Thursday, March 29, 2007
Corn can't solve our problem
Corn can't solve our problem
March 27, 2007, By David Tilman & Jason Hill - Check Biotech
The world has come full circle. A century ago our first transportation biofuels -- the hay and oats fed to our horses -- were replaced by gasoline. Today, ethanol from corn and biodiesel from soybeans have begun edging out gasoline and diesel.
This has been hailed as an overwhelmingly positive development that will help us reduce the threat of climate change and ease our dependence on foreign oil...But lost in the euphoria, however, is the fact that three of our most fundamental needs -- food, energy, and a livable and sustainable environment -- are now in direct conflict. Moreover, a recent analyses of the full costs and benefits of various biofuels, performed at the University of Minnesota, present a markedly different and more nuanced picture than has been heard on the campaign trail, says this analysis article at Check Biotech
Read the full article from here @ Check Biotech
March 27, 2007, By David Tilman & Jason Hill - Check Biotech
The world has come full circle. A century ago our first transportation biofuels -- the hay and oats fed to our horses -- were replaced by gasoline. Today, ethanol from corn and biodiesel from soybeans have begun edging out gasoline and diesel.
This has been hailed as an overwhelmingly positive development that will help us reduce the threat of climate change and ease our dependence on foreign oil...But lost in the euphoria, however, is the fact that three of our most fundamental needs -- food, energy, and a livable and sustainable environment -- are now in direct conflict. Moreover, a recent analyses of the full costs and benefits of various biofuels, performed at the University of Minnesota, present a markedly different and more nuanced picture than has been heard on the campaign trail, says this analysis article at Check Biotech
Read the full article from here @ Check Biotech
Labels: analysis, biofuels-problems, economics, ethanol
Burdening Brazil With Ethanol, Biofuels
Burdening Brazil With Biofuels
Lúcia Ortiz and David Waskow, March 19, 2007
The prospects of a massive boom in ethanol production to meet demand in the United States is not entirely pleasant. If the U.S. moves to meet a substantial proportion of its fuel needs from biofuels the pressure to import ethanol and other biofuels will mount rapidly, reaching quantities far beyond what Brazil currently produces. Providing biofuels to meet just 10 percent of current U.S. gasoline consumption would require multiplying Brazil’s already sizeable ethanol production many times over. Expanding Brazil’s biofuel industry on such a large scale will create serious environmental and social problems, says this interesting news article.
Read the full article from here @ Tom Paine
Lúcia Ortiz and David Waskow, March 19, 2007
The prospects of a massive boom in ethanol production to meet demand in the United States is not entirely pleasant. If the U.S. moves to meet a substantial proportion of its fuel needs from biofuels the pressure to import ethanol and other biofuels will mount rapidly, reaching quantities far beyond what Brazil currently produces. Providing biofuels to meet just 10 percent of current U.S. gasoline consumption would require multiplying Brazil’s already sizeable ethanol production many times over. Expanding Brazil’s biofuel industry on such a large scale will create serious environmental and social problems, says this interesting news article.
Read the full article from here @ Tom Paine
Labels: biofuels-problems, biofuels-trends, brazil, brazil-usa, environment, ethanol, ethanol-brazil, ethanol-usa, problems, trends
UK push for biofuels may harm environment, campaigners say
UK push for biofuels may harm environment, campaigners say
19 Mar 2007 bbj.hu
A UK plan to help tackle global warming by increasing the use of biofuels such as palm oil and rapeseed may do more harm to the environment than good,
environmental campaign groups said.
Fuel suppliers will have to ensure that from April 2008 a certain percentage of their sales come from biofuels, under a UK Department for Transport program. The proposal could see businesses producing biofuels by destroying rainforests and wetlands, threatening endangered habitats and species and releasing more carbon into the atmosphere, according to Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, WWF and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. The groups said the government should tighten rules to ensure biofuel producers meet minimum standards on greenhouse gas emissions, and establish "environmental audits” of the entire life-cycle of the fuel, from cultivation through transportation to combustion.
