Articles tagged with: land use change
(Environmental Protection Agency) This report is the second of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) triennial reports to Congress required under the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA). EISA Section 204 calls for EPA to report …
(MIghty Earth) A new investigation, “Burned: Deception, Deforestation, and America’s Biodiesel Policy” by the organizations Mighty Earth and ActionAid USA has found that biodiesel is not the environmentally friendly, “green” fuel claimed by industry producers. On-the-ground …
by David Kessel (Marin Independent Journal) … Discussions on energy use and production are important, but need to be based on factual information, not made up red herrings.
• The articles state the intent was to …
by Amy Mayer & Erica Hunzinger (Harvest Public Media) … Since 1980, the amount of land being farmed or grazed in the U.S. has dropped 13 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Much …
(Associated Press/Honolulu Star Advertiser) An energy entrepreneur has proposed purchasing the Molokai Ranch and turning part of it into a farm for hibiscus that would be used for bio-fuel.
Andres De Rosa, the CEO of renewable energy …
(The Guardian Nigeria)The Oyo State government has paid compensation to about 77 families whose lands were acquired recently for mass production of cassava in Otu, near Iseyin. The Commissioner for Lands, Housing, and Survey, Mr. …
by Sarantis Michalopoulos (EurActiv) Not all second-generation biofuels listed by the European Commission are sustainable, critics warn, urging policymakers to use the indirect land use change (ILUC) factor to “clean up” the list.
The Commission’s proposed revision …
John Abraham, in an article in The Guardian, notes, “Biofuels can help solve climate change, especially with a carbon tax — We’re not yet optimizing biofuel production for both economic and environmental factors.” And, “If society …
by John Abraham (The Guardian) Biofuels can help solve climate change, especially with a carbon tax — We’re not yet optimizing biofuel production for both economic and environmental factors
…
These are great starts but we will still need some …
by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) On March 8, Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., introduced companion bills that aim to dismantle the Renewable Fuel Standard and sunset blending obligations for conventional, advanced, …
by Richard A. Lovett (Cosmos) Could green microorganisms be the geoengineering fix the world’s needs? — … Not only can these fast-growing single-celled plants provide biomass for carbon-neutral fuels, they can provide animal feeds and high-quality protein …
by PTI, Guwahati (India TV) Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) will utilise bamboo as main biomass for producing bioethanol under the project at Owguri Chapori village in Golaghat (Assam).
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The tribunal was hearing a plea filed by wildlife activist …
by Melissa Tanji (Maui News) … Around 1,330 gallons of sunflower oil was generated from the first 14-acre field farmed by Pacific Biodiesel last year.
Company founder and President Bob King said this past week that most …
by Tim Pearce (Daily Caller) Two environmental groups sued the Trump administration Friday over the threat that the 2018 renewable fuel volume standards pose to endangered species.
The Sierra Club and the Gulf Restoration Network are targeting …
(Deutsche Welle) Members of the European Parliament have rejected an attempt to phase out support for crop-based biofuels. So what’s next in the food versus fuel debate? — … The legislative shift, set to take effect in …
(Wisconsin State Journal) … A study conducted for the U.S. Agriculture Department found corn ethanol’s life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions, by 2022, will be 43 percent lower than gasoline baseline emissions if ethanol plants continue as usual. If ethanol …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies is working with bioenergy industries and leaders to assist them in the sustainable development of bioenergy that includes our fish and wildlife resources, in …
(New Indian Express) A day after Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan sought the assistance of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for setting up an ethanol plant in Bargarh district, the State BJP on Sunday targeted Labour Minister …
( São Paulo Research Foundation – FAPESP/EurekAlert!) Expansion of sugarcane cultivation for biofuel in areas not under environmental protection or reserved for food production could also reduce global emissions of carbon dioxide by up to 5.6%, …
by Carol Spaeth-Bauer (Wisconsin State Farmer) A University of Wisconsin-Madison study released on Nov. 15 has officials in the ethanol industry frustrated, disputing the methodology of the study saying the claims of the study are not supported by fact.
