regions. The Guidance note on monitoring the sustainability of bioeconomy at a
January 11, 2022 Read Full Article
Indonesia's B30 Program to Drive Global Biodiesel Production in 2021-2030: Report
by Aditya Kondalamahanty (S&P Global) Indonesia's use of palm oil to make biodiesel to rise by 23% by 2030; Biodiesel use projected to increase by 7% over coming decade; Palm oil production expected to weaken on sustainability, land constraints Indonesia will be the main
July 08, 2021 Read Full Article
New Report: 21st Century Agriculture Renaissance: Solutions from the Land
(Solutions from the Land) “There has never been a greater need for an Agricultural Renaissance. The many voices of farmers, echoing across centuries of scarcity and abundance, challenge us to find new ways forward, paths that produce abundance for expanding populations
February 18, 2021 Read Full Article
FAO and IRENA Join Forces to Boost Renewables in Food and Agriculture
(Food and Agriculture Organization) The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) have today underscored their continued commitment to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy technologies in agri-food, fisheries and forestry chains
January 15, 2021 Read Full Article
Q&A: IEA Counts on Biofuels in Clean Energy Transition
by Sophie Barthel (Argus Media) The biofuels industry has been strongly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, but is expected to bounce back in 2021, according to the IEA. As member of the Biofuture Platform, an initiative for worldwide collaboration on
January 05, 2021 Read Full Article
SfL Takes on New Role to Advance Agricultural Solutions to Global Mega-Challenges
(Solutions from the Land) Solutions from the Land (SfL), a national, farmer-led not-for-profit that works to place farmers at the forefront of resolving global challenges, announced today that it is broadly expanding its mission to combat the interconnected threats the world
May 11, 2020 Read Full Article
Top 5: A $75 Carbon Tax Will Help Meet 2°C
by Tammy Klein (FutureFuel Strategies) According to a new study by the IMF, carbon taxes are the most powerful and efficient tools to reduce energy use and shift to clean energy sources, but only if they are implemented in a fair
November 01, 2019 Read Full Article
Dare to Understand and Measure (DaTUM) A Literature Review of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Frameworks for Climate-Smart Agriculture
by Heather Jacobs and Rima Al-Azar (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) The main objective of this report is to review the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) frameworks, tools and guidance documents that are available for Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA),
October 23, 2019 Read Full Article
BIOPLAT-EU Project: The Second Project Meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine
(Bioenergy Association of Ukraine) SEC Biomass experts Tetiana Zheliezna, Oleksandra Tryboi and Olha Haidai took part in the second BIOPLAT-EU (Promoting Sustainable Use of Underutilized Lands for Bioenergy Production through a Web-Based Platform for Europe) project meeting that was held in
October 09, 2019 Read Full Article
UFOP: Biodiesel Quotas Take Pressure off the Market - Non-EU Countries Show How Bioeconomics Work
(Union zur Förderung von Oel- und Proteinpflanzen (UFOP)/LifePR) ...The Union zur Förderung von Oel- und Proteinpflanzen (UFOP) has noted that the price situation in the vegetable oil markets would be even more dramatic, if countries such as Argentina, Brazil, the
July 17, 2019 Read Full Article
UN Food and Agricultural Organization Seeks Intern DEADLINE: July 19, 2019
(UN Food and Agricultural Organization) FAO's Liaison Office for North America is currently looking to hire a communication intern, to be based in Washington, DC, for a duration of 3 to 6 months: Key Functions Communications Intern Support the preparation and implementation of an integrated communications
July 03, 2019 Read Full Article
Europe Faces Another Lost Decade in Decarbonising Transport
by Zoltán Szabó (Ethanol Europe/Climate Home News) An essential conversation is missing around sustainable biofuels as part of the decarbonisation solution -- ... Recent research carried out by Ecofys/Navigant has shown that electrification and European sourced biofuels are the only feasible technologies available
June 28, 2019 Read Full Article
Alternative Protein Startups: Let’s Get the Facts Straight about Livestock’s Carbon Footprint
