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October 15, 2008 6:32:59 PM CDT

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Stories related to: biofuel

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  • October 2008

    • Biofuels Not Worth Upward Push on Food Prices: UN

      Financial Times (UK)  |  Oct 7, 08 4:33 PM CDT

      Biofuels Not Worth Upward Push on Food Prices: UN

      (Newser) - While use of biofuels is supposed to combat climate change, the effects of its production on food prices is not worth the emissions they offset, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said today. The FAO called for countries to review production quotas and subsidies that encourage biofuel use in light of the “continued upward pressure” on the price of agricultural goods, the Financial Times reports. More »

      Tags

      climate change  • global warming  • United Nations  • carbon emissions  • food prices  • biofuel  • biodiesel

  • September 2008
  • August 2008

    • Eco-Waste, Water Plans Aid Kenya's Poor

      Associated Press  |  Aug 24, 08 5:03 PM CDT

      Eco-Waste, Water Plans Aid Kenya's Poor

      (Newser) - Sewage and sunlight are offering unexpected aid to the poor of Kenyan slums, the AP reports. Public toilets are recycling waste into gas, while sunlight disinfects water and reduces cases of waterborne illness. Adapted from a plan in Tanzania, the project was funded by international donors to help people struggling with high coal and food prices. More »

      Tags

      Kenya  • biofuel  • green energy  • solar power  • Kenya's economy

    • My Car Runs on ... Cuervo?

      Renewable Energy World  |  Aug 7, 08 8:14 PM CDT

      My Car Runs on ... Cuervo?

      (Newser) - A small group of Mexican scientists is working to create a massive agave-to-ethanol project that one says could supply the entire US need of 36 billion gallons by 2022, Renewable Energy World reports. The agave, used to make tequila and mescal, is high in sugar, resilient, and needs little cultivation, making it a prime candidate for ethanol production. More »

      Tags

      Mexico  • biofuel  • ethanol  • corn  • tequila

    • EPA Refuses to Lower Ethanol Quota

      New York Times  |  Aug 7, 08 2:50 PM CDT

      EPA Refuses to Lower Ethanol Quota

      (Newser) - The EPA refused to cut a minimum ethanol quota today, despite critics’ charges that the biofuel mandate is driving high food prices, the New York Times reports. The agency approved Congress’ quota that requires the US use 9 billion gallons of ethanol in gasoline blends this year, denying Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s request to shrink it. More »

      Tags

      gas prices  • car  • biofuel  • ethanol  • alternative energy  • corn  • subsidy

  • July 2008

    • Agricultural Economist Has Growing Concerns

      New York Times  |  Jul 25, 08 1:45 PM CDT

      Agricultural Economist Has Growing Concerns

      (Newser) - Is there any way to justify US farm subsidies? Agricultural economist Daniel Sumner has a blunt answer: “No.” In an in-depth interview with the New York Times , Sumner takes on a broad range of agricultural topics, explaining the trouble with organic food (it’s too expensive), the problems with local food (it’s often inefficient) and, of course, the insanity of subsidies. More »

      Tags

      US economy  • food prices  • agriculture  • biofuel  • organic food  • subsidies  • farm bill  • agricultural economy

    • Gas From Garbage Finally Gets Momentum

      New York Times  |  Jul 24, 08 9:18 AM CDT

      Gas From Garbage Finally Gets Momentum

      (Newser) - After decades of dreaming, schemes to turn waste into fuel are finally getting traction in the US, with some 28 plants in the works and a handful even up and running, the New York Times reports. They consume everything from wood chips to garbage, as once-prohibitively expensive processes become competitive with $4-a-gallon gasoline. “American innovation is going to come up with the solution,” one researcher tells the Times. More »

      Tags

      biofuel  • ethanol  • alternative fuels  • energy dependence  • algae biofuel

    • Corn-Hungry Texas Calls for Cuts in Biofuel Mandates

      New York Times  |  Jul 23, 08 2:32 AM CDT

      Corn-Hungry Texas Calls for Cuts in Biofuel Mandates

      (Newser) - The EPA is considering a proposal from the governor of Texas to slash the amount of ethanol that oil companies are required to blend into gasoline to meet quotas, the New York Times reports. Gov. Rick Perry is calling for the EPA to cut the ethanol mandate in half, from 9 billion to 4.5 billion gallons, arguing that billions of bushels of corn should be used to feed livestock instead. More »

      Tags

      gas prices  • biofuel  • Environmental Protection Agency  • ethanol  • corn  • oil companies  • livestock

    • Orangutans In Trouble as Forests Shrink

      Daily Telegraph (UK)  |  Jul 5, 08 5:46 PM CDT

      Orangutans In Trouble as Forests Shrink

      (Newser) - Illegal loggers and palm oil plantations may make the orangutan the first great ape to become extinct, scientists warn. In Indonesia, a mere 6,600 of the apes remain, while on Malaysia’s Borneo Island, the population has fallen 10% to 49,600, the Telegraph reports. More »

      Tags

      environment  • endangered species  • biofuel  • Indonesia  • Malaysia  • apes  • orangutans  • palm oil

    • Biofuel Caused Food Crisis: Secret Report

      Guardian (UK)  |  Jul 4, 08 3:45 PM CDT

      Biofuel Caused Food Crisis: Secret Report

      (Newser) - Biofuel production has been the driving force behind the growing food crisis, pushing prices up 75%, according to a confidential World Bank report obtained by the Guardian . The most detailed research ever conducted on the issue emphatically contradicts the US position that biofuels are responsible for a mere 3% price bump. It hasn’t been published, sources say, for fear of embarrassing President Bush. More »

      Tags

      George W. Bush  • Bush administration  • food prices  • World Bank  • biofuel  • ethanol  • hunger

    • Algae: Lean, Green Biofuel?

      Portfolio  |  Jul 2, 08 2:47 PM CDT

      Algae: Lean, Green Biofuel?

      (Newser) - The steam engine wasn’t invented in the eighteenth century—it was invented in AD 60. But Romans instead stuck to their old standby technology: slaves. Now, we’re in danger of repeating that mistake with biofuels, writes David Ewing Duncan for Portfolio . While Congress is pumping subsidies into corn-based ethanol, better solutions—such as algae—are begging for attention. More »

      Tags

      biofuel  • ethanol  • innovation  • biodiesel  • algae biofuel

    • Floods Cloud Biofuel Future

      New York Times  |  Jul 1, 08 4:09 AM CDT