The …
(University of Hohenheim) Until now, acreage was designated for either photovoltaics or photosynthesis, that is, to generate electricity or grow crops. An agrophotovoltaics (APV) pilot project near Lake Constance, however, has now demonstrated that both uses …
by Paola Tamma (EurActiv) The lawmaker in charge of steering the EU’s biofuels reform in the European Parliament is looking for compromise after MEPs last week rejected his proposal to phase out crop-based biofuels entirely by 2030 …
by Lisa Gibson (Ethanol Producer Magazine) A massive expansion of land use for sugar cane growth in Brazil, and a subsequent increase in ethanol production with the feedstock could reduce global carbon dioxide emissions in the …
by Adam Klauber, Isaac Toussie, Steve Csonka and Barbara Bramble (Aviation Week & Space Technology) To some, biofuels conjure negative images of industrial-scale agriculture with cornstalks as far as the eye can see, or worse, displaced …
by Meghan Sapp (Biofuels Digest) In Sweden, a group of four NGOs have written an open letter to members of European Parliament urging them to rethink the proposals for the second version of the Renewable …
(European Environment Agency) Making Europe’s production, consumption and trade in food environmentally sustainable is possible, but it will require a major shift in public attitudes, policies and knowledge and seizing current opportunities for change, according to …
by Aino Siirala* (Advanced Biofuels USA) The 10th Biofuels International Conference and Expo took place in Edinburgh this year. The conference was co-located with Bioenergy Insight 2017 conference which gave the participants an opportunity to …
(EU Reporter) Ahead of key votes on the post-2020 EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) in the ITRE, ENVI and TRAN Committees of the European Parliament (EP), EU Biodiesel Chain held a debate in Strasbourg aimed …
(National Biodiesel Board) A new academic paper published in Biotechnology for Biofuels shows biodiesel’s benefits are even better than previous models suggest. Updated modeling from Purdue University suggests the advantage of using biodiesel has been underestimated by …
by Jeremy Deaton (Nexus Media) … Many are leasing their fields to solar developers in need of flat land clear of trees and other obstructions. This practice has become so popular that the Solar Energy Industries Association published …
(Bio-based News) U research project MAGIC kicks off — On 4-5 July 2017, the 25 partners involved in the EU funded research project MAGIC held their kick-off meeting at the Copa-Cogeca secretariat in Brussels. Led …
by Sara Taginawa (Environmental and Energy Study Institute) On Tuesday, July 25, the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology held a hearing examining the future of biofuels and the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). According to …
(Biofuels International) Biofuels are needed to meet the UK’s commitments to mitigating climate change, according to a new report requested by the county’s government.
Second generation biofuels, made from wastes and by-products of other sectors, will …
(Phys.Org/ University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) … To penalize the carbon emissions from this so-called indirect land use change, the USEPA and California Air Resources Board include an indirect land use change factor when considering the …
by James Bobreski (Finger Lakes Times) … Ethanol is the alcohol in our beer that we enjoy at a ball game, a party or after a long day at work. In this author’s opinion that’s where it …
by Emily Druckman (Renewable Fuels Association) More than a decade after the original renewable fuel standard (RFS) was signed into law, tremendous progress has been made toward its goals of energy security, clean air and …
by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Increasing efficiency is the ethanol industry’s top goal, and proving it to the U.S. EPA opens the way for expanded ethanol production. — The number to beat to …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The production of Agrisoma’s Resonance Carinata is being expanded to multiple locations globally to provide a supply of sustainable, non-food oils for meeting the demand for sustainable biofuels. Resonance Carinata …
“Think of it as 100+ acres of energy storage and carbon sequestration,” said Kelly King, Vice President and Co-Founder of Pacific Biodiesel and recently inaugurated member of the Maui County Council. “There are 36,000 acres …
by Marc J. Rauch (The Auto Channel) … Faced with some actual governmental actions that were detrimental to gasoline/diesel dominance, instead of the virtual carte blanche pro-petroleum fuel policies that they usually receive from the government, …
by Tim Jamison (The Courier) The city is donating land and extending sewer in the Martin Road business park to lure a new biodiesel fuel blending facility.
Waterloo City Council members voted unanimously Monday to approve …
by Bruce Dale (Detroit News) Regarding “Renewable Fuel Standard has failed, April 16,” Prof. Wolfram has failed to do his homework.
