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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: biofuel

biofuel stories: 66 news summaries

21 - 40 of 66 Stories | << Prev 1 2 3 4 Next >>

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Interview

 Agricultural Economist 
 Has Growing Concerns 

The insanity of farm subsidies just one facet of wide-ranging Q&A with Daniel Sumner

Jul 25, 08 1:45 PM CDT
(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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
agriculture • organic food • biofuel • US economy • food prices • farm bill • agricultural economy • subsidies • Daniel Sumner

 Gas From Garbage
 Finally Gets Momentum 

From sawdust to agricultural waste, scientists drive toward new fuels

Jul 24, 08 9:18 AM CDT
(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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
ethanol • biofuel • energy dependence • alternative fuels • algae biofuel

Corn-Hungry Texas Calls for  Cuts in Biofuel Mandates

Ethanol future in balance as governor pleads for livestock corn

Jul 23, 08 2:32 AM CDT
(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... More »

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

Orangutans
In Trouble as Forests Shrink

Loggers, plantations bring great ape
close to extinction

Jul 5, 08 5:46 PM CDT
(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 »

MORE ABOUT:
endangered species • environment • Indonesia • biofuel • palm oil • Malaysia • apes • orangutans

 Biofuel Caused Food 
 Crisis: Secret Report 

Findings covered up to avoid US embarrassment

Jul 4, 08 3:45 PM CDT
(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... More »

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

OPINION

 Algae: Lean, Green Biofuel? 

Firm says it can produce algae oil at $60 a barrel; US dare not miss its chance, writer says

Jul 2, 08 2:47 PM CDT
(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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
ethanol • biofuel • biodiesel • innovation • algae biofuel

 Floods Cloud Biofuel Future 

Ruined Midwest crops spark worries about fuel supplies

Jul 1, 08 4:09 AM CDT
(Newser) - The floods that swamped the corn belt last month have raised fresh fears about the future of biofuels, the New York Times reports. The ruined corn crop has sent the price of ethanol soaring, and experts worry that unpredictable weather could lead to future spikes in the price of energy... More »

MORE ABOUT:
ethanol • corn • biofuel • crops • corn belt • Midwest floods • energy policy

Opinion

Let's Not Kid Ourselves: Oil's Going Higher

Why prices will keep
rising, and what
that will mean

Jun 18, 08 12:09 PM CDT
(Newser) - Yes, $4 a gallon seems steep, but the worst is surely yet to come, Robert J. Samuelson writes in the Washington Post. Gas is on pace to rise to $7 a gallon by 2012, with oil rising to $225 a barrel, according to one economist. Oil-rich nations are acting as... More »

MORE ABOUT:
energy • oil • biofuel • gas prices • oil price • oil drilling • peak oil

OPINION

 Next Resource in Crisis: Water 

H2O is no longer 'cheap and unlimited,' says scientist

Jun 4, 08 4:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - While economists and world leaders fret about the global food crisis, there is another emergency that is just as urgent: the shortage of water, writes British scientist Fred Pearce in Yale Environment 360. No longer is water "a cheap and unlimited resource," and with two-thirds of water extracted... More »

MORE ABOUT:
China • water • biofuel • food prices • water shortage • Fred Pearce • Yellow River

Food vs. Fuel Battle
Flares at UN Summit

Egypt's Mubarak asks, should we be feeding people or cars?

Jun 4, 08 10:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - The battle over biofuels is raging at the UN’s food summit in Rome, with nations bitterly divided over whether growing corn and sugar cane for ethanol production is pushing food prices up and helping create disastrous global food shortages. On one side: Food experts who call diversion of crops... More »

MORE ABOUT:
United Nations • ethanol • biofuel • food prices • food shortage • food aid • food production • Jacques Diouf

Restaurants' Used Grease Draws Thieves

Once scorned, it's 'become gold'; can be turned into biodiesel

May 30, 08 7:40 AM CDT
(Newser) - For decades restaurants have thrown away their used cooking grease without a second thought; now, they’re trying to protect it from thieves. Almost anyone can convert the yellow grease into cheap biodiesel using kits sold on the internet, and restaurant oil bins have become go-to destinations for everyone from... More »

MORE ABOUT:
theft • biofuel • restaurant • oil price • cooking oil • grease

Food Prices May Force Cuts in Farm Subsidies

Normally 'untouchable' price supports at risk
in Congress

May 2, 08 2:32 PM CDT
(Newser) - Soaring food prices are putting pressure on Congress to withdraw some of the billions in  farm subsidies and ethanol incentives that have been considered politically untouchable for decades, the Los Angeles Times reports. With average farm income more than $89,000 this year—30% above the national average—the White... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Congress • agriculture • ethanol • corn • biofuel • farmer • food prices • subsidies

Ethanol Guzzles 25% of US Corn; Links Food, Fuel Prices

Switch to corn-based fuel links grain and energy prices

Apr 30, 08 2:28 PM CDT
(Newser) - When Congress passed its latest energy bill four months ago, the provision to boost ethanol requirements was exceedingly popular. But now, critics are lambasting that measure, and the ethanol movement in general, for linking skyrocketing food and oil prices. “We used to have a grain economy and a fuel... More »

MORE ABOUT:
agriculture • ethanol • corn • biofuel • farmer • food prices • corn shock

Scientists Work on New 'Green Revolution'

Solving food crisis will depend on a steady diet of innovation

Apr 25, 08 1:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - 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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
hunger alleviation • famine • biofuel • food prices • World hunger • Food and Agriculture Organization • food riots • hunger riots

US Farmers Want Feds' Help on Food Crisis

Skyrocketing prices bring speculators to grocery stores

Apr 23, 08 1:24 PM CDT
(Newser) - 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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
biofuel • farmer • food prices • Commodity Futures Trading Commission • food industry

UN Compares Food Crisis
to 'Tsunami'

International help needed before
situation deteriorates

Apr 22, 08 12:41 PM CDT
(Newser) - 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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Gordon Brown • biofuel • food prices • World hunger • World Food Program

 Food Crisis Is 'Mass
 Murder': UN Envoy 

Official blames multinationals for surging food prices

Apr 20, 08 4:02 PM CDT
(Newser) - 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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
food • United Nations • hunger • biofuel • starvation • food prices • Jean Ziegler

 Europe Backtracks on Biofuels 

Environmental concerns put 10% quota on hold

Apr 19, 08 2:42 PM CDT
(Newser) - 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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
climate change • energy • biofuel • consumer prices • food prices • food riots • European Commission

As Global Temps Rise, So Do ... Popcorn Prices

As farmers plant more crops for biofuels, moviegoers feel pinch

Mar 14, 08 9:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - 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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
ethanol • biofuel • farmer • popcorn • snack foods • cooking oil • movies • movie theaters • National Association of Theater Owners

Virgin Tests First Biofuel Plane

Jet flies on coconuts and babassu nuts

Feb 24, 08 12:35 PM CST
(Newser) - 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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Richard Branson • London • biofuel • Virgin Atlantic • Amsterdam • jet • Boeing 747 • coconuts • babassu nuts

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