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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 21 - 40 of 64

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June 2008
- Grain Prices Surge With Midwest Floods
  
  Wall Street Journal | Jun 14, 08 9:45 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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'
  
  New York Times | Jun 5, 08 8:22 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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
  
  Yale Environment 360 | 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 from nature used to irrigate crops, a scarcity could trigger terrible famines. More »
- Food vs. Fuel Battle Flares at UN Summit
  
  BBC | 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 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
  
  Washington Post | Jun 2, 08 8:44 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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
  
  New York Times | 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 environmentalists to thieves who siphon tanks in the dead of the night. More »
- Military at War With Rising Fuel Costs
  
  Wall Street Journal | May 21, 08 10:12 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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
  
  Advertising Age | May 20, 08 6:49 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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
  
  New York Times | May 18, 08 11:06 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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
  
  Wall Street Journal | May 8, 08 4:29 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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
  
  New Republic | May 3, 08 9:30 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - 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
  
  Los Angeles Times | 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 House wants to cut off payments to farmers who earn $500,000 or more. Farm lobbyists are trying to double that. More »
April 2008
- Gas-Tax Break Shameful Policy
  
  New York Times | Apr 30, 08 5:29 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The “McCain-Clinton” gas-tax vacation is an abomination of energy policy, Thomas Friedman declares in the New York Times . “This is money laundering: We borrow money from China and ship it to Saudi Arabia and take a little cut for ourselves as it goes through our gas tanks.” Worse than just despicable pandering, it would encourage gas consumption and drive the renewables market overseas. More »
- Ethanol Guzzles 25% of US Corn; Links Food, Fuel Prices
  
  Washington Post | 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 economy,” one analyst tells the Washington Post . “Now they're beginning to fuse.” More »
- Fill 'Er Up— In Your Own Back Yard
  
  New York Times | Apr 27, 08 1:56 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Backyard brew may soon ease the pain at the gas pump if two entrepreneurs pushing a home ethanol system have their way, reports the New York Times. E-Fuel Corporation's device is roughly the size of a stackable washer-dryer and will sell for about $10,000 . Using sugar or feedstock and a specially designed yeast, it creates ethanol for as little as a dollar a gallon, which produces one-eighth the carbon of gasoline. More »