The corn grown to make ethanol is not the same as sweet corn we eat. …
by Daryl Worthington (Biofuels International) Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has denounced the European Parliament Resolution on Palm Oil and Deforestation of Rainforests, describing it as ‘discriminative’.
In addition, the ministry claims the EU decision was …
by Jim Lane (BiofuelsDigest) … For any society, an even more perfect class of technology assets would allow us to move in either direction — perfect convertibility. When energy prices are low and supply is …
by Jessie Stolark (Energy and Environmental Study Institute) Are we using the right tools to understand land use change, particularly at the local level, and how can understanding of land use change be improved?
The Renewable Fuel …
by Ashwin Raman (Duluth News Tribune/Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association) I believe the March 21 story, “Habitat loss highest near ethanol plants,” did a disservice to readers because it cited a study that contains dubious and inaccurate conclusions.
The …
by Bob Dinneen (Renewable Fuels Association/Ethanol Producer Magazine) RFA’s president and CEO highlights key facts from the organization’s annual industry outlook handbook in the View from the Hill column — … The handbook dives into …
by Meghan Sapp (Biofuels Digest) In Australia, the federal government’s economic advisor—The Productivity Commission—has called on New South Wales, Queensland and commonwealth governments to drop biofuel blending, saying the polices unnecessarily increase fuel prices for …
(Sputnik News) Whereas biofuel is often touted as the “greenest” solution to the Earth’s climate woes, such as global warming, many experts find it at least as damaging to the environment as ordinary fuel. Another …
by Jordan Lubetkin (National Wildlife Federation) Millions of acres of wildlife habitat are being lost to crop production, according to a new peer-reviewed study published today in the journal Environmental Research Letters, which found a …
David C. Walmsley Rob Bailis, and Alexandra-Maria Klein (Environmental Science & Technology) Despite setbacks, interest in Jatropha cultivation remains high. This study addressed the question to what extent Jatropha cultivation has replaced specific vegetation and …
by Stephen Rapundalo (Morning Consult/MichBio) The United States Department of Agriculture just dropped a truth bomb. According to the agency’s new landmark report, the carbon benefits associated with homegrown ethanol have far surpassed previous expectations …
(Phys.Org) A new study published last week in the journal Environmental Research Letters by researchers at the University of Puerto Rico offers the first regional look at lands being converted to palm oil plantations in …
(RightsAndResources.org) Experts at Dakar event point to a significant cause of investment losses, work stoppages and violence across Africa: the failure of governments and companies to respect the land rights of indigenous and local communities
Sixty-three …
by Nicolas Loris (DownsizingGovernment.org/The Heritage Foundation) … The problem is not with the voluntary use of biofuels in the marketplace, but rather policies that mandate and subsidize biofuels. …
Congress should end its intervention in the biofuels …
(Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) Climate Researchers Study Impacts of Land-use Change on Carbon Dioxide – Reforestation Is Important to Climate Protection and Species Diversity – Study in Nature Geoscience — CO2 emissions caused by changes …
(U.S. Department of Energy/Ethanol Producer Magazine) The 2016 Billion-Ton Report (BT16), Volume 2: Environmental Sustainability Effects of Select Scenarios from Volume 1, jointly released by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office and Oak Ridge …
(Environmental Research Web) Cultivating algae for food and biofuel could make a serious dent in our greenhouse gas emissions, as well as helping to save freshwater resources and reduce deforestation.
