Posted on November 23, 2009 by sugarcaneblog
An international team of researchers reports in the journal Nature Geoscience that CO2 emissions from the burning of fossil fuels increased by 2% from 2007 to 2008, by 29% between 2008 and 2000, and by 41% between 2008 and 1990 — the reference year of the Kyoto Protocol. The lead author, Prof Corinne Le Quéré of the University of East Anglia (UEA) and the British Antarctic Survey, said “the only way to control climate change is through a drastic reduction in global CO2 emissions. The Earth’s carbon sinks are complex and there are some gaps in our understanding, particularly in our ability to link human-induced CO2 emissions to atmospheric CO2 concentrations on a year-to-year basis.” The report also notes that emissions from land use change have remained almost constant since 2000, but now account for a significantly smaller proportion of total anthropogenic CO2 emissions (20% in 2000 to 12% in 2008).
Filed under: Biofuels, Clean Tech, Climate Change, Deforestation, Enviroment, Ethanol, GHG, ILUC | Tagged: Biofuels, Climate Change, Deforestation, Emissions, GHG, ILUC, indirect land use changes, Land Use, Land Use Changes, Trade Policy | Leave a Comment »
Posted on November 23, 2009 by sugarcaneblog
According to the New York Times, trio of Italian and British entrepreneurs are advancing a $114 million plan to turn the waste from Brazilian sugarcane production into energy. The company intends to build several plants that would process bagasse, a byproduct of sugarcane production, into small, dense pellets that can be burned for fuel. Brazilian sugarcane mills burn most of their own bagasse to create energy in cogeneration plants, and increasingly have been selling the excess power to the national grid. But 20 percent of the excess bagasse, or about 25 million tons, is left to waste at this point.
Filed under: Bioelectricity, Biofuels, Clean Tech, Climate Change, Enviroment, Ethanol, Sugarcane, sugar | Tagged: Bagasse, bioelectricity, biomass, Brazil, cogeneration, Pellet | Leave a Comment »
Posted on November 23, 2009 by sugarcaneblog
According to Carbon Control News, industry officials say alternative jet fuels could play a central role in reducing aviation’s carbon footprint, but a new study commissioned by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) finds many of those fuels are actually worse for the climate than conventional petroleum, and that those which do produce fewer lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions “are costly and could potentially be counterproductive.” Further contradicting the industry’s stance, the report also says imposing a price on carbon — not federal subsidies and mandates — is the best way to further the development of alternatives to oil. The findings, contained in a long-awaited study by researchers at the RAND Corporation and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), are a major blow to the aviation industry, which has sought to play up the potential of alternative fuels as a “game-changer” at the same time that it blasts binding emission-reduction policies as unnecessary.
Filed under: Biofuels, Biotech, Clean Tech, Climate Change, Deforestation, Enviroment, Ethanol, Food vs. Fuel, GHG, Sustainability, biofuel | Tagged: Aviation, Biofuels, FAA, GHG, MIT, Rand | Leave a Comment »
Posted on November 21, 2009 by sugarcaneblog
According to the Christian Science Monitor, a new report by the National Research Council says the “hidden” costs of “energy production with fossil fuels in the United States amounted to $120 billion,” which includes “negative impact of air pollution on health, but doesn’t include the effects of mercury emitted by coal- fired plants on wildlife and people, harm done to ecosystems by air pollution, or the climate-warming effects of carbon emissions.” According to CSM, however, “climate considerations aside, damages wrought by ethanol made from corn were usually similar to, or even slightly worse, than damages from gasoline. That’s because of the extra energy needed to convert corn to biofuel.”
Filed under: Biofuels, Climate Change, Corn, Enviroment, Ethanol | Tagged: Climate Change, Corn, environment, Ethanol, Fossil Fuels, GHG, ILUC | Leave a Comment »
Posted on November 20, 2009 by sugarcaneblog
One of the most vocal groups representing the corn ethanol industry is calling on California’s Air Resources Board (CARB) to reopen the on the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) after what it calls “undisclosed documents” recently uncovered related to the rulemaking process. Here’s Growth Energy’s press release:
Growth Energy calls on ARB to allow public comment on undisclosed LCFS documents
Growth Energy, the coalition of U.S. ethanol supporters, called on the California Air Resources Board (ARB) to allow the public to comment on documents pertaining to their low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) rulemaking that were not disclosed and should influence the final rule. Through a public records request, Growth Energy uncovered numerous previously undisclosed documents and comments from ARB consultants that cast doubt on ARB conclusions and others that appeared to influence ARB’s assumptions.
