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 …
Abstract Black carbon in soot is the dominant absorber of visible solar radiation in the atmosphere. Anthropogenic sources of black carbon, although distributed globally, are most concentrated in the tropics where solar irradiance is highest. Black carbon is often transported over long distances, mixing with other aerosols along the way. …
This policy note analyses current European agrofuel policies in terms of their effects on nature and poverty. It argues that agrofuels are exacerbating climate change and that their development is infringing on the land rights of the poor, thus exacerbating poverty. Agrofuels are infringing on the intrinsic existence right of …
Most prior studies have found that substituting biofuels for gasoline will reduce greenhouse gases because biofuels sequester carbon through the growth of the feedstock. These analyses have failed to count the carbon emissions that occur as farmers worldwide respond to higher prices and convert forest and grassland to new cropland …
Increasing energy use, climate change and carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels make switching to low-carbon fuels a high priority. Biofuels are a potential low-carbon energy source, but whether biofuels offer carbon savings depends on how they are produced. Converting rainforests, peatlands, savannas or grasslands to produce food crop-based biofuels …
the European Union has come up with a new energy plan. It envisages reducing emissions by 20 per cent by 2020. eu will convert a fifth of its energy to renewable energy and biofuels by then. On January 23, eu's executive arm announced mandatory target for biofuels. They will supply …
the European Union is planning to ban certain biofuels, saying their social and environmental impacts are dangerous. eu is likely to review its draft policy on biofuels to effect the ban. The proposed ban will affect import of palm oil from southeast Asia, and soya and ethanol from Latin America. …
Transportation fuels are the major component of the energy portfolio. Of the 20 million barrels of petroleum consumed each day in the United States, 68 percent is used in the transportation sector. The Western states are in position to become key producers and beneficiaries in the emerging alternative-fuels economy. In …
The recent rapid increases in the international prices of many basic food commodities have raised many questions from policy-makers, the media, the public, and the farmers who have the opportunity to benefit from the situation. Those who have the most reason to be concerned are the vulnerable people who have …
The us state Florida has come up with draft motor fuel rules that aims to boost ethanol blending in the country's third largest petrol market. Limited ethanol blending is already occurring in Florida. But following the approval of the Energy Independence and Security Act, 2007, the draft rules will help …
"We apologise for recent price increases," reads the sign over the bread counter, "but they are due to global factors beyond our control." This is not a Third World food stall but an upscale supermarket in Brussels, capital of the European Union, whose farming system was once notorious for the …
SIR RICHARD BRANSON, the bearded billionaire who founded Virgin Atlantic, is fond of surprises. Next month his airline plans to test-fly an aircraft that is partly powered by biofuels, something most experts thought was years away. From April Sir Richard's countrymen will begin filling their cars with a blend of …
