Tag: Ethanol
-
What Our Sugar & Ethanol Habits Are Doing to Central American Workers
Kidney failure is killing sugarcane workers in Central America who supply sugar for both our sweet tooth and demand for ethanol.
-
First Iowa Cellulosic Ethanol Plant Gets $105m Loan Guarantee From DoE
If it seems like you've read a variation of the above headline before you're not wrong, and as much as anything it's a sign of the rock road cellulosic ethanol and biofuels in general have had in the past few years. The details: The Department of
-
Senate Votes to End Billions in Ethanol Subsidies
A measure that would remove roughly $6 billion in annual ethanol subsidies just passed the U.S. Senate, signaling, among other things, a shift in public attitude towards the once-heralded alternative fuel. It
-
The Koch Brothers Are Right: Ethanol Subsidies Should Go
Few industrialists in recent times have done more to imperil environmental protections and public health than the Koch brothers. The force behind Americans for Prosperity and Koch Industries have galvanized
-
U.S. Doctors Say Biofuels Could Kill 192,000+ Per Year in Developing Countries
Photo: Stephanie Says, Flickr, CC Turning Food into Fuel is Not the Solution The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) has released a warning that U.S. and European policy to increase the production of biofuels could lead to almost
-
Why Are Germans Boycotting E10, the Ethanol Fuel?
Germans rate respect for having a national identity as eco-conscious people. Should it therefore come as a surprise that Germans are not embracing the advent of E10, a 10% ethanol-gasoline mixture, which has
-
Paper & Wood Waste to be Mass Produced Into Car Fuel
The first large-scale commercial operation to produce cellulosic ethanol (the kind of ethanol made not from corn or other grown crops, but from organic waste) in the US just got major backing from the oil industry, and will be online in 2013. The New
-
Al Gore: I Was Wrong About Ethanol
Photo: World Economic Forum, Flickr, CC BY-SA Corn ethanol has turned out to be a bad idea -- there's little disagreement about that, especially in environmental circles. For starters, it's an inefficient fuel source, consuming tons of water to produce
-
How to Improve Food Security by Reducing Grain Demand
After several decades of Lrapid rise in world grain yields, it is now becoming more difficult to raise land productivity fast enough to keep up with the demands of a growing, increasingly affluent, population.
-
Corn Ethanol, Biofuel's Eldest Poster Child, Is Off To Environmental Reform School
This week USEPA announced that the maximum ethanol content of motor fuel sold in the USA would be allowed to rise from 10% to 15%. Positives of the Agency's decision are: reduced dependence on foreign
-
Ditching Ethanol Subsidy Will Save US $6 Billion - Won't Hurt Domestic Production Either
Two new pieces in NRDC's Switchboard blog remind us that the debate over corn ethanol subsidies is alive and well; and illustrate, through two new reports, the benefits of ditching Federal support altogether. The first, from the
-
The Best Green Cars and Technology From Michelin's 2010 Challenge Bibendum Show (Slideshow)
This year, French tire giant Michelin (yes, the Michelin that made the tires on your car) held its 10th Challenge Bibendum event, this time in Rio de Janeiro. If you've never heard of this thing, don't kick yourself,
-
The Best Green Cars and Technology From Michelin's 2010 Challenge Bibendum Show
French tire giant Michelin recently held its 10th Challenge Bibendum, this time in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The event is a chance for Michelin to rally industry players around the flag of sustainable mobility and the future of the automobile. Here's me loo
-
Cars and People Compete for Grain
At a time when excessive pressures on the earth's land and water resources are of growing concern, there is a massive new demand emerging for cropland to produce fuel for cars--one that threatens world food
-
Corn Ethanol Back in the Game Under New EPA Renewable Fuel Standard Rules
New Environmental Protection Agency requirements for its Renewable Fuel Standards program have been released which raise an issue which has sat dormant for a little while: How to calculate the greenhouse gas emissions of a
-
U.S. Feeds One Quarter Of Its Grain To Cars While Hunger Is On The Rise
The 107 million tons of grain that went to U.S. ethanol distilleries in 2009 was enough to feed 330 million people for one year at average world consumption levels. More than a quarter of the total U.S. grain crop was turned into ethanol to fuel cars
-
Willie Smits on Regrowing the Indonesian Rainforest and Harvesting Biofuels
Image: Casajuntoalrio Willie Smits long ago abandoned the customary role of the microbiologist. After working in the Indonesian rainforest for three decades (and marrying a tribal queen), he has taken it upon himself to regrow the delicate ecosystems
-
A Jewish Response to the Energy Challenge?
Jewish leaders met at the beginning of this month in San Francisco for the first conference dedicated to