Currently the emissions associated with land-use …
by David DeGennaro (National Wildlife Federation) Since Congress passed into law in 2005 a federal mandate to blend corn-based ethanol and other renewable fuels into conventional gasoline, the increased demand for corn – which has supplied …
by Chelsea Harvey (The Washington Post) The Great Plains lost more grassland to agriculture in 2014 than the Brazilian Amazon lost to deforestation, says a recent report from the World Wildlife Fund. And it argues that …
by Joan Koka (Argonne National Laboratory) … The new analysis, published in The Royal Chemistry Society’s Energy & Environmental Science, incorporates the additional effect of changes in reflectivity, or “albedo.” Albedo effects sum up the amount …
by Carol Werner (Environmental and Energy Study Institute/Morning Consult) … H.R. 5180, a proposal introduced by U.S. Representative Bill Flores (R-Texas), would place a 9.7 percent cap on consumption of homegrown biofuels, rolling back 11 years …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In the EU, Copa & Cogeca warned against EU Commission plans to phase out conventional biofuels post-2020 at a high-level dinner debate organized by the European Oilseed Alliance in European …
by Jeremy Cox (DelmarvaNow.com) … The measure would bar the energy projects from lands in agricultural zones. That would rob solar developers of their preferred land-use type for building. The recipe for catching rays, after all, …
by Anthony Adragna (Politico’s Morning Energy) … YOU BUILD ME UP: The Global Commission on the Economy and Climate released a report today that found $90 trillion in infrastructure investments will be needed over the …
(International Council on Clean Transportation) … Indonesia’s policies promoting the development of biofuels has always been portrayed as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Government officials and the oil palm industry assert that implementation …
by Rebecca Chillrud (Environmental and Energy Study Institute) … The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently issued an endangerment finding for aircraft, indicating that greenhouse gas emissions from aircraft are hazardous to public health. This finding requires …
(National Biodiesel Board) Economic modeling by Purdue University continues to reduce predicted emissions of ‘indirect land use change’ — Biomass-based fuels present a tremendous opportunity to transition toward a more sustainable mix of renewable energy. …
by Geoff Cooper (Renewable Fuels Association/Denver Post) Re: “EPA dodges responsibility on ethanol,” Sept. 3 editorial. The ethanol industry agrees with The Denver Post that the Environmental Protection Agency should conduct updated scientific assessments on …
by Dick Roche (Biofuels Digest/Pannonia Ethanol) Just as the EU institutions were shutting up shop for the long summer break the EU Commission issued its strategy to reduce transport emissions in the post 2020 period, ‘European …
by Marie-Joe Costantine (BioFuelNet) Study stating “ biofuels are worse than gasoline” is fundamentally flawed — … In the study, when (John) DeCicco and colleagues calculate the CO2 emissions going into the atmosphere, they consider all parts …
by Robert C. Brown (Des Moines Register) … The genesis of the latest headlines is frustration among certain biofuels critics that life-cycle analysis no longer supports their criticism of biofuels. The solution, of course, is …
by Marc J. Rauch (The Auto Channel) … I can’t say for sure, since I haven’t done a count and compared it to a calendar, but it seems to me that the American oil industry has …
Rowena Lindsay (Christian Science Monitor) A new study suggests that biofuels can mitigate only 37 percent of the CO2 released by burning the biofuel. — That’s a flawed premise, argues Daniel Schrag, a geology professor …
(U.S. Geological Survey) The Northern Great Plains of North and South Dakota, which support over 40 percent of United States commercial honey bee colonies, are quickly becoming less conducive to commercial beekeeping as a result of …
(MichBio/BusinessWire) MichBio, the biosciences industry association in Michigan, issued the following statement today regarding the release of a University of Michigan research study that claims the rising use of biofuels in the U.S. has led …
by Geoff Cooper (Renewable Fuels Association) … Mr. (Mark) Perry suggests (without any scientific support or a single citation) that ethanol expansion has somehow led to “destruction” of prairie in the Great Plains, but says not …
by Bob Dinneen (Renewable Fuels Association/U.S. News and World Report) … Indeed, it’s fairly obvious that (Mark) Perry’s yarn is simply intended to shift attention away from the real culprit behind destruction of prairie in the Great …
by Keith Matheny (Detroit Free Press) The multi-billion-dollar U.S. biofuels industry — promoted and expanded for over a decade by the federal government — may be built on a false assumption, according to a new University …
(Collective Action and Property Rights) In this blog, Farai Mutondoro, Mary Jane Ncube, Manase Chiweshe and Derick Hamunakwadi discuss the impact of land corruption, particularly on women. The blog is informed by a case study …
by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) A recent column provides some insight into anti-ethanol stances by making a connection between beef prices, the cow herd expansion and restaurant profits, with rather breath-taking simplification. — A …
by Dick Roche (EurActiv) Public policy should be built on firm foundations. Objective analysis, verifiable facts and solid science are good starting points, but that was absent in biofuels policy-making, writes Dick Roche.
