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The Biofuel Boom

Started by H Needles; Last updated Feb 26, 08 3:25 PM CST by K Schwartz | View history

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The Biofuel Boom

"America is on the verge of technological breakthroughs that will enable us to live our lives less dependent on oil." -George W. Bush

What do you associate with biofuels? The term may conjure up images of green, sustainable, and earth-friendly technology, but many point to a very different reality. Using fuel made from crops like tallow and rapeseed may actually worsen greenhouse gas emissions, kill rain forests, and drive up food prices due to land competition.

Stories

Stories 1 - 20 of 52

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July 2008
- Gas From Garbage Finally Gets Momentum
  
  newser | New York Times | 5 hours, 6 minutes ago
  
  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 »
- Corn-Hungry Texas Calls for Cuts in Biofuel Mandates
  
  newser | New York Times | Jul 23, 08 2:32 AM CDT
  
  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 »
- Farmers Aim to Plow Over Conserved Land
  
  newser | Washington Post | Jul 11, 08 4:40 AM CDT
  
  Millions of acres set aside as grasslands and wetlands could soon be plowed under if farmers and livestock producers have their way, reports the Washington Post. As food prices soar, the Department of Agriculture is under pressure to release acreage from the Conservation Reserve Program that pays farmers not to grow crops on some land. The program was intended to hold down production and boost prices, but a major beneficiary has been the environment. More »
- Biofuel Caused Food Crisis: Secret Report
  
  newser | Guardian (UK) | Jul 4, 08 3:45 PM CDT
  
  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 »
- Algae: Lean, Green Biofuel?
  
  newser | Portfolio | Jul 2, 08 2:47 PM CDT
  
  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 »
- Floods Cloud Biofuel Future
  
  newser | New York Times | Jul 1, 08 4:09 AM CDT
  
  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 as destabilizing as those caused by turmoil in oil-producing countries. More »
June 2008
- Ties to Corn Industry Shape Obama's Policy
  
  newser | New York Times | Jun 23, 08 5:41 AM CDT
  
  Barack Obama trumpets corn-derived ethanol as an alternative energy source and has endorsed tariffs that benefit the industry. But the Times reports that many in the Obama campaign, from Tom Daschle to the candidate's top environmental adviser, have close ties to the corn industry—a kernel of the surprise victory in Iowa. More »
- Midwest Floods May Seep Into Gas Prices
  
  newser | Wall Street Journal | Jun 18, 08 11:29 AM CDT
  
  Gas prices could be going up even more as Midwest floods put acres of corn underwater, causing its price—and that of ethanol—to spike, the Wall Street Journal reports. Relatively low ethanol prices have helped keep gasoline in check, but ethanol refiners paying more for corn could be forced to pass the added costs along to consumers. More »
- Grain Prices Surge With Midwest Floods
  
  newser | Wall Street Journal | Jun 14, 08 9:45 AM CDT
  
  The floods inundating the Midwest are pushing grain prices to new highs, the Wall Street Journal reports. Corn prices jumped 10% to a record high last week as farmland flooded. The domino effects will hit the ethanol industry, hog farmers, and even owners of catfish ponds who rely on corn to feed the fish. Food prices are now forecast to keep climbing for years. More »
- Investors Sink Billions in 'Green Gold'
  
  newser | New York Times | Jun 5, 08 8:22 AM CDT
  
  Billions of investment dollars are pouring into agriculture as the global demand for food explodes, turning crops such as wheat, corn, and soybeans into green gold, reports the New York Times . And while the immediate impact of more money being fed into agriculture will likely result in increased food production, some critics worry the boom could go bust just as quickly. More »
- Next Resource in Crisis: Water
  
  newser | Yale Environment 360 | Jun 4, 08 4:30 PM CDT
  
  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 from nature used to irrigate crops, a scarcity could trigger terrible famines. More »
- Food vs. Fuel Battle Flares at UN Summit
  
  newser | BBC | Jun 4, 08 10:57 AM CDT
  
  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 to fill the fuel tanks of wealthy nations immoral. On the other: the US, Brazil, and the EU, the main players on the biofuel stage. More »
- UN Head: Drop Policies That Up Food Prices
  
  newser | Washington Post | Jun 2, 08 8:44 AM CDT
  
  UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will plead with world leaders at a food summit in Rome tomorrow to suspend trade restrictions, agricultural taxes, and other price controls that have helped create the highest food prices in 30 years, reports the Washington Post . Ban will also urge the US and other countries to phase out subsidies for food-based biofuels, such as ethanol, which have added to the spike in food costs. More »
May 2008
- Restaurants' Used Grease Draws Thieves
  
