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November 21, 2008 7:14:16 PM CST

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10 Stories

Biofuels Not Worth Upward Push on Food Prices: UN

Nations should rethink subsidies: report

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

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

ANALYSIS

India's Effort to Boost Biofuel Encounters Growing Pains

Country aims to feed boom with hardier crops, though it's a tough sell

Economist Economist Sep 22, 08 12:36 PM CDT
(Newser) - Just months after India’s finance minister called converting food crops to biofuels “a crime against humanity,” the government has launched a program that aims to get 20% of India’s diesel from plants by 2017, relying heavily on hardy plants that won’t keep rob needed land. But the biofuel crops take years longer to yield much of value, making it a tough sell, the Economist reports. More »

More about:  India • biofuel • fossil fuel • alternative fuels • biodiesel • oil crisis

Biodiesel Gains Converts on Home Front

Reputable retailers selling kits to turn veggie oil to fuel

Wired Wired Sep 15, 08 1:03 PM CDT
(Newser) - Half a billion gallons of it were brewed at home last year, and we're not talking beer. Homemade biodiesel is expanding from the days of hippies converting old electric water heaters to mainstream retailers offering safer, reliable processors, Wired reports. Anyone with the equipment, ranging from $3,000 to $13,500, can turn used veggie oil into the eco-friendly fuel. More »

More about:  alternative fuels • biodiesel • clean fuel • eco-friendly • home brewing

ANALYSIS

Biofuel Firms' African Land Grab Has Colonial Echoes

Western companies shower nations with promises met with some suspicion

Der Spiegel Der Spiegel Sep 5, 08 5:20 PM CDT
(Newser) - Africa is being seeded for a coming boom in biofuels, as Western companies buy thousands of acres to cultivate vegetable-oil-rich plants like the Jatropha curcas, Der Spiegel reports. In countries like Tanzania, Ghana and Ethiopia, firms are often securing century-long farming rights for nothing but a promise to invest in local roads and schools. More »

More about:  Africa • biofuel • green technology • Ethiopia • Tanzania • biodiesel • Ghana • colonialism

OPINION

 Algae: Lean, Green Biofuel? 

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

Portfolio Portfolio 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 ethanol, better solutions—such as algae—are begging for attention. More »

More about:  biofuel • ethanol • innovation • biodiesel • algae biofuel

He Can Stop Terror; Carbon's Another Story

Writer checks up on
24's new eco-mission,
finds mixed results

New Republic New Republic Jan 24, 08 8:39 CST
(Newser) - Fox's 24 has its share of problems—Kiefer Sutherland's DUI imprisonment, rewritten scripts, the writers strike—but one writer still won’t give Jack Bauer a break, hitting the set to probe the show’s promise to reduce its carbon footprint. One exec congratulates himself on picking “our toughest show” for the green challenge—but the New Republic 's Amanda Fortini has mixed feelings. More »

More about:  Fox • carbon footprint • Prius • Kiefer Sutherland • biodiesel • Jack Bauer

Green Tech Boosts Heartland

Advances no longer limited to America's coastal cities

CNET CNET Dec 13, 07 8:10 PM CST
(Newser) - Green-tech venture capital is still concentrated in coastal urban centers, but middle America is catching up. Silicon Valley, Massachusetts, and Washington state are among the top five hotspots, but so is Texas and the nation's agricultural heartland, reports CNET, which tracked the money fueling startups and university research. More »

More about:  Silicon Valley • ethanol • MIT • venture capital • green technology • biodiesel • heartland

San Francisco Gases Up,
Goes Green

City switches its
entire diesel fleet to
soy-based biofuel

New York Times New York Times Dec 6, 07 4:26 PM CST
(Newser) - San Francisco may have the biggest green fleet in America now that all 1,500 diesel vehicles—including ambulances, fire engines, buses and street sweepers—run on B20, a combination of soy-based and diesel fuels. The transformation is part of the city's plan to  reduce toxic emissions to 20% below 1990 levels in the next four years, the New York Times reports. More »

More about:  San Francisco • biofuel • green energy • Gavin Newsom • diesel • biodiesel

Big Industries Joust Over Energy Prices

Companies strive to suit their own ends
in tug-of-war over green policies

Wall Street Journal Wall Street Journal Nov 8, 07 2:18 PM CST
(Newser) - US industries are at each other’s throats over energy policy as each sector tries to protect its own interests. A prime example came last year, when Dow Chemical's push for tougher automobile fuel-economy standards—which would help keep a lid on Dow's oil expenditures—ran afoul of automakers, who stand to suffer from such legislation and are huge Dow clients. More »

More about:  climate change • auto industry • oil price • crude oil • ethanol • vehicle emissions • biodiesel • Dow Chemical Co.

Chicken Fat Doubles as Diesel

Tyson, ConocoPhillips team up to produce biofuels

Bloomberg Bloomberg Apr 17, 07 10:05 CDT
(Newser) - Two corporate giants are teaming up to produce biofuels and boost their bottom lines. Tyson Foods, the world's biggest meat producer, and third-largest U.S. oil company ConocoPhillips will be using about half of Tyson's animal fat to make a renewable diesel fuel, which will account for about 3% of ConocoPhillips's total production. More »

More about:  oil • environmentalism • biofuel • diesel • biodiesel • ConocoPhillips • Tyson Foods

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