by Lauren Manning (AgFunder News) ... the issue of livestock farming’s impact on the environment is not as clear cut as many of these businesses would have you believe. In fact, many of the data dairy and meat alternative businesses are
March 23, 2019 Read Full Article
UN Food and Agriculture Organization Highlights Climate Smart Agriculture
(UN Food and Agriculture Organization) Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is an approach that helps to guide actions needed to transform and reorient agricultural systems to effectively support development and ensure food security in a changing climate. CSA aims to tackle three main
January 03, 2019 Read Full Article
The FORBIO Project: A Sustainable Alternative for Contaminated and Underutilized Lands
(Global Bioenergy Partnership) The FORBIO (Fostering Sustainable Feedstock Production for Advanced Biofuels on underutilized land in Europe) Project gave stakeholders in Italy, Germany and Ukraine a strategy for the market uptake of sustainable advanced bioenergy value chains. Through a thorough assessment
December 15, 2018 Read Full Article
Pre-Flight Checklist for Biofuture Takeoff: The Digest’s 2018 Multi-Slide ABLC Guide to Biofuture Platform
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Biofuture platformwas launched at COP22 by 20 countries and top representatives of FAO, IEA, IRENA, UNIDO, SE4ALL, WBCSD, UNICA, and other leading organizations, whose aim is to kickstart a global, advanced bioeconomy and impact the future
December 13, 2018 Read Full Article
Global Cooperation Forum: Towards a Common Preflight Checklist for the Biofuture Takeoff
(Biofuture Platform) Relevant stakeholders gather within ABLC Global 2018 to discuss a “minimum checklist” of actions to create the right environment for the global takeoff of the low carbon bioeconomy. -- The Biofuture-led Global Cooperation Forum: towards a common preflight checklist for
November 09, 2018 Read Full Article
The Biofuture We Need: A Brief Video Introduction
(Biofuture Platform) This short documentary film, prepared in partnership with BluOrange, presents an introduction to the main goals of the Biofuture Platform and the overall context behind them -- We are very pleased to announce the release of “The Biofuture We Need”,
November 09, 2018 Read Full Article
How the Global Heatwave Is Harming Agriculture Today and Creating Problems for the Bio-Economy Tomorrow.
by Tom Joslin (Bio-Based World News) ... Few of you will have escaped the heatwave that seems to have enveloped most of the northern hemisphere. Soaring temperatures exceeding 46°C have been recorded in Alvega, Portugal, while seventeen of eighteen of the countries
August 10, 2018 Read Full Article
FAO Offers CSA Sourcebook to Guide Policy Makers, Program Managers
(North American Climate Smart Agriculture Alliance) A digitized sourcebook that offers a wide range of knowledge and expertise on the concept of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) is among a series of products put out by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in
August 01, 2018 Read Full Article
A Bio-Based, Reuse Economy Can Feed the World and Save the Planet – UN Agency
(UN News) Transforming pineapple skins into product packaging or using potato peels for fuel may sound far-fetched, but such innovations are gaining traction as it becomes clear that an economy based on cultivation and use of biomass can help tackle pollution and
May 28, 2018 Read Full Article
The Digest’s 2018 Multi-Slide Guide to the 10-Year OECD-FAO Outlook for Ag, Biofuels
The latest joint OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook spawned this fascinating 10 year outlook of global biofuel markets and agricultural feedstocks. This model based projection, validated through global expert consensus, includes major food commodities and biofuels driven by the outlooks on population, GDP, fossil
February 05, 2018 Read Full Article
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Gerard Ostheimer and Doug Faulkner co-authored a Biofuels Digest article with some ideas that show the benefits bioenergy could bring to Africa: "Africans should strive for sustainable fuels from native feedstocks in a modern infrastructure and thriving economy ... Renewable diesel
October 23, 2017 Read Full Article
Growing the African Biofuel Sector: What’s Not to Like?
by Gerard Ostheimer and Doug Faulkner (Biofuels Digest) ... (I)n Sub-Saharan Africa a thriving indigenous bioenergy industry can play a positive and productive role in modernizing economies and improving the quality of human life. One challenge for African bioenergy development though
October 23, 2017 Read Full Article
Interview — Growing Food or Fuel on Our Land?
