So who is speaking here, an ethicist, a scientist, or a policymaker? It’s very hard for me to have a conversation about these issues, because people adopt incredibly defensive postures…The scientists on one side and civil-society organizations on the other. [...]
BIOFUELS
Home-grown fuels have dropped out of mainstream discussion, but recent research continues to improve our understanding of the emissions calculus of trading biofuels for gasoline—along with the health and environmental impacts. And in the last few months, scientists have refined principles that can guide sustainable public policies.
Writing at the Switchboard blog, Nathanael Green is pleased with the conclusions of 23 scientists who co-authored the Policy Forum in Friday’s issue of Science, “Sustainable Biofuels Redux.” And just today, the Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that tomorrow they will release a new plan for accelerating the development of the sustainable biofuels industry.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson announced today that the agency will deny the request of Texas Governor Rick Perry for a waiver that would reduce government ethanol production requirements.
To produce biofuels that reduce carbon emissions and do not compete with food crops, biofuel producers need to scale up production of cellulosic biofuels, particularly those made from waste materials and crops that do not compete with food.
Part 3 of coverage of Tuesday’s House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on the Renewable Fuel Standard, with the perspectives of witnesses on biofuel production and rising food prices.
Part 2 of a break down of Tuesday’s House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on the Renewable Fuel Standards, with a look at what witnesses had to say about the economic and environmental concerns.
Tuesday’s House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing pitted environmentalists, corn producers, oil refiners, grocery manufacturers, and renewable fuel advocates against one another in a contentious debate over the future of the Renewable Fuel Standard. Science Progress tries to make sense of it all. First up, what’s right with the RFS and ways to make it better.
While cellulosic ethanol is not a silver bullet for solving the country’s need for sustainable transportation fuel, there is a sufficient supply of biofuel feedstocks that do not compete with food crops.
Biofuel production has come under blistering attack as food prices around the world escalate, but we can’t make the right steps forward without looking at the full interplay of agricultural forces.
Conference committee appointees are hashing through Senate and House versions of the 2007 Farm Bill, and there’s a significant risk that the legislation they pass on to the President will continue the misguided agricultural subsidies that thwart the development of advanced cellulosic biofuels.
Worldwide biofuel production is increasing so rapidly, according to a new analysis from Merrill Lynch, while other fuel sources cannot keep up with demand, that without the rising production, oil prices would be higher than they already are. The Wall Street Journal reported on the analysis yesterday, which adds yet another variable to the already complex debate over biofuel policy.
In his most recent column, Chris Mooney traced the complexities of the the current debate over biofuels. One major concern is that increased demand for biofuels leads farmers to plant more feedstocks for ethanol and devote less land to growing food. The New York Times tackled the issue of food crops yesterday, offering a substantial cover story on the growing gap between global grain production and soaring grain demand.
ENERGY
The latest scientific research suggests that current biofuel production might not reduce carbon emissions significantly, or at all. It’s clear now that the issue is “wickedly complicated.” Are we wise enough to handle it?
Before we need more biofuels, writes Alex Farrell in an op-ed in today’s San Francisco Chronicle, we need better biofuels. He suggests reorienting our thinking about biofuel production to focus on how we use the land available, so that fuel does not compete with wilderness or food production.
ENERGY
The latest research on biofuel production suggests that previous studies failed to fully account for the role uncultivated lands play in keeping carbon out of the atmosphere. But with this new guidance, says Alex Farrell in an interview with Science Progress, we see that while not all biofuels are created equal, growing them the right way can help stop global warming, keep food prices down, and preserve our forests.
The National Research Council of the National Academies convened a symposium Wednesday to explore approaches among “Future Directions in Research at the Intersection of the Physical and Life Sciences.” The intersections up for discussion ranged across the research spectrum: from synthetic biology to geoengineering to bioterrorism.
An interactive map showing where in the U.S. you can find Flex Fuel cars and gas stations that offer E85. The energy bill currently in Congress provides important provisions to make flex-fuels more widely available.
DeCode Genetics, an Icelandic company, announced personal genome sequencing, available immediately for $985. But there’s quite a bit of fine print to consider as other companies join this infant industry.
Brazilian ethanol produced from sugar cane is a promising renewable energy technology. But land is finite and using it for energy means not using it for other human needs. Nowhere is this clearer than in the history of the Brazilian sugar cane industry.
Science Progress and American Progress's Doing What Works project teamed up to produce a set of policy proposals that the Obama administration and Congress can adopt to reinvest in the building blocks of American science, innovation, and economic competitiveness. Read the overview of the five reports.
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