by Sudheer Mopperthy (Asian Age)  The EU adopted this new fuel with rigour and pledged that by 2020, 10 per cent of all transport fuels in EU nations would be biodiesel.   …   The EU’s palm oil ban …

by Claire Stam (EURACTIV.com)  The Brazilian Senate is considering lifting a ban on sugarcane production for ethanol fuel in the Amazon. The plan, supported by the country’s president, has sparked protests from environmentalists and the Brazilian …

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 …

(Neste Corporation)  … In order to truly have impacts in human rights, we have started identifying potential human rights issues and put in motion a plan to manage the associated risks, particularly in our palm oil …

by Kevon Paynter (Yes! Magazine)  Portland, Ore., climate activists celebrate a win against Big Oil as city- and state-level initiatives gain momentum across the country.  —  … A key piece of Shell’s arctic drilling fleet, the vessel …

by Kelly M0oij (Audubon Society/Tap Into New Brunswick)  … A decade removed from RFS beginnings has given ample time for evaluation and it’s time to reform the program. As a start, Congress must work to promote …

(Union zur Förderung von Oel- und Proteinpflanzen (Union for the Promotion of Oil and Protein Plants, UFOP))  Strong global harvest yields mean that supply on international markets is more than sufficient. The figures indicate that there …

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 …

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 …

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 Michael Eggleston* (Advanced Biofuels USA)  Flying in Formation: Since the first test flight almost 10 years ago, there have been over 40,000 commercial flights supported by four international airports supplying SAFs. Michael Gill, Executive …

by Roslyn Anderson (MS News Now)  Jackson Councilman Kenneth Stokes urged his colleagues to fight the expansion of a biodiesel plant in the city, citing potential dangers.
The Ward Three representative questioned JaxOn Energy’s processing and suggested …

(Advantage News)  The Illinois Department of Transportation has approved implementation of a renewable energy demonstration project using grasses collected from mowing highway rights-of-way.
The work will implement the findings of a three-year study by a multidisciplinary …

(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 …

by Mark Sponsler (Colorado Corn/Journal-Advocate)  … Oxygenating gasoline is required under Clean Air Act amendments, and ethanol — with its clean-burning qualities — has long been regarded as the best additive for that. For years, adding …

(Phys.Org/University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)  Corn is grown not only for food, it is also an important renewable energy source. Renewable biofuels can come with hidden economic and environmental issues, and the question of whether …

by David Smiley (Miami Herald)  On mainland Miami, miles away from the pumps that keep Biscayne Bay from slowly swallowing South Beach, the neighborhood around Ray Chasser’s riverfront house sometimes seems like it’s drowning one …

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 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 …

(European Parliament/Biomass Magazine)  To counter the impact of unsustainable palm oil production such as deforestation and habitat degradation, particularly in Southeast Asia, the EU should introduce a single certification scheme for palm oil entering the …

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 Bob Cleaves (Biomass Power Association/Biomass Magazine)  More than 100 million trees across California, many located in the federally managed Sierra, Stanislaus and Sequoia National Forests, are dead, owing to a years-long drought and a nasty …

(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 …

(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 …

(U.S. Department of Agriculture)  Analysis finds that U.S. corn-based ethanol reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 43 percent compared to gasoline, with additional benefits projected through 2022  —  Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the release …

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 Mary Karugaba  (New Vision)  Staggering the commencement date would help government build capacity. —  … Presenting the opposition’s views on the Biofuels Bills, 2016 to the parliamentary committee on Natural Resources, MP Simon Oyet argued that …

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 …

by Patrick Kent (Irish Cattle & Sheep Farmers’ Association/Euractiv)  The key element of this renewable energy plan is that the ceiling for the crop biofuel component of EU transport fuels will be slashed from 7% …

(Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association) … According to Mr Kent (ICSA president Patrick Kent), this strategy flies in the face of logic. The Commission which was supportive of biofuels has now decided to reverse its …

by Lidia Dinkova (TC Palm)  The county is following through on its promise to up safety regulation over biofuel producers after a fire and explosion in a local facility last year.
According to the county, new rules would …

by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Biofuels operations under the right conditions can lead to improved household food security in developing countries, concludes a new study.
Irish university research is adding to the body of knowledge …

by Erin Voegele (Biomass Magazine)  The White House has published a mid-century strategy on decarbonization that addresses biofuels and bioenergy. On Nov. 16, the report was filed with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate …

(Oxfam)  The European Union must overhaul its current bioenergy policy, which is based on getting fuel from plants, because the industry is linked to the eviction of thousands of people from their lands, out-competing food …

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, …

(Sandia National Laboratories)  A wide-ranging analysis of water vulnerability across the Pacific — including the U.S., China, Russia and Japan — has identified hundreds of locations where energy production depends upon scarce water supplies.
The Sandia …