(European Environment Agency) Only a decade ago, biofuel production from plants was hailed as an ecological alternative to fossil fuels. Recently, it has come to be seen as competing with food production and not always an effective solution in reducing
August 31, 2017 Read Full Article
EU’s Biofuels U-Turn Is Final Nail in Coffin of Irish Sugar
by Dick Roche (Irish Examiner) When it was enacted in 2009, the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive was seen as a progressive step towards meeting Europe’s climate change targets .... -- The directive — which provided that by 2020 at least
August 07, 2017 Read Full Article
Biofuel Potential in Southeast Asia: Raising Food Yields, Reducing Food Waste and Utilising Residues
(International Renewable Energy Agency) Southeast Asia has considerable resources to produce liquid biofuels sustainably, using biomass feedstocks that would not cause carbon-dioxide emissions or interfere with food supply. Fulfilling the region’s biofuel potential would depend on increased residue collection from food
July 25, 2017 Read Full Article
FAO Official: Food-Based Biofuels Not Necessarily Bad
by Sarantis Michalopoulos (EURACTIV) Brazil demonstrates that sugar cane cultivation can supply both food and ethanol for fuel without harming the environment or pushing up food prices, a senior official from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation of the
June 12, 2017 Read Full Article
Five Things You Need to Know about the ‘Food vs Fuel’ Debate
by Emmanuel Desplechin (Politico/ePURE) The European Commission wants to phase out the use of crop-based biofuels in Europe, even though biofuels like renewable ethanol are currently the main driver of EU transport decarbonization. They also deliver significant greenhouse gas savings
March 28, 2017 Read Full Article
Technology Roadmap: How2Guide for Bioenergy
(International Energy Agency) Bioenergy is the largest source of renewable energy today, providing heat and electricity, as well as transport fuels. Yet, more so than for other low‑carbon energy technologies, the complex and multi‑faceted supply chains of bioenergy projects call
February 17, 2017 Read Full Article
Bio-Based Economy and Climate Change: New Report on Important Links, Pitfalls and Opportunities
(Bio-Based News) There is a clear link between bio-based economy and sustainability as well as green economy. This is not surprising as the use of biomass induces a sustainable use of carbon i.e. carbon absorbed by plants is used to
February 06, 2017 Read Full Article
New UN Report Shows Food vs Fuel Fallacy
by Cindy Zimmerman (Energy.AgWired.com) A new report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) finds that food prices declined for the fifth year in a row in 2016, down 1.5 percent from 2015. That included a steady decline
January 17, 2017 Read Full Article
Commission ‘Dangerously’ Out of Touch with Reality on Biofuels
by Dick Roche (EurActiv/Pannonia Ethanol) A response delivered by Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete in the European Parliament last week demonstrates just how dangerously out of touch with reality the executive is on a policy that impacts on the lives of
December 14, 2016 Read Full Article
World Biodiesel Production/Consumption to Rise 14% by 2020: OECD/FAO
by Chrysa Glystra and Sean Bartlett (Platts) Global biodiesel production and consumption is forecast to rise by 14% from 2016 to 2020, driven by the fulfillment of current biofuel policies in the US, Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia and the EU, according to an
July 08, 2016 Read Full Article
Global Food Prices Set to Stagnate as Population Growth Slowing
by Manisha Jha and Isis Almeida (Bloomberg) World population growth to slow to 1% a year over next decade; Food demand growth expected to slow progressively: OECD-FAO -- Food prices will stagnate over the next decade as the population growth rate declines and
July 08, 2016 Read Full Article
Reconciling Food Security and Bioenergy: Priorities for Action
by Keith L. Kline, Siwa Msangi, Virginia H. Dale, Jeremy Woods, Glaucia M. Souza, Patricia Osseweijer, Joy S. Clancy, Jorge A. Hilbert, Francis X. Johnson, Patrick C. McDonnell, Harriet K. Mugera (Global Change Biology: Bioenergy) ... Understanding the nexus of food security, bioenergy sustainability, and resource management facilitates achievement of the 2030
June 15, 2016 Read Full Article
Fuel vs. Food? A New Study from a UVA Environmental Scientist and Colleagues Shows about a Third of the World’s Malnourished Population Could Be Fed by Using Resources Now Used for Biofuel Production.
