Ethanol production probably had less impact on global commodity prices in 2008 than many were saying at the time. A newly released working paper, entitled “Placing the 2006/08 Commodity Price Boom into Perspective,” from the Development Prospects Group at the World Bank, concludes that “…the effect of biofuels on food prices has not been as large as originally thought.” Authors …
CARB Proposes LCFS Soil Sustainability Provisions
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is far from over on discrediting biofuels as part of their mandated policy known as the Low Carbon Fuels Standard (LCFS). For the past year, the ethanol industry has been embroiled in a fight for proper reflections of biofuel’s indirect greenhouse gas emissions, aka indirect land use. Now, CARB has created a working group …
More Transparency Needed Among Environmental Groups
I’m calling the environmental movement out for supporting nothing and opposing everything. Not too long ago, I was proud to call myself an environmentalist. Today, I’m bordering on embarrassed to admit that I support sustainability programs. The cause of my distress is what is happening under the carpet among environmental groups. On the surface, they look squeaky clean, but when …
Algae Biofuel Maker Gets First Customer
A California-based biofuel maker that extracts its feedstock oil from algae and uses that oil for several other products has its first customer. OriginOil, Inc. has announced that it is shipping a Quantum Fracturing™ System, the first unit in a multi-phase commercialization program, to Australian company MBD Energy Limited: “This is a major milestone for OriginOil and represents our first …
Boeing: Biofuel Use by Airlines Up to 1% by 2015
Boeing’s top environmental officer says that commercial airlines might use up to 1 percent biofuels made from plants and algae by the year 2015. Bloomberg quotes Billy Glover, managing director of environmental strategy at Boeing’s commercial airplanes unit, as pointing out that has worked with airlines from the U.S. to Japan to test jet fuels made from plants such as …
CFDC Urges More Dialogue on Biofuels Tax Incentives
Recent Department of Commerce figures are showing that despite an effort for America to curb its imports of foreign oil, they are actually increasing. This at the cost of billions of dollars flowing to foreign companies, governments and citizens. For this reason, Clean Fuels Development Coalition (CFDC) is urging Congress to be mindful of the significant contributions from ethanol. They …
Green Scissors 2010 Calls for Cut in Wasteful Spending
At the helm of Friends of the Earth, a new report was released today highlighting government programs and subsidies that are wasteful to taxpayers, harmful to the environment and bad for consumers. The Green Scissors 2010 report targeted four major areas for budget cuts including energy, agriculture and biofuels, infrastructure, and public lands. Many of the recommendations of this report …
Indirect GHGs of Petroleum Worse Than Thought
Environment Magazine has published new research today that finds that the greenhouse gas emissions derived from military use of oil is worse than previously thought. University of Nebraska professors, Adam Liska and Richard Perrin write in the article, Securing Foreign Oil: A Case for Including Military Operations in the Climate Change Impact of Fuels, “we assert that military activity to …
2010 FedFleet Conference Kicks Off in Phoenix
The exhibit hall opened on Monday to over 180 companies who can network with other vendors, Federal, State, local government and private sector fleet menagers. Exhibitors included automobile manufacturers, alternative fuel and alternative fuel vehicle promoters and more. The 2011 FedFleet conference will be held in Orlando, Florida from July 26-28.
Senators Introduce Domestic Energy Bill
Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tim Johnson (D-SD) introduced legislation yesterday that “focuses on developing and deploying safe, reliable domestically grown and produced energy.” According to the senators, the Securing America’s Future with Energy and Sustainable Technologies Act (SAFEST) establishes strong renewable energy and energy efficiency standards, incentives for developing biofuels and biofuel infrastructure, and targets for the availability of …