Solving food crisis will depend on a steady diet of innovation
LiveScience Apr 25, 08 1:00 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Food scientists are plotting a new "green revolution" to solve a growing food crisis, LiveScience reports. Facing what a World Food Program official called a “silent tsunami” of world hunger, researchers are working on a sequel to the first "green revolution" of the mid-20th century, whose innovations included the fertilizers, pesticides and better irrigation that helped increase crop yields.
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Skyrocketing prices bring speculators to grocery stores
Washington Times Apr 23, 08 1:24 PM CDT
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US farmers asked for federal help yesterday in stemming a tide that has seen speculators hitting grocery stores and consumers hoarding basic foodstuffs, the Washington Times reports. "The public is all too aware of the recent credit crisis on Wall Street," a farmers-union rep said. "We don't want a lack of oversight and regulation to lead to a similar crisis in rural America."
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International help needed before
situation deteriorates
Daily Telegraph (UK) Apr 22, 08 12:41 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Rising food prices are creating a crisis every bit as deadly as the tsunami of 2004, and the situation requires a similar response, the UN says. Political and business leaders from around the world gathered today in London and heard the head of the World Food Program, Josette Sheeran, call for "large-scale, high-level action by the global community," the Telegraph reports.
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Official blames multinationals for surging food prices
Reuters Apr 20, 08 4:02 PM CDT
(Newser)
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A UN envoy called the world's food crisis "silent mass murder" today and blamed multinationals for "monopolizing the riches of the Earth," Reuters reports. Jean Ziegler, UN food rapporteur, chalked up surging food prices in poorer nations to biofuels, commodities markets, and EU subsidies—meaning the West is responsible for this "horror."
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Environmental concerns put 10% quota on hold
Guardian (UK) Apr 19, 08 2:42 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The European commission is backing off a proposed 10% biofuels quota as scientists warn that the alternative fuels actually hurt the environment, the Guardian reports. “This is all very sensitive and fast-moving,” said a commission official. “There is now a lot of new evidence on biofuels, and the commission has become a prisoner of this process.”
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As farmers plant more crops for biofuels, moviegoers feel pinch
Los Angeles Times Mar 14, 08 9:00 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The movie stars driving flex-fuel SUV are driving up popcorn prices at the nation’s nickelodeons, and it’s not because of their salaries: A move toward planting crops for alternative-fuel production has made popping corn more scarce—and therefore more expensive, the Los Angeles Times reports. Moviegoers shouldn’t fret too much, for the hike could be as little as 15 cents.
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Jet flies on coconuts and babassu nuts
BBC Feb 24, 08 12:35 PM CST
(Newser)
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A Virgin Atlantic jet powered partially by a coconut- and Brazilian babassu nut-based biofuel made it from London to Amsterdam today in the first commercial flight to do so, the BBC reports. Virgin topdog Richard Branson hailed the flight as "pioneering" in the development of "fuels of the future," but environmentalists denounced the experiment as a publicity stunt.
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US farmers strike it rich satisfying ethanol, export demands
Wall Street Journal Feb 15, 08 2:55 AM CST
(Newser)
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The US economy may be teetering on a precipice but agriculture is enjoying what one industry analyst is calling a "golden age" after decades of decline, with bountiful harvests of crops and profits. The boom is fueled by the soaring demand from ethanol producers and to fill grain orders from China and India, reports the Wall Street Journal .
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Land likely to be used for production is already helping absorb carbon
Washington Post Feb 8, 08 8:21 PM CST
(Newser)
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Biofuels could hurt Earth more than help it, two new studies conclude. Over 30 years, argues one, corn-based ethanol would spout twice the greenhouse gas of regular gasoline; the other notes environmental damage likely to be wreaked by chopping rainforests and other areas for production, the Washington Post reports. The findings question international focus on using biofuel to combat climate change.
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Producing crops for fuel releases more greenhouse gas than it saves: studies
Los Angeles Times Feb 8, 08 3:54 AM CST
(Newser)
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Producing crops for biofuel releases more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than is saved by using the alternative energy, according to the findings of two surprising new studies. Converting US farmland from producing food to ethanol necessitates food production elsewhere, vastly increasing greenhouse gas emissions as forests and grasslands are destroyed to make fields. The findings prompted 10 scientists to write to President Bush and lawmakers, urging new policy "that ensures biofuels are not produced on productive" forests, grassland or cropland.
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Oil substitute may destroy rainforests, increase food prices
Guardian (UK) Jan 20, 08 11:03 AM CST
(Newser)
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Biofuels may actually exacerbate the environmental problems they were meant to allay, reports the Observer, and a UK Parliamentary committee has released a report examining the possible effects. Using fuel made from crops like tallow and rapeseed may actually worsen greenhouse gas emissions, kill rainforests, and drive up food prices due to land competition.
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Law boosts emission standards for first time since '70s
Washington Post Dec 19, 07 2:00 PM CST
(Newser)
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President Bush today signed a sweeping energy bill that will improve automotive fuel-efficiency standards, boost biofuel production, and kill off the incandescent light bulb, the Washington Post reports. Bush said the law would reduce US dependence on foreign oil and even the likelihood of terrorist attacks. Both the White House and Congressional Democrats claimed victory in the year-long haggling process.
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As breakthrough nears, questions multiply like cells
Washington Post Dec 17, 07 9:56 AM CST
(Newser)
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Scientists are on the verge of creating new life forms from synthetic DNA and already sparking ethical questions, the Washington Post reports. Researchers can make entire chromosomes from sugars, phosphates, and nitrogen-based compounds, then insert the DNA into a host cell. The new codes can transform bacteria or yeast into biofuel-making machines, but that makes some people queasy.
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