The IMF’s April 2025 Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa presents a clear warning: regional growth is slowing, debt pressures are mounting, and donor assistance is declining. Yet the report outlines critical opportunities particularly in domestic revenue mobilization, structural reform, and private sector activation that can shape a more resilient …
The U.S. biofuels industry would be hamstrung if government regulators choose to use unfair and untested formulas that hold it responsible for greenhouse gases from crops overseas, ethanol groups said on Thursday. U.S. and California environmental regulators included indirect land use change overseas in formulas that measure greenhouse gases from …
Scientists in California, US, are reporting the use of a new bioprocess that could help pave the way for producing biofuels from agricultural waste, easing concerns about stress on the global food supply from using corn and other food crops. The bioprocess involves a first-of-its-kind approach to craft genetically engineered …
The Obama administration on Tuesday proposed rules to limit emissions of climate-changing gases from the manufacture of ethanol, a step that would probably curtail the expansion of corn ethanol production. In its first major policy steps on ethanol, the administration said it would help producers of biofuels who could not …
President Barack Obama will direct the heads of three US agencies to make the biofuels industry cleaner and encourage output of ethanol made from non-food crops, according to a draft memo obtained by Reuters on Monday. The Biofuels Interagency Working Group, to be headed by the secretaries of the Environmental …
The tribes of Northeast India have been using jatropha seeds to light their huts at night. It contains 35 per cent fuel and is not edible. Best of all, it thrives in degraded land. And Dl-Williamson Magor Bio Fuel, a joint venture between tea major Williamson Magor and UK-based Dl-bp …
Commercial production unlikely in next two years. The Centre sees potential to cultivate jatropha in 13 million hectares with further cultivation possible in another four million hectares M.R. Subramani Chennai, April 17 In April 2003, a Planning Commission committee recommended various measures to replace 20 per cent of the country
Russian companies, frustrated by slow legal reforms, have abandoned costly projects to produce bioethanol from grain and are instead trying to make the environmentally friendly fuel component from other sources. One Siberian plant has started production and two projects are under development, a far cry from the dozen projects mooted …
Mangalore, DH News Service: Though several companies grow jatropa on large scale, farmers are still sceptical over its market. There is a need to remove the suspicion among them.
The American food system rests on an unstable foundation of massive fossil fuel inputs. It must be reinvented in the face of declining fuel stocks. The new food system will use less energy, and the energy it uses will come from renewable sources. The seeds of the new food system …
The MNRE had sanctioned the Saradi test project in January 2006. The project has been implemented by UBB (Uttarakhand Biofuel Board), Dehradun and coordinated and monitored by UREDA (Uttarakhand Renewable Energy Development Agency), Dehradun. Before providing electricity in Saradi, the villagers were using kerosene for lighting and other purposes. The …
The past few months have seen unprecedented turmoil in worldwide financial markets. With the global economy in a recession and the decreased price of oil, many may be wondering what the future holds for biofuels. Prior to these global changes, social and environmental concerns about biofuels production were casting a …
When biofuels emerged on the global scene, they were regarded as the final answer to our dependence on fossil fuels and our climate change concerns. But over the last couple of years, biofuels have uncovered another face
Access to land for biofuel cultivation is often negotiated with rural communities. Ensuring that sufficient consultation and discussion are carried out and that agreements are respected is a big challenge. This case study from Mozambique illustrates some of the difficulties.
Can pastoral communities benefit from the cultivation of biofuel crops? Work carried out by SOS Sahel International U K to facilitate debate and understanding on the current biofuel boom in dryland Africa points to some interesting possibilities. At the same time many questions need to be answered before pastoralists can …
Agriculture must supply all people with enough food to prevent widespread hunger and starvation. However, food security is aggravating day by day, resulting in more number of undernourished/malnourished persons in the world. The ever-increasing population in the developing and less developed countries is also a major constraint. With climate changes …
Biofuels are being touted as a solution to rising fuel prices, growing energy demands, and the need to curb emissions of greenhouse gases. Governments have good reasons for promoting biofuels. Yet, a headlong rush into growing biofuel crops will bring its own problems. Unless planned properly, biofuel crops are likely …
Tata Chemicals, leading manufacturer of caustic soda and fertilisers in the country, said today that it had bought a 35 per cent stake in JOil Pte, a Singapore-based jatropha seedling company. The stake buy will help the firm gain exclusive marketing rights for technology to develop the best seed varieties …
THE global price of basic food commodities and products has increased rapidly over the past three years resulting in increased food insecurity. In Africa, for example, social cohesion, peace and stability, as well as the encouraging economic gains among others, are at risk.