  newser | New York Times | May 30, 08 7:40 AM CDT
  
  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 environmentalists to thieves who siphon tanks in the dead of the night. More »
- Military at War With Rising Fuel Costs
  
  newser | Wall Street Journal | May 21, 08 10:12 AM CDT
  
  Fuel costs are hitting the US military harder than most, the Wall Street Journal reports, and it's moving forward with efforts to switch to synthetic, and greener, alternatives. Chugging 340,000 barrels of oil per day, the military is the nation's largest consumer; synthetic fuels and massive solar arrays are already in use, and the military is considering nuclear plants on some remote bases. More »
- Slumping Popcorn Sales Will Pop Ticket Prices
  
  newser | Advertising Age | May 20, 08 6:49 AM CDT
  
  Movie tickets have long been partly subsidized by popcorn sales, but that business model is set to pop as the price of corn soars, Advertising Age reports. As moviegoers pass up the pricey snack, cinemas will need to hike ticket charges to cover the difference. One expert on the movie biz thinks ticket prices could climb as much as 30% this year. More »
- As World's Belly Rumbles, Gluttonous US Tosses Food
  
  newser | New York Times | May 18, 08 11:06 AM CDT
  
  Americans throw out roughly a quarter of all food available for consumption, even as grocery prices skyrocket and global riots break out over food shortages, the New York Times reports. That works out to about a pound of food every day for every American—from grocery stories tossing spoiled produce to restaurants scrapping uneaten dishes to home cooks pitching uneaten leftovers in the fridge. More »
- Speculation Not Driving Boom in Commodities
  
  newser | Wall Street Journal | May 8, 08 4:29 PM CDT
  
  A majority of economists think the upswing in food and energy prices is due to fundamental issues of supply and demand—and not driven by speculation, a Wall Street Journal survey finds; 51% pegged demand from China and India as the chief cause of the oil boom. More »
- Blue Collars, Green Ties
  
  newser | New Republic | May 3, 08 9:30 AM CDT
  
  In Pennsylvania, the New Republic 's Dayo Olopade finds an effort to unite working-class union types with the liberal elite that could long outlive Barack Obama's heyday: the search for green-collar jobs. Stelworkers have long viewed environmentalists skeptically, but both groups have a stake in finding a "new industrial policy based on the twin causes of sustainability and job creation." More »
- Food Prices May Force Cuts in Farm Subsidies
  
  newser | Los Angeles Times | May 2, 08 2:32 PM CDT
  
  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 House wants to cut off payments to farmers who earn $500,000 or more. Farm lobbyists are trying to double that. More »

Stories 1 - 20 of 52

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Images (8)
Videos (1)

Honda Motor Corp., President Hiroyuki Yoshino introduces the automaker's concept car PUYO at the Tokyo Motor Show in Makuhari, east of Tokyo, Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2007. (AP Photo/Katsumi Kasahara) (Associated Press)

U.S. President George W. Bush, left, and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, right, look at sugar cane stalks as they tour Petros Transporte S.A. Facility before delivering a joint statement... (Associated Press)

A dump wagon adds freshly gathered corn cobs to a pile on a farm near Hurley, S.D., Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2007. Poet is testing various cob gathering methods as part of the company's effort to make cellulosic... (Associated Press)

In this June 8, 2007 file photo, a lone burned stump stands in a field cleared near Sumber, Kalimantan, Indonesia. Some experts are warning that the deforestation to create land for bio-fuel crops could... (Associated Press)

An oil worker operates a fuel tank during the opening of a privately owned bio-diesel factory, run by Peru's Heaven Petroleum Operators, in Lima, Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008. (AP Photo/Karel Navarro) (Associated Press)

A handful of corn is shown before it is processed at the Tall Corn Ethanol plant in Coon Rapids, Iowa in this May 24, 2006 file photo. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, file) (Associated Press)

Corn stalks are seen near New Berlin, Ill., in this Tuesday, June 19, 2007 file photo. U.S. farmers planted 19 percent more corn this season than a year ago to capture record high market prices, fueled... (Associated Press)

A familiar sight along historic Route 66 is grass growing through the neglected pavement such as here in Clinton, Oklahoma. (KRT Photos)

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Growing grass on cars (MomentFactory (YouTube))

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Related Threads

Energy • Crop Woes • Going Green • Environment • Gas Gets Pumped Up • A Run on Rice?! • Climate Change • Auto Industry • The Prize: Oil • China

Background

National Farmers' Union (NFU)
Nfuonline.com

National Farmers' Union (NFU)

» Read more about National Farmers' Union (NFU) at Nfuonline.com

Quick guide: Biofuels
BBC

Quick guide: Biofuels

» Read more about Quick guide: Biofuels at BBC

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