Like the first speaker on our program today here at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference, our second speaker, David Zilberman, University of California, Berkeley, says we need to increase agricultural productivity.
His talk was on the distributional effects of biofeuls and he had two conclusions. The first one is that biofuels make some people better off and some people worse off. Drivers are better off since they’re getting their fuel for about 15 cents less than if it didn’t have biofuels in it but consumers of food are worse off since the price of food is higher. He says that’s worse in developing countries where they’re seeing food prices 20 to 40 percent higher. This situation he says is causing political instability which will become an obstacle to the development of biofuels.
His second conclusion is that we have to increase productivity. He says that if we don’t we’re in real trouble. In order to increase agricultural productivity he says we must use biotechnology in all crops.
You can listen to my interview with David here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/farm-foundation/ff-bio-08-zilberman.mp3]
You can also download the interview using this link (mp3).
I’m also uploading pictures to a photo album which you can feel free to use if you’d like: Transition To A Bio Economy Photo Album
The first speaker here at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference is Michael Wetzstein, University of Georgia. His talk deals with two issues. One is on price volatility and the other is on food and fuel.
The Farm Foundation conference, “Transition To A Bio Economy, Risk, Infrastructure and Industry Evolution” is underway here in Berkeley, CA. Getting us started was Farm Foundation Vice President, Steve Halbrook.
Just two years in and the 
The Earthrace, the 100 percent biodiesel-powered boat trying to set a record for circumnavigation of the globe, is approaching its last port before its final run back to Spain… and a world record.
Update from Egypt, 19.29 GMT. Due to essential maintenance work following a challenging trip through monsoon weather, Earthrace was not able to start the journey through the Suez Canal until this afternoon. The crew is very grateful to Admiral Fadel, Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, for granting special dispensation to the boat to travel through the Canal. As vessels are unable to travel along the canal at night, the boat is now docked half way to Port Said, in Ismailia from where she will set off again at first light tomorrow. Thanks also to Felix Maritime Agents for all their help in making arrangements for a great transit.
A small train company in the Pacific Northwest is using biodiesel on some of its routes. 
General Motors’ Hummer has caught a lot of heat with gas prices climbing above $4 and $5 a gallon. Those high prices could be the death sentence for gas-guzzling, all-terrain vehicles, as GM looks to save its business by finding products that will sell. But their could be a glimmer of hope on the horizon for the go-anywhere… but drink-everything-in-the-tank… vehicle: biodiesel.