(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 Orlando Milesi (Inter Press Service)  Seaweed, a nutrient-rich foodstuff that was a regular part of the diet of several South American indigenous peoples, is emerging as a new pillar of food security in Latin America …

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 Art Cullen (Storm Lake Times) … So how can we produce ethanol sustainably — that is, a scheme under which farmers can make money without releasing nitrate to the river and help power America while …

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 Mark Edwards (Algae Industry Magazine)  The Green Friendship Bridge series examines a simple question: “What makes better sense, extending the border wall with Mexico 1,300 miles or taking 13 miles of fence investment to build …

by Niu Shuping and David Stanway (Reuters/AgWeek)  China’s plan to let the market set corn prices is bad news for international grain exporters, but should boost the country’s struggling corn processors that use the grain …

(Longview News Journal)  Kinder Morgan is halting work on the $1 billion Palmetto Pipeline after Georgia lawmakers approved a one-year moratorium on permits for petroleum pipelines in the state.
The Texas-based energy company said in a …

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 …

by Sonja van Renssen (Energy Post)  Biofuels are returning to the political agenda in Europe as EU policymakers start to shape a strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transport after 2020. Biofuels producers continue …

(Associated Press/Frederick News Post)  The Garrett County Commissioners are considering a Deep Creek Lake watershed management plan that would restrict drilling for natural gas in the resort area. … The plan was drafted in 2014. It …

by Demetrio Bueno Carvalho (Astana Times)  … Referring to Brazilian experience, in the past 12 years the blending of ethanol with gasoline (anhydrousethanol) or its use as a pure fuel for automobiles (hydrated) prevented emissions of more …

by James P. Lenfestey  (Star Tribune)  …    Keystone would not, as Obama noted, have any noticeable economic benefit to the U.S., and probably would have a negative impact, since it could actually increase domestic …

by Katie Valentine (Think Progress)  …  Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), along with Senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, is introducing a bill Wednesday that would bar new leases on coal, gas, oil, and tar sands …

by Stephen Lee (Capital Journal)  An attorney for a handful of Onida residents opposing the siting of a proposed new ethanol plant just outside of Onida argued in court Monday that Sully County leaders improperly …

by Nichola Groom (Reuters)  … The visitor represented Clean Line Energy Partners LLC, a Texas company established to build transmission lines for carrying wind and solar power. He had come to tell (Dave) Ulery about a …

by Deborah Yetter (Courier-Journal)  A spirited group of protesters marched more than 20 blocks along West Broadway Sunday afternoon to show their opposition to a proposed plant in the area that would produce methane by composting …

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 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 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 …

by Greg Norman (Mongabay.com)  … Cross River State, a coastal jurisdiction in southeastern Nigeria, still bears the marks of the country’s agricultural heritage when it was the world’s largest palm oil producer. That lasted until the late …

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  Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  It may soon be possible to certify that biomass is not only sustainably sourced, but also considered low-risk for indirect land use change (ILUC). The Roundtable on Sustainable …

by Torrie Cope (Idaho Press-Tribune)  Residents who live in the area of Lower Pleasant Ridge Road fear that a proposed ethanol plant could lower their property values, spoil their views and bring unwanted traffic, noise …

By Alexis Arthur (OilPrice.com)  Less than a decade ago, biofuels were set to take the energy world by storm. They promised a low-carbon alternative to gasoline, while advances in algae technology were taking biofuels beyond …

by Thomas N. Thompson  (Biofuels Digest/U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD), Washington)  … This superb collection of essays shows that Latin America is emerging as a major global producer of biofuels as countries across the region seek to …

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” …

by Juliet Eilperin (The Washington Post)   President Obama issued an executive order Friday directing federal agencies to adopt stricter building and siting standards to reflect scientific projections that future flooding will be more frequent and …

(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 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 Tony Bizjak  (Sacramento Bee)  The city of West Sacramento and a Texas-based gasoline company are battling over whether it’s riskier to ship large amounts of ethanol through city streets on trains or on tanker …

by Kelly April Tyrrell (University of Wisconsin-Madison)  In Wisconsin, bioenergy is for the birds. Really.  In a study published today in the journal PLOS ONE, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) …

by Jennifer Runyon (RenewableEnergyWorld.com) There was never any conflict between using corn for food or for ethanol since corn growers send most of their product to animal feedlots. That product isn’t even meant for human consumption …

by Rex Springston (Richmond Times-Dispatch) Panel assessing rising seas holds first meeting, discusses action plan
Col. Paul B. Olsen, commander of the Army Corps of Engineers’ Norfolk District, showed a slide of Holland Island.
The once-populated spot in …

(US Department of Agriculture)  Farm Bill program will benefit wildlife and outdoor recreation activity in California Bay Delta Region, Mississippi, Red River Basins and others
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today that $328 million in conservation …

