This briefing paper reviews evidence of the impacts of the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) on food prices, with a focus on corn and soy, and presents new analysis on the impact of the RFS on U.S. livestock farmers. Studies examining the relationship between food prices and biofuel demand conclude …
This report contains a detailed assessment of the status and potential for the development of biofuels in Cambodia and presents a country strategy for biofuels development consistent with the Greater Mekong Subregion Regional Strategic Framework for Biofuel Development. The objectives of the country assessment study are to: identify promising areas …
Despite the numerous benefits associated with cleaner alternatives, the transition to improved fuels and stoves has not progressed hugely in Sub-Saharan Africa. Why is it that so often, well designed, efficient and clean stoves fail to penetrate the market in developing countries? In order to design effective policies and programmes …
This report presents an assessment of the current and projected progress of EU Member States, EU candidate countries and other EEA member countries towards their respective targets under the Kyoto Protocol and of progress towards the EU target for 2020. This is based on their past greenhouse gas emissions between …
There is a need to reverse the long-term decline in investment in agriculture of developing countries and to create institutional capacities at global, regional and national levels that are able to assure universal access to adequate food. Investment in agriculture by both the public and private sectors has to be …
ONCE upon a time, biofuels were thought of as a solution to fossil-fuel dependence. Now they are widely seen as a boondoggle to agribusiness that hurts the environment and cheats taxpayers. A report commissioned by the United Nations endorses neither extreme. It gives high marks to some crop-based fuels and …
Use of sugar cane-based ethanol as a substitute for gasoline is among the cheapest and easiest ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to a Brazilian study published on Wednesday. Cane ethanol provides about eight times the energy used to produce it and adoption of new cane plant varieties and …
The world's airlines have agreed to new fuel efficiency and carbon emission targets which go much further than the levels required through regulation, an industry group said on Saturday. The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents 230 airlines, said that carriers, airports and aerospace firms had pledged to improve …
Research on energy from nuclear, wind, tidal and biological origins gained great momentum but it needs special infrastructure facilities, whereas biofuels can be produced from a diverse set of crops. Each country is adopting a strategy that exploits the comparative advantages it holds in certain crops. In India, more than …
Filling your vehicle's tank with fuel made from algae is still as much as a decade away, as the emerging industry faces a series of hurdles to find an economical way to make the biofuel commercially. Estimates on a timeline for a commercial product, and profits, vary from two to …
This report is based on a review of published research up to mid-2009 as well as the input of independent experts world-wide. It recognizes that the research that has accrued over recent years presents a complex and uncertain picture of the risks and benefits of biofuels. The UNEP synthesis report …
In the lead-up to the UN climate negotiations in Copenhagen, the latest information on the level and growth of CO2 emissions, their source and geographic distribution will be essential to lay the foundation for a global agreement. This annual publication contains: estimates of CO2 emissions by country from 1971 to …
Agriculture both affects and is affected by climate change. No other sector is more climate-sensitive. Agricultural and food production in developing countries will be adversely affected by climate change, especially in countries that are already climate-vulnerable (drought, flood and cyclone prone), and that have low incomes and high incidence of …
This report details the investment required to ensure food security in 2050, noting both the impacts of climate change on agricultural production, as well as the mitigation potential of agriculture. Underscoring the uneven distribution of climate change impacts on crop production, the report suggests that countries in the Southern hemisphere …
Scientists and companies around the world are working on microbiological processes to make bioethanol out of cellulose. They're also wondering whether butanol may not be even better.
www.planestupid.com In June this year, an environmental group invaded an EU meet in Manchester, UK. Four members of the group released personal attack alarms attached to helium balloons and shouted anti-aviation slogans before leaving the building to unfold a large banner outside that accused delegates of being
World food production must increase by 70 percent by 2050, to nourish a human population then likely to be 9.1 billion, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation forecast Wednesday. "FAO is cautiously optimistic about the world's potential to feed itself by 2050," said FAO Assistant Director-General Hafez Ghanem. However, he …
