A press release by Growth Energy highlights a new study that shows greenhouse gas emissions of gasoline from foreign oil are at least twice what was previously thought when the indirect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions related to military operations in the Middle East are taken into account. The study is published in “Biofuels, Bioproducts & Biorefining”. The study comes as …
Final Day for Comments on CARB Plan
Earth Day 2009 is ironically the final day for filing written comments with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) on a proposed low-carbon fuel standard, or LCFS, that threatens to undermine the role of renewable fuels in helping the environment. An increasing number of university professors, scientists, researchers, and industry trade organizations have registered their opposition to the controversial proposal …
Save the Carbon Cycle
Carbon dioxide has become an enemy of the Earth for its role in contributing to global climate change. One man wants to stop this unfair protrayal of “our friend carbon”. Dr. Norman Airs, the executive director of The Carbon Awareness Institute is on a crusade to save the carbon cycle. He has appeared on a TV show produced by My …
Bioenergy Could Provide Benefits for Rural Poor
A new international study indicates that small-scale bioenergy plants can play a significant role in rural development for poorer nations. The new report, “Small Scale Bioenergy Initiatives: Brief Description and Preliminary Lessons on Livelihood Impacts from Case Studies in Latin America, Asia and Africa,” was published jointly by the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the UK’s Department …
Ethanol Blending Tests May Take Another Year
A senior agency official with the U.S. EPA says they may need another year to determine how blending ethanol in gasoline over the current 10 percent limit would affect vehicles and nonroad equipment. EPA is working with the Energy Department to try to determine whether “mid-level” blends at 13 or 15 percent will affect emissions controls and engine durability. EPA …
Doubts About Meeting Cellulosic Ethanol Goals
Experts are expressing doubts the U.S. will meet targets for cellulosic ethanol production required under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, but the need remains to make it happen as soon as possible. The legislation calls for the production of 4.3 billion gallons by 2015, but during a House Agriculture Subcommittee hearing this week, Dr. Howard Gruenspecht with …
Wind Farming For Electricity
Biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel weren’t the only energy alternatives on the program at the Farm Foundation Transition To A Bio Economy Conference. We also had a presentation on wind energy from Mark Willers, Minwind Energy. Mark says Minwind Energy was formed by a group of local farmers and businessmen in southwest Minnesota. He’d like people to understand that the …
Ethanol Half The Price Of Gas In Brazil
I think Joel Velasco, Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association, had the quote of the day here at the Farm Foundation Transition To A Bio Economy Conference. He said that carbon is the new agricultural commodity and that our incentive is to produce less of it and get paid for it. So, grow a crop, sell it and maybe earn some carbon …
Biofuels Policies Do Affect Trade But . . .
Seth Meyer is with the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI). He’s also a speaker here at the Farm Foundation’s Transition To A Bio Economy Conference. He talked to us about how biofuels policies are affecting commodity prices and trade but he says there are a lot of other factors affecting export volume. For example, he says that even …