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 …

by Michael Carus, Lara Dammer, Andreas Hermann and Roland Essel (nova-Institute)  nova-paper #4 “Proposals for a Reform of the Renewable Energy Directive to a Renewable Energy and Materials Directive (REMD)” presents a reform proposal that …

(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 …

by John M. Urbanchuk (ABF Economics, Agriculture and Biofuels Consulting, LLP)  The impact of biofuel production mandated by the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) on U.S. consumer food prices has once again emerged as an issue in …

(25 x ’25) The 25x’25 Alliance welcomes the recognition by an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change work group report released this weekend that renewable energy is a critical element necessary to curb rising global temperatures …

by John Podesta, Dr. John P. Holdren  (White House)  … Rising seas threaten our coastlines. Dry regions are at higher risk of destructive wildfires. Heat waves impact health and agriculture. Heavier downpours can lead to damaging floods.
Even …

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 …

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 …

by Bob Dinneen (Renewable Fuels Association/Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Ethanol enhances America’s economy by creating jobs, raising the GDP, increasing incomes and contributing taxes. The positive economics are due to the hard work of community-based ethanol …

(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 …

by Rob Vierhout (ePURE/Ethanol Producer Magazine)  At the yearly F.O.Licht’s World Ethanol Conference, two speakers spoke about ethanol as a coproduct, focusing on front-end separation of high-value protein from the corn, or recovering the yeast to …

by Martiin Kidston (Missoulian)  If 1 ton of woody debris can produce 50 gallons of fuel, how many gallons of fuel could 42 million acres of dead and dying forests produce?
Funded by a $10 million …

by Sean Bartlett(Platts)  A European Council proposal to amend the Renewable Energy Directive will fail to realize EU targets for greenhouse gas-saving emissions, lead to job losses, and reduce competitiveness across the agricultural and biofuels …

(Friends of the Earth Europe)  Illegal and harmful production of palm oil in Indonesia is continuing, reveals a new report released today by Friends of the Earth.
The study concludes that voluntary guidelines, such as those …

(Science Daily)  Expanding millions of hectares of Brazilian land to produce palm oil for food or for renewable, clean-burning biodiesel could result in extremely high emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) unless strict controls are put …

(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 …

N. Butt, H. L. Beyer, J. R. Bennett, D. Biggs, R. Maggini, M. Mills, A. R. Renwick, L. M. Seabrook, H. P. Possingham (Science Magazine)  Despite a global political commitment to reduce biodiversity loss by …

by Tererai Karimakwenda (AllAfrica.com/SW Radio Africa (London))    New clashes between local villagers and the police in the Nyamukwakwa area of Manicaland have been attributed to activists within ZANU PF, who are allegedly instructing the …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …ActionAid UK released a report this week focusing on the story of Addax Biofuels in Sierra Leone.
As Addax points out, it was not given the opportunity by Action Aid to …

by Makhtar Diop (AllAfrica)  Few development challenges in Africa are as pressing and controversial as land ownership and its persistent gap between rich and poor communities.
With a profound demographic shift in Africa from rural areas …

(Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining)  The Renewable Energy Directive (RED) has set a general binding target for the European Union to derive 20% of its final energy and 10% of its transport fuels from renewable sources …

by Anna Simet (Biomass Magazine)  There is enough land available to produce more food, more feed and more biofuels, which are not the cause of global malnutrition problems, according to the World Bioenergy Association.
WBA makes …

by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  The world will be capable of meeting its needs for food, fuel and fiber in 40 years, according to a paper from the Council for Agricultural Science and …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  At World Biofuels Markets, BP CEO Phil New delivered a keynote speech which attempted to turn the industry’s attention towards “the hard yards” of operational excellence, saying that “it is arguable …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In the Netherlands, PANGEA (Partners for Euro African Green Energy) is launching today a booklet outlining Myths and Facts about Bioenergy in Africa. The brochure is intended to demystify the …

by Robin Whitlock  (Renewable Energy Magazine)  …The Renewable Energy Association (REA) has welcomed Energy Secretary Ed Davey’s stance on biofuels at the European Energy Council. Mr Davey said that the idea of a one-size-fits-all approach to the issue …

(American Chemical Society)   Amid efforts to expand production of biofuels, scientists are reporting new estimates that downgrade the amount of additional land available for growing fuel crops by almost 80 percent. Their report appears …

(EurActiv.com)  Biofuels made from food crops indirectly generate net emissions of greenhouse gases in the future, confirm the preliminary results of two studies on the history of the change in land use.
If the peer does …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  As journalists, at the Digest our job is to ask the 7 Questions. Who, What, Where, When, How Much, How and Why. In aviation biofuels the task is made easier …

by Olivier De Schutter (The Guardian)  …The new starting point should be to put food security first. Globally, 25% of land is already degraded, and the remaining productive areas are subject to ever-greater competition from industrial …