Sustainable aviation fuels aren’t enough to drastically cut commercial aviation’s carbon footprint soon. Nor are redesigned planes or carbon-smart airports. Reducing demand for air travel may be the best answer.
The key to sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) is cutting their carbon footprint during production, and making large amounts — no easy task.
ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — Ankarafantsika, a primary forest in Madagascar’s northwest Boeny region, is the site of a vicious cycle where declining livelihoods and its environmental impact aggravate one another. Rice paddies,…
Sustainable liquid biofuels are needed to reduce the carbon footprint of fossil fuel-powered planes, ships, trucks and cars. Grass feedstock has shown promise in biofuel labs, but commercial scaling up may be an insurmountable hurdle.
With 2023 expected to see record amounts of brown macroalgae washing up on Caribbean beaches, green entrepreneurs in Mexico are turning waste into biogas, biofertilizer and even faux leather; all despite big bureaucratic hurdles.
Algae biofuels were initially hailed as a holy grail to sustainably power the transportation sector. Now after more than a decade of boom and bust, the industry says it’s on the verge of globally scalable, climate-friendly jet, ship and truck fuels.
At the start of the 2000s, the search for a “miracle” biofuel led to a stubby Latin American tree. But jatropha’s boom went bust when high yields and big eco benefits failed to materialize. Now some say it’s set for a return.
Biofuels have long been held up as a viable high-tech climate solution, but in practice they’ve often not lived up to their promise, causing environmental harm and in some cases being more carbon-intensive than fossil fuels.
MINAWAO, Cameroon — On market day in the Minawao refugee camp, every necessity is spread out beneath the mid-morning sun: vegetables, dried fish, soap, new and used clothes, farm implements.…
When China announced, in late September, that it would stop financing the construction of new coal plants overseas, Indonesia looked to be one of the most impacted countries. The Southeast…
Though Shell, Chevron and others have abandoned the quest for the Holy Grail — a revolutionary algae biofuel that could be scaled up to replace oil — ExxonMobil continues the search; but is it all just greenwash?
Combining to hamstring Mexico’s climate-friendly biodiesel industry: a lack of regulatory support, a president favoring fossil fuels, competition from other industries for used cooking oil, and a crime network.
Biogas may play a key role in the global renewable energy transition, helping communities and nations meet multiple U.N. Sustainable Development Goals and their pledged Paris Agreement emissions cuts.
IRRAWADDY DELTA, Myanmar — For many in Myanmar, Cyclone Nargis was a wake-up call. When it made landfall in May 2008, it devastated the Irrawaddy Delta, a rural and low-lying…
Even as Donald Trump calls climate change a hoax, the U.S. military is recognizing it as a national security threat, and revving up to protect its bases and operations in a climate destabilized world.
The 2013 Zoos and Aquariums: Committing to Conservation (ZACC) conference runs from July 8th—July 12th in Des Moines, Iowa, hosted by the Blank Park Zoo. Ahead of the event, Mongabay.com…
US oil consumption and fuel economy. Data from the EIA. The Obama administration finalized rules that will boost the national fuel economy standard for cars and light trucks to 54.5…
For many the Hummer has become a symbol of all that is wrong with America: wastefulness without regard to consequences, entitlement beyond the scope of reason, and individualism to the…
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…
The Obama administration will direct the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Transportation to raise fuel economy standards of automobiles to 35 miles per gallon by 2016, four…
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…
US government: $28 carbon price would raise gas prices by 25 cents US government: $28 carbon price would raise gas prices by 25 cents mongabay.com October 9, 2008 Congressional Budget…
MPG misrepresents gains in fuel efficiency from scrapping worst gas-guzzlers MPG misrepresents gains in fuel efficiency from scrapping worst gas-guzzlers mongabay.com June 20, 2008 The use of miles-per-gallon instead of…
Mutant algae may fuel cars Mutant algae may fuel cars mongabay.com April 2, 2008 Chemically-modified algae may become key to the production of hydrogen gas which seen by researchers as…
Toyota, GM: Hydrogen fuels cells are not viable in the near-term Toyota, GM: Hydrogen fuels cells are not viable mongabay.com March 5, 2008 Executives from General Motors Corp. and Toyota…
American demand for gas, big cars begins to wane American demand for gas, big cars begins to wane mongabay.com March 3, 2008 With crude oil today setting an inflation-adjusted record…
Vehicle-to-grid car generates electricity and cash for owners Vehicle-to-grid car generates electricity and cash for owners University of Delaware December 4, 2007 University of Delaware researchers have created a system…