Following the discovery, Growth Energy issued a letter to ARB, calling on them to reopen the public comment period and allow comment on all documents received by ARB in connection with the LCFS as mandated by the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). These include documents commenting on detailed environmental analyses of the LCFS developed by other corn ethanol stakeholders, including the Renewable Fuels Association and the New Fuels Alliance. The letter to ARB also included eight questions to which Growth Energy is seeking answers. Read more »
Filed under: Biofuels, Climate Change, Corn, Ethanol, Food vs. Fuel, GHG, ILUC, LCFS | Tagged: corn ethanol, Ethanol, Growth Energy, ILUC, LCFS, Low Carbon Fuel Standard, RFA, RFS | Leave a Comment »
Posted on November 20, 2009 by sugarcaneblog
Growth Energy, a new corn ethanol lobby group, put our a press release today calling on Congress to ease the installation of pumps that dispense mid- and high-level ethanol blends. According to a letter written to the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees, the organization says the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property Credit, which should allow fuel vendors to recapture up to $50,000, or 50 percent, of the total cost of installing alternative fuel dispensing systems is being undermined by an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) interpretation that retailers are only allowed to take credit for a portion of the new pump – instead of the entire pump.
Filed under: Biofuels, Blends, Corn, Ethanol, FFV, Lobby, Tax Credits | Tagged: biofuel, E85, EPA, Ethanol, Finance, Growth Energy, IRS, RFS, subsidy, Tax Credit, Ways & Means | Leave a Comment »
Posted on November 20, 2009 by sugarcaneblog
According to Inside Cal/EPA (subscription required), “Some oil company representatives are likely to strongly oppose a new air board plan to consider accelerating the inclusion of transportation fuels in its proposed cap-and-trade program — from 2015 to 2012 — based on arguments that the industry will be subject to multiple overlapping greenhouse gas (GHG) rules that could dramatically increase costs on consumers, threaten supply shortages and yield little if any emission reductions.”
According to the report, including GHG emissions from liquid transportation fuels is considered a “major undertaking that likely will involve the thorny issue of estimating lifecycle GHG emissions from different fuels” but state “officials point out that the sector is crucial in terms of reducing GHG emissions to target levels in 2020 and 2050, considering that transportation makes up about 38% of total California GHG emissions.” Apparently complicating matters is that “utilities and other power generation officials have also complained steadily to state regulators that it is patently unfair to give transportation fuels a three-year exemption from cap-and-trade, while their facilities must begin complying in 2012.”
Filed under: Biofuels, Climate Change, Enviroment, Ethanol, GHG, ILUC, LCFS | Tagged: California, Cap and Trade, CARB, Emissions, EPA, Ethanol, GHG | Leave a Comment »
Posted on November 20, 2009 by sugarcaneblog
If the biofuels sector continues its expansion to meet the renewable fuels mandate, big oil companies and midstream businesses may have to change their practices, according to a report from Standard & Poor’s. The development of advanced biofuels could change conventional refinery requirements and distribution programs, and rack and terminal facilities may need more tanks and mixing equipment to allow for new blends, S&P analyst Mark Habib said. Different specifications for pipelines may also need to be developed or current ones retooled to serve regions where the alternative fuels would be produced, he added.
Filed under: Biofuels, Blends, Cellulosic, Climate Change, Ethanol, FFV, Investors, RFS, Tariff | Tagged: Biofuels, corn ethanol, environment, EPA, Ethanol, LCFS, Low Carbon Fuel Standard, Renewable Fuel Standard, RFS | Leave a Comment »
Posted on November 19, 2009 by sugarcaneblog
According Reuters, a shaky U.S. dollar and limited supplies of Brazil’s cane-based ethanol could allow U.S. producers of corn ethanol to enter the European or Asian markets. Historically high sugar prices, demand from the transportation sector, as well as the 36% appreciation of the Brazilian currency against the dollar this year, are making Brazil’s ethanol prices “not viable for exports” in the coming months, an analyst said. But U.S. shipments could be limited because increased exports would boost corn usage, “which will in turn tighten up the balance sheet” of the crop, a Prudential Bache Commodities analyst said.
Filed under: Biofuels, Corn, Ethanol, Sugarcane, Tariff, sugar | Tagged: corn ethanol, Dollar, Ethanol, Exports, RFS, sugar, Tariff, Trade | Leave a Comment »
Posted on November 19, 2009 by sugarcaneblog
According to Inside EPA Weekly Report (subscription required), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is having a hard time “with resolving a host of factors affecting its new renewable fuels standard (RFS) make it unlikely that the agency will meet an early 2010 goal for the RFS to take effect.” Speaking at Infocast’s Cellulosic Ethanol SUmmit, EPA’s Paul Argyropoulos said that “the agency recognizes that it faces a tight deadline to finalize the rule in time to implement it in 2010 but would not specify when the RFS would be finalized or when the agency plans to implement it. ‘I can’t give you much more than [to] say that we are working incredibly hard to get this rule done as quickly as possible,’” he is quoted as saying. Meanwhile, for a look at other recent issues regarding biofuels see DTN Ag Policy’s Chris Clayton article, “Biofuel Policies on the Table in December.”
Filed under: Biofuels, Cellulosic, Climate Change, Enviroment, Ethanol, RFS | Tagged: Cellulosic, EPA, Ethanol, Renewable Fuel Standard, RFS | Leave a Comment »