Read the full report from here @ BBJ, Hungary
19 Mar 2007 bbj.hu
A UK plan to help tackle global warming by increasing the use of biofuels such as palm oil and rapeseed may do more harm to the environment than good,
environmental campaign groups said.
Fuel suppliers will have to ensure that from April 2008 a certain percentage of their sales come from biofuels, under a UK Department for Transport program. The proposal could see businesses producing biofuels by destroying rainforests and wetlands, threatening endangered habitats and species and releasing more carbon into the atmosphere, according to Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, WWF and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. The groups said the government should tighten rules to ensure biofuel producers meet minimum standards on greenhouse gas emissions, and establish "environmental audits” of the entire life-cycle of the fuel, from cultivation through transportation to combustion.
Read the full report from here @ BBJ, Hungary
Labels: analysis, biofuels-europe, biofuels-problems, climate-change, co2, environment, problems
PermaLink - UK push for biofuels may harm environment, campaigners say posted by Ecacofonix : 10:50 AM
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Biofuels increasing food prices globally
Biofuels increasing food prices globally
Lester Brown, 21 March 2007, Cherry Creek News
The escalating share of the U.S. grain harvest going to ethanol distilleries is driving up food prices worldwide.
Corn prices have doubled over the last year, wheat futures are trading at their highest level in 10 years, soybean futures have risen by half. A Bloomberg analysis notes that the soaring use of corn as the feedstock for fuel ethanol “is creating unintended consequences throughout the global food chain.”
Food prices are also rising in China, India, and the United States, countries that contain 40 percent of the world’s people. While relatively little corn is eaten directly in these countries, vast quantities are consumed indirectly in meat, milk, and eggs in China and the US.
Read the full report from here @ Cherry Creek News
Lester Brown, 21 March 2007, Cherry Creek News
The escalating share of the U.S. grain harvest going to ethanol distilleries is driving up food prices worldwide.
Corn prices have doubled over the last year, wheat futures are trading at their highest level in 10 years, soybean futures have risen by half. A Bloomberg analysis notes that the soaring use of corn as the feedstock for fuel ethanol “is creating unintended consequences throughout the global food chain.”
Food prices are also rising in China, India, and the United States, countries that contain 40 percent of the world’s people. While relatively little corn is eaten directly in these countries, vast quantities are consumed indirectly in meat, milk, and eggs in China and the US.
Read the full report from here @ Cherry Creek News
Labels: biofuels-problems, economics, ethanol, ethanol-usa, food, prices
To Save Earth, We Need a Freeze on Biofuels
If we want to save the planet, we need a five-year freeze on biofuels
George Monbiot, March 29, 2007
"Oil produced from plants sets up competition for food between cars and people. People - and the environment - will lose.
It used to be a matter of good intentions gone awry. Now it is plain fraud. The governments using biofuel to tackle global warming know that it causes more harm than good. But they plough on regardless. In theory, fuels made from plants can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by cars and trucks. Plants absorb carbon as they grow - it is released again when the fuel is burned. By encouraging oil companies to switch from fossil plants to living ones, governments on both sides of the Atlantic claim to be "decarbonising" our transport networks," says George Monibot in this interesting opinion piece
Read the full article from the Guardian here @ ZNet Science
George Monbiot, March 29, 2007
"Oil produced from plants sets up competition for food between cars and people. People - and the environment - will lose.
It used to be a matter of good intentions gone awry. Now it is plain fraud. The governments using biofuel to tackle global warming know that it causes more harm than good. But they plough on regardless. In theory, fuels made from plants can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by cars and trucks. Plants absorb carbon as they grow - it is released again when the fuel is burned. By encouraging oil companies to switch from fossil plants to living ones, governments on both sides of the Atlantic claim to be "decarbonising" our transport networks," says George Monibot in this interesting opinion piece
Read the full article from the Guardian here @ ZNet Science
Labels: biofuels, biofuels-problems, opposition, problems
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