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Saturday, April 21, 2007
Palm oil boon may well be biodiesel bane
Palm oil boon may well be biodiesel bane
By Zaidi Isham Ismail
April 19 2007, Business Times, Malaysia
Malaysia's crude palm oil (CPO) prices have soared to record levels, but, ironically, may also hurt another equally lucrative and rejuvenated sector - palm oil-based biodiesel.
This is because CPO, the main raw material needed to make biodiesel, is set to become more expensive than the selling price of biodiesel, says this report.
Read the full news report here @ Business Times, Malaysia
By Zaidi Isham Ismail
April 19 2007, Business Times, Malaysia
Malaysia's crude palm oil (CPO) prices have soared to record levels, but, ironically, may also hurt another equally lucrative and rejuvenated sector - palm oil-based biodiesel.
This is because CPO, the main raw material needed to make biodiesel, is set to become more expensive than the selling price of biodiesel, says this report.
Read the full news report here @ Business Times, Malaysia
Labels: economics
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
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
Monday, March 26, 2007
Ethanol, energy and profits
Ethanol, energy and profits
March 24, 2007, Author: David Kennell
Brazil leads the world with “hundreds of miles” of sugarcane plantations, much of it derived by decimation of vast areas of the large Amazon rainforest basin, critical for life on the planet. Eight of 10 new Brazilian cars are fueled by ethanol. Brazilian media billed Bush’s meeting with President Lula da Silva as a bid to create a new “OPEC of ethanol.”
However, analysts point to a major problem for the Brazil-U.S. relationship: a 54 cent U.S. tariff per gallon on Brazilian ethanol. Since corn is the major U.S. plant source for ethanol, the tariff is to protect the U.S. agrichemical industry (free trade indeed).
Read more on this interesting viewpoint from this report @ People's Weekly World
March 24, 2007, Author: David Kennell
Brazil leads the world with “hundreds of miles” of sugarcane plantations, much of it derived by decimation of vast areas of the large Amazon rainforest basin, critical for life on the planet. Eight of 10 new Brazilian cars are fueled by ethanol. Brazilian media billed Bush’s meeting with President Lula da Silva as a bid to create a new “OPEC of ethanol.”
However, analysts point to a major problem for the Brazil-U.S. relationship: a 54 cent U.S. tariff per gallon on Brazilian ethanol. Since corn is the major U.S. plant source for ethanol, the tariff is to protect the U.S. agrichemical industry (free trade indeed).
Read more on this interesting viewpoint from this report @ People's Weekly World
Labels: economics, environment, ethanol
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