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 …
Ethanol is taking a tumble. Once hyped as a magic brew for reducing both oil addiction and global warming, alcohol made from corn kernels is now being accused both of triggering a global food crisis and doing more ecological harm than good. Ethanol critics, ranging from environmental groups to pig …
A senior World Bank official said on Thursday that countries should not greatly increase biofuels production until there is more clarity about how much they have contributed to the global food price crisis. Juergen Voegele, director for agriculture and rural development department at the World Bank, cautioned against shifting a …
The issue of increasing ethanol blend in petrol to 10%, from the current level of 5%, has once again fuelled protests from oil marketing Companies. While Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) says that ethanol quantity in domestic market would be insufficient, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is of the view that branded …
A senior World Bank official said on Thursday that countries should not greatly increase biofuels production until there is more clarity about how much they have contributed to the global food price crisis. Juergen Voegele, director for agriculture and rural development department at the World Bank, cautioned against shifting a …
Baltimore: Carolyn Stanley, a single mother with five children, receives $327 in food stamps each month to feed her family. With prices for staples like bread and cheese going ever higher, each month is harder than the last. She buys hot dogs over higher-quality meat and feeds her kids cereal, …
The US favours higher standards of living in developing countries, the White House said on Monday, while sticking to its proposition that increased demand for food in these countries is the principle driver of higher prices across the world.
Did the Nobel Prize committee make a mistake when it gave the 2007 Peace Prize to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and former US Vice President Al Gore? I wonder. My disquiet is not because the prize recognized and put climate change at the centre of global debate. It …
German Minister Stops Biofuel Blending Plans GERMANY: April 7, 2008 BERLIN - German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Friday he had stopped government plans to raise compulsory bioethanol blending levels in fossil gasoline. Politicians and industry groups had criticised the plans to raise the level to 10 percent for …
The United States and Europe should cut back on production of biofuels because they are hurting food supply at a time of rising prices, an adviser to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Monday. Biofuels derived from crops have come under attack in recent weeks on fears they compete with …
While the global debate rages on whether the biofuel revolution is causing imbalances in food security systems and increasing the greenhouse gas emissions the
A moratorium on grain and oilseed-based biofuels could slash food prices by up to 20% within the next two years, according to leading agricultural researchers. Agricultural experts called for a moratorium on the production of biofuels from corn Figures from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) suggest that suspension …
In February, on a chilly, clear Sunday morning, Richard Branson, president of Virgin Atlantic, along with co-sponsors Boeing and GE Aviation, lured more than 200 journalists to a hangar at Heathrow to witness what they said was airline history. Everyone's eyes were fixed on a 747 as it took off …
Building more and smaller ethanol plants could help overcome concerns that production of the biofuel consumes more in energy than it provides, Canadian Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said on Friday. One of the reasons so much energy is used to make ethanol is that trucks travel long distances carrying corn, …
In what could open new doors towards development, Russia is keen to invest in areas like oil and gas, tourism, power and infrastructure development in Assam. Russian ambassador to India, Vyacheslav Trubnikov, disclosed this to Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi at a meeting attended by senior officials of the Government of …
Soaring food prices and starving children provide a stirring backdrop to Europe's debate on its biofuels targets, but the big businesses of farming, forestry and automotive could have a heavier influence on policy. The green credentials of biofuels have come under attack in recent weeks over fears they compete for …
Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited (TAFE), has announced that its entire sub 100 HP range of Massey Ferguson and TAFE tractors, barring one model, has been made compatible for use with bio diesel. These tractors can use the current 5% blend of regular diesel with diesel produced by esterising vegetable …
Rising food prices may derail biofuels policyFinance ministers from the world over, who gathered in Washington recently to discuss the financial crisis, also debated the food shortages which have arisen as a result of surging commodity prices. There have been riots in response to soaring food prices in Haiti, Ethiopia, …
The call by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for a top-level task force to address the issue of the spiraling cost of food worldwide is precisely the kind of co-ordinated global action that is necessary at this precarious moment in history, and could not have come at a better time. …
Within a couple of years of the global rush to promote biofuels new questions are being asked about the claimed benefits of these fuels and serious negative impacts are coming to light. It is in this regard that the focus of the biofuel policy in India has been towards utilising …
The image of biofuels is rapidly tarnishing. Already under fire for displacing food production and tropical forests, they are now charged with marginalising poor rural women. In a report published on 21 April, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization concludes that women subsistence farmers will be evicted to make way …
