This briefing paper reviews evidence of the impacts of the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) on food prices, with a focus on corn and soy, and presents new analysis on the impact of the RFS on U.S. livestock farmers. Studies examining the relationship between food prices and biofuel demand conclude …
EU Can Hit Biofuels Goal Without Conflicts - Germany SLOVENIA: April 14, 2008 BRDO - The European Union can achieve its 2020 target to get 10 percent of all transport fuel from biofuels without adding to soaring food prices and harming rainforests, Germany's environment minister said on Saturday. "We can …
Chances are you've heard of hybrids and biofuels, but what about oil-producing yeast and turbinelike buoys that transform ocean waves into electricity? Those are just a few of the alternative-energy sources that may power the future, according to Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund and coauthor, with Miriam …
France Says Food Should Take Priority Over Biofuels FRANCE: April 14, 2008 PARIS - Production of food must take precedence globally over biofuels as prices surge and the threat of famine grows, France's farm minister said on Friday, calling for a European Union initiative on world supplies. "Absolute priority must …
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has urged his Japanese counterpart to include the impact of biofuel production on food prices on the agenda of the G8 summit in July, Downing Street said Thursday. "There is growing consensus that we need urgently to examine the impact on food prices of different …
The European Union faced calls to abandon plans to increase bio fuel use from its,, own scientific advisers yesterday. The scientific committee of the European Environment Agency said a target of having 10 per cent of transport fuel derived from plants by 2020 could deprive millions of people of food …
Advice for those trying to solve the global food crisis: do not start from here. As governments across the developing world impose export bans on staple foods, further worsening the shortages on inter
The German government has been forced into an embarrassing climbdown over its plans to lead a worldwide biofuels revolution on the roads after the discovery that too many cars would be unable to run on the proposed ethanol-petrol mix. The environment minister, Sigmar Gabriel, had planned to introduce the new …
Grains gone wild What's behind the world food crisis? These days you hear a lot about the world financial crisis. But there's another world crisis under way - and it's hurting a lot more people. I'm talking about the food crisis. Over the past few years the prices of wheat, …
From his Cessna a mile above the southern Amazon, John Carter looks down on the destruction of the world's greatest ecological jewel. He watches men converting rain forest into cattle pastures and soybean fields with bulldozers and chains. He sees fires wiping out such gigantic swaths of jungle that scientists …
Food Prices To Rise For Years, Biofuel Firms Say UK: April 4, 2008 LONDON - Staple food prices will rise for some years, but should eventually fall to historical averages as harvests increase, biofuel company executives said on Thursday. Soaring demand for better quality food from rapidly industrialising emerging markets …
While the advocates of biofuel as a viable option or supplement to conventional fuels feel that India must shift over to cheaper alternatives that are not in the grip of oil cartels, its opponents vehemently oppose any such move This year's Budget is notable for waiver of excise duty on …
German cars not ready for new biofuel - sources GERMANY: April 3, 2008 BERLIN - More than 2 million cars in Germany cannot run on a new biofuel the government wants to introduce, well over a limit the administration has set as a pre-condition for its use, industry sources said …
Thailand on Tuesday approved a 399.6-billion-baht (12.7-billion-dollar) loan scheme for farmers, in the government's latest effort to shore up the economy, the finance minister said. The project's centrepiece is a 325-billion-baht loan scheme for farmers to start growing crops like palm oil and cassava, which would be used to make …
Responding enthusiastically to the world agrofuel frenzy, the Indian government has promised a flurry of initiatives to encourage the large-scale planting of agrofuel crops, particularly jatropha. Without waiting for the government support to be spelt out, corporations are already moving in, taking over resources that have traditionally been used by …
This report represents a summary of selected issues from the European Environment Agency Transport and Environment Reporting Mechanism (EEA TERM) set of transport and environment integration indicators. The objective of this report is to indicate some of the main challenges to reducing the environmental impacts of transport and to make …
This report focuses specifically on the topic of renewable energy for heating and cooling for two reasons. First, the heating and cooling sector contributes largely to energy consumption, and therefore the emission of greenhouse gases. Globally, heating and cooling accounts for an estimated 40-50% of final energy demand. In the …
The International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) provides information on how agricultural knowledge, science and technology can be used to reduce hunger and poverty, improve rural livelihoods and human health, and facilitate equitable environmentally, socially and economically sustainable development. The full set of IAASTD reports …
Firms seek greener ethanol from wood chips and agricultural waste. Scientists and engineers are working on dozens of possible biofuel-processing routes, reports Charles Wyman, a chemical engineer at the University of California, Riverside, who is a founder of Mascoma Corporation in Cambridge, Mass., a leading developer of cellulosic ethanol processes.
Royal Dutch Shell, Europe's biggest oil company, is working on a process to turn sugars into a synthetic petrol, rather than ethanol, with the aim of moving to a commercial demonstration plant in two years' time. The company yesterday announced a joint venture with Virent, a US biotech business based …
