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February 2008
- Black News for Not-So-Green Biofuels
  
  Los Angeles Times | Feb 8, 08 3:54 AM CST
  
  (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 destroyed to make fields. The findings prompted 10 scientists to write to President Bush and lawmakers, urging new policy "that ensures biofuels are not produced on productive" forests, grassland or cropland. More »
- Biofuels Deemed a Greenhouse Threat
  
  New York Times | Feb 8, 08
  
  Almost all biofuels used today cause more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional fuels if the full emissions costs of producing these %u201Cgreen%u201D fuels are taken into account, two studies being published Thursday have concluded.
January 2008
- Brits Debate Eco-Wisdom of Biofuels
  
  Guardian (UK) | Jan 20, 08 11:03 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Biofuels may actually exacerbate the environmental problems they were meant to allay, reports the Observer, and a UK Parliamentary committee has released a report examining the possible effects. Using fuel made from crops like tallow and rapeseed may actually worsen greenhouse gas emissions, kill rainforests, and drive up food prices due to land competition. More »
December 2007
- San Francisco Gases Up, Goes Green
  
  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 »
October 2007
- Puyo: It's Green, Safe and Glows
  
  Reuters | Oct 24, 07 4:25 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Honda unveiled the unusual Puyo today, an in-development concept car with no sharp edges and a coating of soft silicone to absorb collisions, Reuters reports. Visitors to the Tokyo Motor Show were given a look at the car, which runs on hydrogen fuel cells, is driven with a joystick, and glows different colors when it is running or standing still. More »
September 2007
- Ethanol Glut Sinking Farmers' Hopes
  
  New York Times | Sep 30, 07 4:46 AM CDT
  
  (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 »
August 2007
- Iowa-Minded Candidates Learn to Love Ethanol
  
  Politico | Aug 20, 07 11:18 AM CDT
  
  (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 that, as Politico notes, reservations about ethanol as an alternative energy source have reached a fever pitch. More »
July 2007
- Ethanol More Mean Than Green
  
  Rolling Stone | Jul 31, 07 2:54 PM CDT
  
  (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 it puts corn to work powering SUVs. And on top of that, ethanol isn’t even environmentally efficient. More »
- The Biofuel Myths
  
  International Herald Tribune | Jul 10, 07
  
  The term "biofuels" suggests renewable abundance: clean, green, sustainable assurance about technology and progress. This pure image allows industry, politicians, the World Bank, the United Nations and even the International Panel on Climate Change to present fuels made from corn, sugarcane, soy and other crops as the next step in a smooth transition from peak oil to a yet-to-be-defined renewable fuel economy. But in reality, biofuel draws its power from cornucopian myths and directs our attention away from economic interests that would benefit from the transition, while avoiding discussion of...
- Bush’s Biofuels Beat Castro’s Cautions
  
  Slate | Jul 9, 07 7:33 PM CDT
  
  (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 of mouths in poor countries to run cars in rich countries; Saletan says no. More »
June 2007
- Senate Passes Energy Bill
  
  CNN | Jun 22, 07 5:00 AM CDT
  
  (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 of global warming, while analysts say it's a blow to Detroit. More »
- Scientists Sweeten on Fruit Fuel
  
  BBC | Jun 21, 07 4:48 AM CDT
  
  (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, but its environmental impact is still unknown. More »
May 2007
- Biofuels Bump Pump Prices
  
  New York Times | May 24, 07 11:51 AM CDT
  
  (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