Biofuels | Grist

Science being used as an excuse to balance budgets

Seattle and Berkeley drop biodiesel 0
Posted 1 week ago
Here's a King 5 News video clip and here is a short article from the online Seattle PI, demonstrating how much easier it is to believe science when there's money involved.
The Grist List: From Poo to Potato

A loo that turns poo into fuel, and more 0
Posted 1 week, 3 days ago
Meet the LooWatt: a waterless eco-commode made from poop that turns your #1 and #2 into CH4. It's the diaper genie of the sustainability set.
The Negotiators

The Non-Concession concession? 1
Posted 1 week, 3 days ago
Henry Waxman and Ed Markey seem to have mastered the art of the non-concession concession: striking deals with potential opponents in ways that meet their needs while minimizing (though not entirely eliminating) the negative impacts.
Greener, cheaper planes favored at Paris Air Show 0
Posted 2 weeks, 3 days ago
Lighter, more fuel efficient planes were the buzzwords at the Paris Air Show this week, where the world's top jetmakers showed off their efforts to reduce pollution and cut fuel costs.
So Farm, So Good

Eight reasons for farmers to support global warming action 0
Posted 3 weeks, 3 days ago By Alexandra Kougentakis, Jake Caldwell
Cornmail

Peterson: Leave ethanol alone, or I’ll nuke Waxman-Markey 3
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago
House Ag committee chair Collin Peterson (D.-Minn.) has already made it clear that he's furious that the EPA has proposed a framework for assessing the greenhouse gas footprint of ethanol. Now he's vowing to use his clout to crush the historic Waxman-Markey climate change bill, unless Congress passes a bill that would revoke the EPA's proposed rules.
King Corn vents spleen

Why farm-state pols rage against the EPA’s biofuel stance 3
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago
Why are farm-state pols howling against recently proposed EPA rules that don't affect their beloved ethanol program at all? They seem to be anticipating trouble from a coming cap-and-trade scheme.
The Climate Post: The blind press grope the carbon legislation elephant 1
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago
The first installment in a regular column from The Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University, rounding up and analyzing the climate news of the week.
Don't be corny

A bad idea, plus lots of cash 7
Posted 1 month, 4 weeks ago
This is a blog post about the intersection of a bad idea and lots of cash--your cash. The bad idea is this: growing crops to ferment and distill them into ethanol for internal-combustion engines.
Biofoolish

The EPA holds corn ethanol accountable ... sort of 18
Posted 2 months ago
The EPA has delivered its much-awaited proposal for evaluating the greenhouse gas-reducing performance of biofuels. Well, actually, the agency delivered two different options, neither of which stands up well to scientific scrutiny.
Guitar Hero?

Taking Neil Young’s latest album out for a spin 1
Posted 2 months, 2 weeks ago
Neil Young's "Fork in the Road" is an eco-themed tribute to America's budding green-car culture. Oh, and a few of the songs are good.
Reflections on Earth Day

Washington state can lead the way to a green economy 6
Posted 2 months, 2 weeks ago
Innovators in Washington state are poised to reverse climate change, make our world safer, and create a green 21st century economy -- all by reducing use of fossil fuels.
Bankrupt biofuel barons brawl but Big Bro's budget battered

The Corndoggle 0
Posted 2 months, 4 weeks ago
Rot-gut liquor

Amid a sea of troubles, ethanol now has an antibiotics problem 1
Posted 2 months, 4 weeks ago
Ah, distillers grains, the leftover mash from the corn-ethanol process. Finding a high-value use for this "coproduct" is vital to the ethanol project. The industry's strategy -- slough it off onto CAFOs -- looks increasingly dicey as problems related to antibiotics emerge.
Pulp nonfiction ... ok I stole that headline from The Nation

U.S. government paying industry to pollute 2
Posted 3 months ago
The U.S. government will pay the paper industry up to $8 billion this year to emit more carbon dioxide.
Blend Wall Follies

EPA to Ethanol Lobby: Drop Dead! 0
Posted 3 months ago
For a while, I was afraid the EPA might actually bow to political pressure and raise the so-called blend wall for ethanol, i.e. the amount of ethanol that can currently be mixed into gasoline and sold at the pump.
Oregon's folly

Oregon tries to undo ethanol leg. while ‘enviros’ lobby for biofuels subsidies 0
Posted 3 months, 1 week ago
Oregon is struggling to undo bad ethanol legislation.
West coast governors win dunce caps

I-5 to become eco-haven? 0
Posted 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Governors Gregoire, Kulongoski, and Schwarzenegger are supporting a brilliant idea to grab some of the stimulus funds.
Shell: biofuel rocks; solar and wind, not so much

Big Oil [hearts] biofuels 0
Posted 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Biomess 2009

The DOE’s annual biofuels conference doesn’t inspire confidence 0
Posted 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Team Ethanol got together recently at the Department of Energy for Biomass 2009: Fueling Our Future -- a conference on all things biofuel. Needless to say, they're still singing the same old song. More subsidies, a higher blend wall (a cheer that USDA Chief Tom Vilsack knows well) and much crowing over the promise of cellulosic ethanol, which uses "non-food crops" such as switchgrass and wood waste rather than corn.