World Bank President on Biofuels

Cindy Zimmerman

The president of the World Bank made an appearance at the World Food Prize symposium Thursday on World Food Day and commented on world production of food and biofuels during a press conference. Robert Zoellick noted that some biofuels are more efficient than others, like sugarcane ethanol in Brazil, and he believes that “biofuels in the future are going to …

Audio, Biodiesel, Ethanol, International

World Food Prize Winners on Food and Fuel

Cindy Zimmerman

The ability of the world to grow enough agricultural crops to produce both food and fuel was a topic of discussion at the World Food Prize symposium in Des Moines on Thursday, which was also World Food Day. This year’s World Food Prize honorees, former Senators George McGovern and Bob Dole, pictured here with 2003 World Food Prize laureate Catherine …

Audio, Biodiesel, Ethanol, International

Credit Crisis Hot Topic at Farm Foundation Conference

John Davis

The recent credit crisis in the country was certainly a hot topic of conversation at today’s Farm Foundation Transition to a Bioeconomy: Environmental and Rural Development Impacts Conference here in St. Louis, Mo. Cole Gustafson, a biofuels economist with North Dakota State University, says the current credit issues is going to make financing any venture a challenge, but he says …

Audio, Biodiesel, Ethanol, Farm Foundation, Government, News

Schafer Tells Farm Foundation to Get Ready for Breakthroughs

John Davis

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer has just finished addressing the folks attending the latest Farm Foundation’s Transition to a Bioeconomy Conference going on in St. Louis, Mo. Schafer reminded the crowd how hard the current administration has worked to promote the biofuels field in this country, and thus, how hard it had worked to help the farmers who are …

Biodiesel, Ethanol, Farm Foundation, Government, News

Food and Fuel Production Co-Exist in Brazil

Cindy Zimmerman

The promise of new science and technology for increasing food and fuel production was part of a conversation panel at the World Food Prize Norman Borlaug Symposium in Des Moines on Wednesday. Among the panelists was Brazil’s former minister of agriculture Roberto Rodrigues, co-chair of the International Biofuels Commission, who talked about the importance of biofuels development for developing nations. …

Audio, Ethanol, food and fuel, International

Managing Water for Future Ethanol Sustainability

John Davis

The amount of water that goes into growing the corn that goes into ethanol has been a big topic of conversation between those for and against production of the green fuel. That’s why it is a topic of conversation at the Farm Foundation’s Transition to a Bioeconomy: Environmental and Rural Impacts Conference in St. Louis this week. This gathering of …

Cellulosic, Ethanol, Farm Foundation, News

Biofuels Talk at World Food Prize Event

Cindy Zimmerman

These days, a dialogue about global food has to include biofuels – the two have become inseparable in recent years. At the World Food Prize Norman Borlaug Symposium this week in Des Moines many speakers are addressing how biofuels fit in the global food outlook. The keynote speaker for the symposium kickoff Wednesday was Sir Gordon Conway, who is chief …

Audio, Biodiesel, Ethanol, International

GM and NGA Partner to Bring More E85 to 10 States

“Improving the use of clean, domestically grown biofuels like ethanol will help move us toward a cleaner, more secure energy future,” said John Thomasian, director of the NGA Center for Best Practices. “The infrastructure for E85 needs to expand now if the nation is to be ready for the significant growth in ethanol coming from new cellulosic and biomass sources,” …

Car Makers, E85, Ethanol, Flex Fuel Vehicles