by Fariss Samarrai (University of Virginia) As strategies for energy security, investment opportunities and energy policies prompt ever-growing production and consumption of biofuels like bioethanol and biodiesel, land and water that could otherwise be used for food production increasingly are
March 08, 2016 Read Full Article
The 7 Flying Reindeer: Renewable Fuel Myths that Continue to Defy Gravity
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Food vs Fuel, biofuels causing corn planting to skyrocket, low oil prices killing off renewable fuels, the subsidy myth, the emissions myth, the “people won’t buy the fuels” myth, and the Insanity myth. ... In the world
December 23, 2015 Read Full Article
UN Flags Biofuels Slowdown, as Food Prices Renew Decline
(Agrimoney.com) The United Nations highlighted a cooling in the competition by biofuels plants for crops as it revealed a return by food prices into decline, as cereals and meat values fell to five-year lows. The UN's food agency, the Food and
December 03, 2015 Read Full Article
Big Oil's Not So Smart Campaign
(Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association) ... If Big Oil truly believed its product (oil) was better than ethanol, why not launch a campaign on the greatness that is oil. Perhaps Big Oil could tell us how oil doesn't raise food prices. Nevermind that recent
October 28, 2015 Read Full Article
FAO and France Urge Including Agriculture in Global Climate Change Debate
(Food and Agriculture Organization/Ag Professional) All countries should strive to ensure an ambitious agreement to tackle climate change, putting food security and agriculture at the centre of debates on the issue, say FAO Director General José Graziano da Silva and
October 17, 2015 Read Full Article
UN Data Suggests Ethanol Production Does Not Increase Food Prices
(Biofuels International) The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UN FAO) has released data showing that global food prices have experienced the steepest monthly drop since 2008. According to the Global Renewable Fuels Alliance (GRFA), the decline in food prices has
September 14, 2015 Read Full Article
UN Data Shows That Ethanol is Not Causing Food Price Rises
(Global Renewable Fuels Alliance) The UN FAO has released data showing that global food prices have experience the steepest monthly drop since 2008, casting doubt upon concerns about the impact of ethanol production in food price increases. The recent decline
September 14, 2015 Read Full Article
Commentary on the Recent Development of Price Indices for Oilseeds and Meals
(Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) In July, the FAO price indices for oilseeds and meals rose by 3–4 percent compared to the previous month, gaining, respectively, 4 and 7 points. By contrast, after strengthening for two consecutive
August 11, 2015 Read Full Article
Ethiopia: The Biofuel Myth
by Jose Graziano DA Silva (UN Food and Agriculture Organization/AllAfrica.com) Over the past several years, biofuels have become a bone of contention. For some, a renewable energy source produced from organic matter amounts to a magic wand in the fight
July 16, 2015 Read Full Article
Food in the Age of Biofuels
by Jose Graziano da Silva (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization/Project Syndicate) ... But this is a false dichotomy. The choice cannot be between food and fuel. We can make good use of both. Given the right conditions, biofuels can be an effective means
July 03, 2015 Read Full Article
Livestock Feed to Overtake Biofuel in Grain Demand Growth - FAO/OECD
(CNBC/Reuters) Livestock feed will surpass biofuels as the main source of growth in global grain consumption in the next 10 years as emerging countries consume more animal protein while lower oil prices and policy changes end a decade of high
July 01, 2015 Read Full Article
UN Sustainable Energy for All Announces Global Bioenergy Initiative
(Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials) UN FAO, Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, Carbon War Room, KLM, Novozymes and the UN Foundation partner to scale up the development and deployment of sustainable bioenergy solutions to meet the global need
May 20, 2015 Read Full Article
End the Food vs Fuel Debate
by Bliss Baker (Global Renewable Fuels Association) The recent drop in oil prices and global food price index should finally put an end to the food vs. food debate, writes Bliss Baker of GRFA. The price of oil and energy inputs
May 14, 2015 Read Full Article
Food vs. Food and Fuel
By Hilary Landfried (Project Gaia) ... We rarely think of it here in the West, hooked up to electric and gas grids as we are, but nearly half of the world’s population still cooks on biomass fuels such as wood, charcoal, and
March 13, 2015 Read Full Article
Biofuels: Good News and False Solutions
by Elmar Baumann (Association of German Biofuels Producers (VDB)/Euractiv) While the discussion hots up, there is good news for all those in favour of biodiesel and bioethanol as more scientific work on iLUC has been published. ILUC means that some of
February 20, 2015 Read Full Article
Report Based on False Assumption of Either-Or Land Use Approach
(Environmental and Energy Study Institute) In the World Resources Institute (WRI) working paper, “Avoiding Bioenergy Competition for Food Crops and Land,” the authors work off the assumption that land-use decisions are used making an “either-or” approach, i.e., land can either
February 08, 2015 Read Full Article
World Resources Institute Wrong About Biofuels Impact on Land Use and the Environment
(Renewable Fuels Association) Today (January 30, 2015), the Global Renewable Fuels Alliance (GRFA) criticized a new report by World Resources Institute (WRI) for its false data on the environmental and land use impacts of biofuels. The report titled, ‘Avoiding Bioenergy
February 06, 2015 Read Full Article
UN’s Pro Biofuels Stance an ‘Important Milestone’ for Agriculture