The foundations on …
(Environmental and Energy Study Institute) … With a potential omnibus spending package on the table this fall, the oil industry and some environmental groups have raised again the proposition of RFS reform. Two major claims made …
by Jessie Stolark (The Hill/Environmental and Energy Study Institute) … The total amount of U.S. land under production by American farmers is down– not just over the last 50 or 100 years, but also over the last decade according …
by Geoff Cooper (Renewable Fuels Association) Here we go again. We didn’t think it could get much worse than the Associated Press hit piece on ethanol in late 2013. But an ethanol hatchet job by …
by Spencer Chase (Agri-Pulse) … When it comes to land use, Colin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, testified that a University of Wisconsin study had shown that 7.3 million acres of land had …
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 …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … The headline from the event is that projects and feedstock providers are more engaged than we have seen previously — a wave of technology development that once took place …
by Mike Lefever (Post Independent/Citizen Telegram) … In the end, though, I hope your take away is the same as mine; there’s a place at the pump for ethanol, petroleum and other fuels. We just don’t want …
by Dick Roche (EurActiv) The European Commission’s proposal to scrap the mandate for the use of biofuels and, in effect, to ‘kiss biofuels goodbye,’ is a catastrophic policy based largely on arguments that have no solid …
(Yahoo! Finance/Associated Press) Alexander & Baldwin is considering cattle grazing and crops used for biofuels as it phases out sugar production at the state’s last sugar plantation — Hawaii company Alexander & Baldwin is …
by John Andersen (Townsville Bulletin) … The Pentland Bio-Energy Project has been sidelined by the State Government’s draconian new Vegetation Management Reinstatement Legislation Bill. Land clearing around the State has been stopped pending a vote on …
by Duane Shimogawa (Pacific Business News) Hawaiian Electric Co. and Alexander & Baldwin Inc. may be working on a deal where the Honolulu-based utility would utilize A&B subsidiary Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Co.’s land for possible …
(Algae Biomass Organization) As we noted in a recent post, Carbon Balance and Management journal published a study in late 2015 touting the emissions reduction potential of algae when used as animal feed. The authors …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … In the world of fuels, Neste Oil has backed away from palm oil in order to expand in the US market on more favorable terms, with palm’s lowly status after …
by John Vidal (The Guardian) Climate change and poor returns on wheat and dairy drive rural revolution in ‘future-proof’ agriculture — … In Essex, David Eagle is growing acres of sea buckthorn, a salt-tolerant plant that …
(Urban Air Initiative) Urban Air Initiative joined the Energy Future Coalition and the Governors’ Biofuels Coalition (GBC) in calling on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to recognize an overwhelming body of new evidence showing …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … (W)hen you compare them to homogenized, uniform, high-yield, purpose-grown energy crops. residues may be queer, but they are here. Not only available, but reliable, you can count on the …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … In South Africa,, Chromatin and Zaad Holdings have entered into an alliance to produce and distribute planting seed for grain and forage sorghum throughout the African continent.
