Biofuels News

India surpassed China as the world's largest buyer of palm oil in 2009, reports Bloomberg. According to figures from the Solvent Extractors' Association of India, a processor group based in…

A version of this article appeared today in the Jakarta Post Palm oil is one of the world’s most traded and versatile agricultural commodities. It can be used as edible…

Prominent climate change denialist and past advisor to Margaret Thatcher, Viscount Christopher Monckton, has persisted in labeling protestors in Copenhagen 'Hitler Youth' despite little historical connection. The initial exchange between…

Efforts to slow climate change are putting indigenous people at risk, warns a new report published by Survival International, an indigenous rights' group. The report, 'The most inconvenient truth of…

Oil palm developers in the Indonesian half of New Guinea are signing questionable deals that exploit local communities and put important forest ecosystems at risk, alleges a new report from…

Most European consumers of palm oil are failing to buy eco-certified palm oil, undermining efforts to encourage producers to reduce their impact on the environment, reports WWF. Analyzing 59 major…

Carbon accounting used in the Kyoto Protocol and other climate legislation currently neglects CO2 emissions from the production of biofuels, a loophole that could drive large-scale destruction of tropical forests…

An interview about orangutan conservation and the complexities of palm oil with Panut Hadisiswoyo and David Dellatore of the Orangutan Information Center and Helen Buckland of the Sumatran Orangutan Society.…

Fourth in a series of interviews with participants at the 2009 Association of Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) conference. The Atlantic Forest may very well be the most imperiled tropical…

Indonesian authorities are failing to prevent illegal logging and conversion of protected areas for oil palm cultivation used to supply the European market with supposedly "green" biofuels, alleges a new…

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…

Brazil will restrict sugarcane plantations for ethanol production from the Amazon, the Pantanal, and other ecologically-sensitive areas under a plan announced Thursday by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's administration,…

Britain's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), a group that regulates advertisements, has again banned a "misleading" ad by the palm oil industry, reports the Guardian. ASA ruled that a campaign run…

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…

'Dead zones' in the ocean are called such for a reason. Every year agricultural run-off, especially fertilizer, floods the oceans with an abundance of nutrients leading to algae blooms, i.e.…

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…

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…

Southern California residents will soon be able to produce their own ethanol fuel from beer residue. GreenHouse, an alternative green energy company based in San Diego, California, has teamed with…

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…

ZTE Agribusiness Company Ltd, a Chinese firm, plans to establish a one million hectare oil palm plantation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) for biofuel production, reports China…

Meeting food and energy demands in a world where human population is expected to reach 9 billion by mid-century will require a range of approaches that increase the sustainability of…

Vale, the world's largest miner of iron ore, has signed a $500 million joint venture with Biopalma da Amazonia to produce 160,000 metric tons of palm oil-based biodiesel per year,…

Former US president Bill Clinton spoke out against rainforest destruction on Monday in Brazil. Headlining the Ethanol Summit 2009 in Sao Paulo, Clinton spoke of the positive role ethanol could…

Yesterday the Obama Administration established a Biofuels Interagency Working Group to oversee implementation of new rules and research regarding biofuels. On the group’s first day they would do well to…

Sime Darby, a Malaysian palm oil producer, will invest $800 million in palm oil and rubber plantations in Liberia, reports Reuters. The deal will cover 200,000 hectares (500,000 acres) in…

Environmentalists have thwarted plans to establish an oil palm plantation in the Tanoe forest wetlands of southern Cote d' Ivoire (Ivory Coast), reports AFP. In announcement Friday, Palmci, the country's…