Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

NEWS ABOUT: ethanol

Gas Still Rules Green Auto Show

'We're talking about decades' before cars can be weaned off fossil fuels

(Newser) - Green was the color of opening day yesterday at the International Auto Salon in Geneva, another show full of hybrids and other low-emission vehicles, with green lighting and nature-friendly slogans to prove car companies care, Der Spiegel reports. Still, cautions General Motors' CEO to those set to pronounce the gasoline... More »

Corn May Be Recipe for Disaster

Drought would ripple through US economy

(Newser) - The US is becoming so dependent on corn that a drought would have catastrophic effects that would ripple throughout the economy, reports the LA Times. Corn is essential as staple livestock feed, artificial sweetener, and a basic component of ethanol. A "corn shock" could lead to $5 gas and... More »

Beer and Pizza Getting Pricey

Rising fuel and ingredient costs affect traditional cheap eats

(Newser) - Even cheap foods like pizza and bagels are getting pricey these days over a mix of inflationary pressures, MSNBC reports. Last year's shocking 4% food price hike was driven by more than gas prices, one analyst says: It's diesel that fuels the trucks and trains that transport goods. "It's... More »

Boom Time on Heartland Farms

US farmers strike it rich satisfying ethanol, export demands

(Newser) - 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... More »

Biofuels Will Add to Heating Climate, Studies Say

Land likely to be used for production is already helping absorb carbon

(Newser) - 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... More »

Black News for Not-So-Green Biofuels

Producing crops for fuel releases more greenhouse gas than it saves: studies

(Newser) - 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... More »

Bush Signs Huge Energy Bill

Law boosts emission standards for first time since '70s

(Newser) - 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... More »

Energy Bill Passes House

Measure mandates 35mpg fuel efficiency for vehicles, 5X increase in ethanol production

(Newser) - The House approved a broad energy bill today that will increase fuel efficiency requirements for cars and trucks for the first time in 30 years and will boost ethanol production, Reuters reports. The bill, passed last week by the Senate after $13 billion in oil company taxes were excised, carried... More »

Green Tech Boosts Heartland

Advances no longer limited to America's coastal cities

(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 »

Senate OKs New Fuel Standards

Bill would mandate 35 mpg for autos, boost ethanol production

(Newser) - A bill that will require better fuel mileage for automobiles passed the Senate today after majority Democrats dropped billions in taxes on oil companies, the AP reports. The bill, which Republicans said won't be vetoed if, as expected, it passes the House next week, would force cars, light trucks, and... More »

Big Industries Joust Over Energy Prices

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

(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... More »

Ethanol Glut Sinking Farmers' Hopes

'Gold rush' fades as biofuel prices plummet

(Newser) - A glut of ethanol has sent prices plumetting, staggering the hopes of farmers and businesses who once counted on a biofuel gold rush, reports the New York Times. Companies and farm cooperatives built so many ethanol distilleries that production has far outpaced demand, in part because distribution hasn't kept up. More »

Alcohol May Lower Risk of Kidney Cancer

Still probably bad for your liver, though

(Newser) - Adding to the cacophony of conflicting recommendation about alcohol consumption, a new study finds that drinking two or more glasses of red wine might reduce your risk of kidney cancer. In a study comparing the drinking habits of kidney cancer patients to others, red-wine drinkers had 40% lower risk than... More »

Iowa-Minded Candidates Learn to Love Ethanol

Doubts take back seat to politics

(Newser) - To a presidential candidate who has an eye on Iowa—and who among them can afford not to?—ethanol is a political home run. The Hawkeye State hosts 28 refineries, and every one of the ’08 hopefuls has duly supported some form of ethanol subsidies. This despite the fact... More »

Ethanol More Mean Than Green

How biofuel steals from the hungry and hurts the environment

(Newser) - Far from the solution to America’s energy crisis, corn ethanol is “one if the great political boondoggles of our time,” Rolling Stone says in a scathing broadside. The “dangerous” and “delusional” hype over the corn biofuel raises the price of food for the needy because... More »

Bush’s Biofuels Beat Castro’s Cautions

Slate ’s William Saletan makes the poor man’s case for ethanol

(Newser) - The feud between biofuel booster George Bush and naysayer Fidel Castro is reviewed by Slate’s William Saletan—who says in the end Bush's position is the more progressive one. In fact he calls the erstwhile compassionate conservative a “revolutionary.” Castro argues that biofuel will take food out... More »

Senate Passes Energy Bill

Vehicles must hit a green 35mpg by 2020; Detroit seeing red

(Newser) - The Senate gave a green light to an energy plan that would pump total fuel-economy standards to 35 mpg by 2020, and require vehicles to run on 85% ethanol by 2015. Democrats say the bill will reduce America's reliance on foreign oil, help control gas prices and counteract the effects... More »

Scientists Sweeten on Fruit Fuel

To get to core of gas problem, pick apples over ethanol, say studies

(Newser) - Simple sugars found in fruits like apples and oranges can be converted into a new type of bio-based car fuel that provides more energy than ethanol, the current hip gas alternative. US researchers say the dimethylfuran can store 40 percent more energy and is less volatile than its corn-based cousin,... More »

A Steak-House View of the Economy

Ribeyes are grreat predictors of business performance, says Daniel Gross

(Newser) - High-end steak houses like Ruth's Chris and Peter Luger are a great place to study trends affecting the US economy, argues Slate's Daniel Gross. The price of sirloin, for instance, reflects the recent spike in energy prices, as demand for ethanol has raised the price of corn, which is what... More »

Biofuels Bump Pump Prices

Government's ethanol push helps slow refinery expansion, boosting costs

(Newser) - Four-dollar gas? Blame biofuels, the oil industry says. Construction of new refinery capacity is on hold thanks to government regulations that will soon require oil companies to produce biofuels such as ethanol. Uncertain standards for biofuels, which may render new refineries useless, have led oil companies to rethink expansion plans—... More »

Stories 41 - 60 | << Prev   Next >>
NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Other Sites We Like:   24/7 Wall St.   |   Betty Confidential   |   BuzzFeed   |   Cracked   |   Fark   |   Timelines   |   The Frisky   |   Geek Sugar   |   NewsOne