Biodiesel News

Oil palm fruit. Photo by Rhett A. Butler Indonesia's national airline, Garuda Indonesia, says it will start mixing palm oil-based biofuel with its jet fuel as part of an initiative…

Biomass burning takes many forms: wildfires, slash-and-burn agriculture, clearing forests and other vegetation, and even industrialized burning for energy production. Yet this burning—mostly manmade but also natural—takes a massive toll…

Trends in commodity certification markets Market share for certified commodities. All figures courtesy of IISD's report The volume of commodities produced under various social and environmental certification standards jumped 41…

Deforestation for palm oil production in Borneo. Photo by Rhett A. Butler Palm oil imports into Europe for use as car fuel increased by more than three-fold since 2006, raising…

Intensification of Brazil's sugarcane industry in response to rising demand for sugar-based ethanol could have impacts on the regional climate reports a new study by researchers from Arizona State University,…

Deforestation in Borneo for palm oil production. British Parliament has approved new government subsidies for biofuel use in U.K. power stations. In a vote held yesterday, Parliament approved a Department…

A palm oil producer has leveled some 7,000 hectares of rainforest in the Peruvian Amazon, highlighting the risks of oil palm expansion in the world's largest tropical forest, reports El…

The palm oil industry has been lobbying Europe to allow palm oil-based biofuels to qualify as a low carbon fuel. But environmentalists say substantial amounts of palm oil production occurs…

Palm oil facility in Sumatra, Indonesia. The palm oil industry has hired lobbying powerhouse Holland & Knight to help overturn the Environmental Protection Agency’s finding that palm oil-based biodiesel fails…

Deforestation for oil palm, which is used to produce palm oil, in Sumatra. PHoto by Rhett A. Butler Wilmar International, the world's largest palm oil processor and trader, has hired…

Clearing for soy in the Brazilian Amazon Surging demand for vegetable oil has emerged as an important driver of tropical deforestation over the past two decades and is threatening biodiversity,…

Oil palm plantations and rainforest in Malaysia The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ruled on Friday that palm oil-based biofuels will not meet the renewable fuels standard due to carbon…

Biofuels produced from oil palm plantations established on tropical peatlands are a substantial source of greenhouse gas emissions, reports a comprehensive new assessment conducted for the International Council on Clean…

This article is a longer version of story that appeared at Yale e360: In Brazil, Palm Oil Plantations Could Help Preserve Amazon. For years now, environmentalists have become accustomed to…

This article is a longer version of story that appeared at Yale e360: In Brazil, Palm Oil Plantations Could Help Preserve Amazon. For years now, environmentalists have become accustomed to…

Vale, a Brazilian mining giant, will buy palm oil producer Biopalma da Amazonia SA Reflorestamento Industria & Comercio, reports Bloomberg. The deal, valued at $173.5 million, will enable the mining…

Agriculture giant Cargill has announced an agreement to supply Unilever with 10,000 metric tons of palm oil sustainably-certified from the Round Table for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). Cargill has often…

UE kini bergerak untuk membuat standar lingkungan untuk biofuel yang digunakan di Eropa, mensyaratkan biofuel untuk memberikan "pengurangan substansial" pada emisi gas rumah kaca dan tidak menghasilkan perubahan fungsi hutan…

The E.U. today moved to establish environmental standards for biofuels used in Europe, requiring biofuels to deliver "substantial reductions" in greenhouse gas emissions and not result in conversion of forests…

Usaha minyak kelapa "yang berkesinambungan" dapat menekan Malaysia dan Indonesia dalam prestasi di area lingkungan hidup dari minyak sayur yang banyak digunakan. Presiden Brazil Lula da Silva, hari Kamis menjelaskan…

"Sustainable" palm oil effort may pressure Malaysia and Indonesia on environmental performance of widely used vegetable oil. Brazilian President Lula da Silva on Thursday laid out plans to expand palm…

Only 4 percent of biofuel imported for use in the UK — and 20 percent of biofuel used overall — meets the environmental sustainability standard set by the Renewable Transport…

During the fiscal years of 2002-2008 the United States handed out subsidies to fossil fuel industries to a tune of 72 billion dollars, while renewable energy subsidies, during the same…

As the world's biggest cattle producer, Brazil braces for change While you're browsing the mall for running shoes, the Amazon rainforest is probably the farthest thing from your mind. Perhaps…

British motorists are unwittingly big consumers of palm oil produced on rainforest lands in southeast Asia, reports The Times. A dozen oil companies provided 123 million liters of palm oil…

In a Perspectives piece in Science, John R. Regalbuto argues that the world will soon see a revolution in biofuels, but not those made from corn. Instead Regalbuto, program director…

A new report from published by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) highlights the benefits — and controversies — of large-scale expansion of oil palm agriculture in Southeast Asia.…

LUSH Cosmetics, a leading cosmetics-maker, will no longer use palm oil due to environmental concerns over its production. LUSH, which is now selling a palm oil-free soap, has launched a…

A new study finds oil palm plantations store less carbon than previously believed, suggesting that palm oil produced through the conversion of tropical forests carries a substantial carbon debt. The…

Sustainable biofuels can be a reality but only in combination with reductions in fuel demand and increased productivity on existing agricultural lands, argue researchers writing in the journal Science. Five…