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 …
Zea mays has become the very emblem of plenty, with rich golden cobs of corn (maize) overspilling from some of the most effectively farmed arable lands on the planet. Jatropha curcas, on the other hand, is an unprepossessing and indeed toxic plant, better suited to scrubland and hedges. Yet in …
World Development Report 2008 calls for greater investment in agriculture in developing countries.The report warns that the sector must be placed at the center of the development agenda if the goals of halving extreme poverty and hunger by 2015 are to be realized.
the use of algae as a source of biofuel has gained popularity in the last few years. In July 2007, three entrepreneurs from the uk came out with a way to feed algae by capturing carbon dioxide (co2) from automobiles. This co2 was used to feed algae which then produced …
the Udaipur administration recently announced its plans to go ahead with allotment of land for jatropha plantation. The move, made under the recently notified Rajasthan Land Revenue (Allotment of waste land for bio-fuel plantation and bio-fuel based Industrial and processing unit) Rules, 2007, has sparked several protests. Under the new …
Switching to biofuels to curb greenhouse gas emissions could be a mistake, as increasing biofuel production will release two to nine times more carbon over the next 30 years than fossil fuels, notes the first comprehensive study of biofuel emissions. The study, done by a team of UK-based scientists, criticises …
Sweet sorghum is a special type of sorghum which accumulates sugars in its stalks. The unique high carbon assimilation capability of sorghum crop coupled with another desirable trait of accumulating high levels of extractable sugars in the stalk can be exploited for extensive use of sorghum as raw material for …
Too many people striving for too high a standard of living and purusing the so called "rates of growth" and "aping the unsustainable life styles" of the West are destroying the natural regulatory powers of the Earth.
This report reviews the current knowledge on the use of biomass for non-food purposes, critically discusses its environmental sustainability implications, and describes the needs for further research, thus enabling a more balance policy approach. The life-cycle wide impacts of the use of biomass for energy and material purposes derived from …
These rules may be called the Rajasthan Land Revenue (Allotment of waste land for bio-fuel plantation and bio-fuel based Industrial and processing unit)Rules, 2007. They shall extend to the whole of the State of Rajasthan. They shall come into force at once.
In a recent meet in Brussels, the European Union (EU) agreed to new emissions reduction targets, after a long tussle over renewable energy targets. On March 9, 2007, 27 EU member states agreed to a binding cut of 20 per cent in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2020. …
