California has long liked to set the trend that others follow: whether it be movies, fashion, celebrities or even clean air. And yesterday was another first. It adopted the world’s first regulation to limit greenhouse gas emissions from transport fuels. The State’s Air Resources Board adopted a regulation expected to slash gasoline consumption by 25% … Read More
Biofuels
And Finally: Only in America…
Here’s a silly story for the festive season. The authorities in America are investigating a Beverly Hills cosmetic surgeon who claims that he used the fat he removed from patients in liposuction operations to power his “green” SUV. California’s public health department has opened an inquiry into claims made by the surgeon, Dr Alan Bittner, … Read More
Biofuels: The $11 Billion Folly
Logic would have it that you would not spend billions on something that doesn’t work. You wouldn’t would you? Well that’s logic… So how illogical is it that we are spending billions of dollars on policies that don’t work? And I’m not talking about the war in Iraq, either. I am talking biofuels. A new … Read More
“We are holding ourselves hostage to the weather”
Such has been the race to embrace biofuels that in the rush we forgot about the risks. We conveniently forgot about how food going to fuel would exacerbate food shortages and hence push up food prices. We conveniently forgot that peat-lands would be drained and forests cut down to make way for monocrops to fill … Read More
Biofuels Forcing 30 Million into Poverty
As the global food crisis worsens, the aid agency Oxfam has warned that the replacement of traditional fuels with biofuels has dragged more than 30 million people into poverty. Oxfam has re-iterated what many people have been saying for a while that so-called “green policies” in developed countries are contributing to the world’s soaring food … Read More
US Begins to Break Foreign Oil “Addiction”
The US is starting to break its “addiction” to foreign oil as high prices, more efficient cars, and the use of ethanol significantly cut the share of its oil imports for the first time since the late seventies. According to a report in today’s Financial Times, the country’s foreign oil dependency is expected to fall … Read More
Trade War Over Biofuel Subsidies
Oh the irony, the poor starve, yet the rich squabble over subsidies. European biodiesel producers have triggered a fresh transatlantic trade war by urging the EU to impose punitive duties on cheap imports from the US. They claim that low-priced imports of biofuels are putting many European producers out of business. Their American rivals immediately … Read More
BP Plans to Invest $560m in Biofuels
Everyday someone warns about the dangers of oil sands, so what does BP do? It invests in oil sands? Every day someone else warns of the dangers of biolfuels, so what does BP do? Invest in biofuels… BP has announced plans to invest $560m in biofuels, arguing that its proposals to develop ethanol production from … Read More
Latin American Leaders: Biofuels ARE a Threat
Only last week, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva rejected allegations that biofuels are responsible for the recent rise in global food prices. In a diplomatic rebuke, two other Latin American leaders have now issued dire warnings about the effects of biofuel production on food supplies. Speaking at the UN in New York, Bolivian … Read More
Brazil President Defends Biofuels
Despite new evidence appearing every day about the dangers of biofuels, finally someone has spoken out for their use. Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has rejected allegations that biofuels are responsible for the recent rise in global food prices. He said food had become more expensive because people in developing countries were gaining … Read More