by Olivia Midgley (Farmers Guardian) Sustainable biofuel production can offer additional incomes for farmers as well as helping to achieve energy security, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) chief has said. Speaking at the Global Forum for Food and
February 06, 2015 Read Full Article
UN Flags Vulnerability of Ag Prices to Oil Market Weakness
(AgriMoney.com) The United Nations highlighted the vulnerability of agricultural commodity values to the weakness in crude oil markets as it revealed a drop in food prices to a four-year low, led by declines in sugar – one of the main
January 09, 2015 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
Answers for Your Questions about the Bioeconomy, Biofuels, Renewable Chemicals and Bioproducts
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... With great sessions at conferences, delegates are usually keen to get a hold of the powerpoint decks. But how do you get a hold of the great Q&A that follows the presentations — or the
August 14, 2014 Read Full Article
OECD-FAO Outlook Report Predicts Growth in Ethanol Production
by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) A new agricultural outlook report published by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations predicts that the consumption and production of biofuels will increase
July 21, 2014 Read Full Article
World Leaders Promote Sustainable Production to Meet Global Food Challenges
(25 x '25) The annual Global Forum for Food and Agriculture is currently underway in Berlin and those attending are grappling with a formidable challenge: finding ways to insure food security around the world as population surges by nearly 30
January 17, 2014 Read Full Article
Oil Seen as Main Driver of Ethanol and Grain Prices in UN Study
by Rudy Ruitenberg (Bloomberg) Oil prices were found to be the main drivers of ethanol and grain prices in a statistical analysis by the United Nations’ Food & Agriculture Organization. Ethanol moves in line with oil in the long term, while
December 16, 2013 Read Full Article
HLPE Refuses to Release Sources of Funding for Report: GRFA
(Global Renewable Fuels Alliance) As the Committee on World Food Security’s (CFS) annual Plenary gets underway in Rome, the Global Renewable Fuels Alliance (GRFA) is demanding the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE) withdraw their
October 30, 2013 Read Full Article
Ethanol Groups Issue Letter to UN Committee on Food Security
by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) ... The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Committee on World Food Security kicked off its annual meeting on Oct. 7 in Rome. Biofuel policy is among the issues that are scheduled to
October 15, 2013 Read Full Article
Small Farmers Risk Exclusion from Biofuels Certification Schemes
(UN Food and Agriculture Organization) The way certification schemes for biofuels are structured makes it difficult for smallholder producers and many developing countries to participate in export markets, according to a new report from FAO. The report, Biofuels and the Sustainability Challenge,
February 27, 2013 Read Full Article
RFA Condems UN Biofuels & Food Security Study
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 (RFA) submitted comments about the
February 02, 2013 Read Full Article
Biofuel Causing World Hunger
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 gathered in Berlin said in
January 23, 2013 Read Full Article
Setting the Example
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 negative impact on the food/feed
January 02, 2013 Read Full Article
FAO Publishes Book on Biofuels Co-Products Use in Animal Feeds
(American Association of Swine Veterinarians) The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization recently published a book entitled Biofuel co-products as livestock feed - Opportunities and challenges. AASV member Dr Harold Tilstra co-authored Chapter 3; ”Impact of United States biofuels co-products on
September 27, 2012 Read Full Article
Fears of Global Food Price Crisis Recede
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 third global food price spike
September 13, 2012 Read Full Article
France Seeks Biofuels Pause in Global Food Strategy
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 to fight food price volatility
September 13, 2012 Read Full Article
Ethanol Fuelling Growth
by Peter Hemphill (Weekly Times Now) ...While ethanol production has become the largest use of the corn crop, it has also developed a high protein byproduct - dried distillers grains with solubles - now highly prized around the world as
February 16, 2012 Read Full Article
FAO Chief Biofuel Criticism ‘Misinformed,’ Industry Lobby Says
by Rudy Ruitenberg (Bloomberg Business Week) Criticism of biofuels and their impact on commodity prices by the new director general of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization is “simplistic and misinformed,” an industry lobby said. Higher energy prices are the “primary
January 25, 2012 Read Full Article
US a Cereal Offender on Ethanol, Says UN
by Rudy Ruitenberg (Sydney Morning Herald) The US policy to produce ethanol biofuel from corn is raising prices for the grain across the world, said Jose Graziano da Silva, the new director-general of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation. ''FAO
January 23, 2012 Read Full Article
Bioenergy and Food Security Criteria and Indicators (BEFSCI) project
BEFSCI is reaching out to producers to catalogue and showcase innovative approaches that have been used in sustainable bioenergy initiatives. We want to hear stories, experiences, lessons learned about what made these pioneering activities a success both for the producers and
May 04, 2011 Read Full Article
Don't Fall for Jatropha Plants, Warns UN Body
by Prabha Jagannathan (Economic Times) In a significant implication for the country’s biofuel policy, a specialised arm of the United Nations has warned that the developing countries should not buy blindly into the ‘jatropha for biodiesel’ argument. Warning against the