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 …
German cars not ready for new biofuel - sources GERMANY: April 3, 2008 BERLIN - More than 2 million cars in Germany cannot run on a new biofuel the government wants to introduce, well over a limit the administration has set as a pre-condition for its use, industry sources said …
Thailand on Tuesday approved a 399.6-billion-baht (12.7-billion-dollar) loan scheme for farmers, in the government's latest effort to shore up the economy, the finance minister said. The project's centrepiece is a 325-billion-baht loan scheme for farmers to start growing crops like palm oil and cassava, which would be used to make …
Responding enthusiastically to the world agrofuel frenzy, the Indian government has promised a flurry of initiatives to encourage the large-scale planting of agrofuel crops, particularly jatropha. Without waiting for the government support to be spelt out, corporations are already moving in, taking over resources that have traditionally been used by …
This report represents a summary of selected issues from the European Environment Agency Transport and Environment Reporting Mechanism (EEA TERM) set of transport and environment integration indicators. The objective of this report is to indicate some of the main challenges to reducing the environmental impacts of transport and to make …
This report focuses specifically on the topic of renewable energy for heating and cooling for two reasons. First, the heating and cooling sector contributes largely to energy consumption, and therefore the emission of greenhouse gases. Globally, heating and cooling accounts for an estimated 40-50% of final energy demand. In the …
The International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) provides information on how agricultural knowledge, science and technology can be used to reduce hunger and poverty, improve rural livelihoods and human health, and facilitate equitable environmentally, socially and economically sustainable development. The full set of IAASTD reports …
Firms seek greener ethanol from wood chips and agricultural waste. Scientists and engineers are working on dozens of possible biofuel-processing routes, reports Charles Wyman, a chemical engineer at the University of California, Riverside, who is a founder of Mascoma Corporation in Cambridge, Mass., a leading developer of cellulosic ethanol processes.
Royal Dutch Shell, Europe's biggest oil company, is working on a process to turn sugars into a synthetic petrol, rather than ethanol, with the aim of moving to a commercial demonstration plant in two years' time. The company yesterday announced a joint venture with Virent, a US biotech business based …
Abstract Black carbon in soot is the dominant absorber of visible solar radiation in the atmosphere. Anthropogenic sources of black carbon, although distributed globally, are most concentrated in the tropics where solar irradiance is highest. Black carbon is often transported over long distances, mixing with other aerosols along the way. …
This policy note analyses current European agrofuel policies in terms of their effects on nature and poverty. It argues that agrofuels are exacerbating climate change and that their development is infringing on the land rights of the poor, thus exacerbating poverty. Agrofuels are infringing on the intrinsic existence right of …
Most prior studies have found that substituting biofuels for gasoline will reduce greenhouse gases because biofuels sequester carbon through the growth of the feedstock. These analyses have failed to count the carbon emissions that occur as farmers worldwide respond to higher prices and convert forest and grassland to new cropland …
Increasing energy use, climate change and carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels make switching to low-carbon fuels a high priority. Biofuels are a potential low-carbon energy source, but whether biofuels offer carbon savings depends on how they are produced. Converting rainforests, peatlands, savannas or grasslands to produce food crop-based biofuels …
the European Union has come up with a new energy plan. It envisages reducing emissions by 20 per cent by 2020. eu will convert a fifth of its energy to renewable energy and biofuels by then. On January 23, eu's executive arm announced mandatory target for biofuels. They will supply …
the European Union is planning to ban certain biofuels, saying their social and environmental impacts are dangerous. eu is likely to review its draft policy on biofuels to effect the ban. The proposed ban will affect import of palm oil from southeast Asia, and soya and ethanol from Latin America. …
Transportation fuels are the major component of the energy portfolio. Of the 20 million barrels of petroleum consumed each day in the United States, 68 percent is used in the transportation sector. The Western states are in position to become key producers and beneficiaries in the emerging alternative-fuels economy. In …
The recent rapid increases in the international prices of many basic food commodities have raised many questions from policy-makers, the media, the public, and the farmers who have the opportunity to benefit from the situation. Those who have the most reason to be concerned are the vulnerable people who have …
The us state Florida has come up with draft motor fuel rules that aims to boost ethanol blending in the country's third largest petrol market. Limited ethanol blending is already occurring in Florida. But following the approval of the Energy Independence and Security Act, 2007, the draft rules will help …
"We apologise for recent price increases," reads the sign over the bread counter, "but they are due to global factors beyond our control." This is not a Third World food stall but an upscale supermarket in Brussels, capital of the European Union, whose farming system was once notorious for the …