In Africa, sorghum is …
by Suzanne Goldenberg (The Guardian) Arpa-E project deploys drones and robots to breed fast-growing, drought-resistant and greener biofuel from sorghum which could replace corn ethanol — A US government agency is trying to build a better …
(Purdue University) Higher food prices, a significant boost in greenhouse gas emissions due to land use change and major loss of forest and pasture land would be some results if genetically modified organisms in the …
by Tom Dennis (Grand Forks Herald) … What happened is that crude oil production soared in North Dakota and elsewhere around the United States. More domestic oil production means less need to import foreign oil—and …
For Immediate Release February 12, 2016—Frederick, MD Advanced Biofuels USA correspondent Robert E. Kozak analyses the potential for a reinvigorated US shale oil/gas industry with and without government subsidies; and compares it to the potential for near-term …
Efforts to promote a sustainable use of natural resources are not a waste of money, but rather an investment capable of providing other economic benefits in the medium term. If we look at the larger …
by Nathan Collins (Pacific Standard) Researchers combine ecological and economic models to examine the benefits of growing grass as fuel. — … Fortunately, corn isn’t the only source of ethanol—in particular, there are perennial grasses like …
(EurekAlert!/University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) Second-generation biofuel crops like the perennial grasses Miscanthus and switchgrass can efficiently meet emission reduction goals without significantly displacing cropland used for food production, according to a new study. Researchers …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In this year’s World Oil Outlook, OPEC writes: The prospects for first generation biofuels are constrained by factors such as land use changes, excessive water usage, and the impact on …
by Ron Alverson (Ethanol Across America) It has been seven years since Argonne National Labs (ANL), as part of the Energy Security and Independence Act requirements, first determined the Life Cycle Carbon Intensity of mid-west …
(Petro-Online.com) The roads of Brazil are flooded with over 36 million cars. With over 60% of vehicles running on ethanol based petrol, the environmental credentials of the country are impressive. Over the past few years, …
(U.S. Department of Energy) The Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation (GREET) model allows researchers and analysts to fully evaluate the energy and emission impacts of advanced vehicle technologies and new transportation …
by Melissa Pariettin(MSN.com) … Many factors determine the price of food in the U.S. If the introduction of the RFS (Renewable Fuel Standard) had as significant an impact on food prices as certain outlets have suggested, …
(University of Illinois/AgriMarketing) When corn prices increase farmers reap higher yields by making changes. According to a recent University of Illinois study, about one-third of the yield increase derives from more intensive management practices and …
(Farm Futures) Biofuel from stover could favor continuous corn, other production changes — … If technology and government support become economically viable, converting corn stover to biofuels would affect farmers’ planting decisions and crop rotation …
(US Department of Energy) BETO recently published a report summarizing the proceedings of the second Incorporating Bioenergy in Sustainable Landscape Designs Workshop, held June 24–26, 2014, in Argonne, Illinois. The workshop focused on agricultural landscapes and …
by Stephanie Mercier (Ag Web) The U.S. biofuels sector marks its birth back in 1979, when Congress established a blender’s credit for ethanol as the earliest piece of federal biofuel policy as part of the Energy …
(Biofuels Digest/Bloomberg) The Earth Partners, LLC restores and develops degraded lands. The company also engages in the production of biomass, which restores the land’s soil health and water resources; restoration of mined land; development of …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) As America’s farmers hit retirement age and technology options explode, what comes next?
… The average age of the US farmer reached 58.3 years in the USDA’s 2012 Census of Agriculture. …
by Padma Nagappan (TakePart) … Now researchers at the United States Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory think they have a solution that allows farmers to profit from growing both food and advanced biofuels while benefitting …
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 …
by Payal Marathe (Argonne National Laboratory) We ask a lot of the land: feed the world with crops, power the world with bioenergy, retain nutrients so they don’t pollute our water and air. To help …
(SciDev.net) At least 500 million hectares are available for growing biofuel crops; This is after considering rising food demand and growing urbanisation; Only up to 200 million hectares would be needed to slash fossil fuel use
Converting grazing …
by Geoff Cooper (Renewable Fuels Association/The Hill) Sofie E. Miller may have left the Charles Koch Institute in 2012, but she clearly continues to do the bidding of her former employer and the rest of …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) HOSPRO is dedicated to battle the 95+% import of petroleum for energy and electricity generation by promoting the development of tree based oil seed crops. We are focusing on oil …
by Kelly Taylor (Chronicle Herald) … Still, ethanol does have some advantages, including lower net greenhouse gas emissions due to its recycling of carbon-dioxide emitted by today’s plants (or factories), as opposed to oil, which is …
(Safer Alliance) What wild accusation have your heard regarding ethanol, biodiesel, biogas or other bioenergy resource? If you are engaged in research, promotion and advocacy and/or invested in the world of biofuels, you have likely …
(Phys.org) A new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change shows that, when looking at the production site alone, growing biofuel crops can have a significant impact on climate depending on location and crop …
By Tim Searchinger and Lyndon Estes (The Washington Post/Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School for Public and International Affairs) In recent years, as governments have begun to protect tropical forests because of the carbon they store, …
by Geoff Cooper (Renewable Fuels Association) A recent study published in Environmental Research Letters by authors at the University of Wisconsin uses error-prone satellite data to suggest that growth in U.S. corn and soybean production …
by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) In late March, the U.S. EPA’s Science Advisory Board Biogenic Carbon Emissions Panel held a public face-to-face meeting to review the agency’s Framework for Assessing Biogenic CO2 Emissions from …
(Science Daily/University of Wisconsin-Madison) Clearing grasslands to make way for biofuels may seem counterproductive, but researchers show that crops, including the corn and soy commonly used for biofuels, expanded onto 7 million acres of new …
by Timothy Searchinger, R. Edwards, D. Mulligan, R. Heimlich, R. Plevin (Science Magazine) Ethanol emits fossil carbon and trace gases through production (A) and biogenic carbon from the crops during fermentation (B) and ethanol combustion (C). …
(Purdue University) Using models that blend global economics, geography, ecology and environmental sciences is essential to understanding how changes in trade and natural systems in one part of the world affect those in another, a …
by Todd Neeley (DTN Progressive Farmer) Though real-world data suggest biofuel production has not led to so-called indirect land-use change, the California Air Resources Board, or CARB, continues to see ILUC as a vital part of …
(Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association) Making E15 (gasoline with 15 percent ethanol) the new regular unleaded fuel in Minnesota would eliminate 358,000 tons of CO2 annually, according to a technical analysis by the University of Illinois at …
by Eduardo Porter (The New York Times) Does combating climate change require burning the world’s forests and crops for fuel? …
Absent a big increase in bioenergy supplies, the climate change panel’s analysis reported, it would …
(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” …
(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. …
(Union of Concerned Scientists) A report from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) finds that reducing emissions from the land sector must be part of a global climate solution in order to close the “emissions …
by Amanda Peterka (E&E Publishing / Greenwire) Bioenergy production would boom and spur steep reductions in greenhouse gas emissions if a global price is slapped on carbon, Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers say in a …
by Nick Miroff (The Washington Post) Long before the massacre, when Mapiripan was just a faraway little place not worth fighting for, Aida Gordilla and her family came to the wide-open grasslands outside town and …
by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com) A new analysis of real-world land use data by Iowa State University raises serious concerns about the accuracy of models used by regulatory agencies regarding “indirect land use changes” (ILUC) attributed …
by Al Costa (Global Biobusiness) …To this end, it becomes increasingly clear that “verticality” is a key issue. This means crops which occupy little space horizontally and as much space vertically. After all, a …
by Richard Taylor and Won W. Koo (Center for Agricultural Policy and Trade Studies North Dakota State University) … The first immediate impact of ethanol was increased agricultural commodity prices. In 2005, the corn price averaged $2.00 per bushel. …
by Kay Ledbetter (AgriLife Today) As requirements grow for use of cellulosic biofuels to meet the energy needs of the nation, researchers look at potential feedstocks and any effects these alternative sources may have on greenhouse …
by Steven Mufson (The Washington Post) The multibillion-dollar Anschutz Exploration Corp., which helped make its founder, Philip Anschutz, one of the richest men in America, filed a lawsuit three years ago against Dryden, a small town in …
(PR NewsWire/Illinois Corn Marketing Board) Land attributable to ethanol will drop from current 25% to as little as 11% of U.S. corn acres
A too common error made in reporting the amount of land used for U.S. …
(Environmental Working Group) The Environmental Protection Agency’s pending proposal to cut the amount of corn ethanol that must be blended into gasoline in 2014 by 1.39 billion gallons would lower U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by …
(Sierra Express Media) Addax Bioenergy (SL) Limited has been fully and formally certified under the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB). This is said to quite an achievement and everyone involved has to be commended. RSB …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) After six years of debate — finally a database appears on actual indirect land use change. The Partners? Including Google, UNEP, Imazon, the Center for Global Development, the University of …
(University of Bern, Switzerland) If grassland used intensively, biodiversity decreases. Particularly affected are rare species, a new study headed by Berner plant scientists shows. Such negative effects could be reduced if farmers would vary the …
