‘The Canadian Renewable Fuels Association (CRFA) today [June 26] congratulated members of the Canadian Senate for passing Bill C-33, a landmark biofuels bill which will require 5% renewable content in gasoline by 2010, and 2% renewable content in diesel fuel by no later than 2012. Senators from both the governing Conservatives and opposition Liberals endorsed the measure without amendment.’
The Canadian Renewable Fuels Association (CRFA) today congratulated GreenField Ethanol and Enerkem on their announcement to build the world’s first industrial scale municipal waste-to-ethanol facility in Edmonton, Alberta. The $70-million next-generation renewable fuels plant will initially produce 36 million litres of ethanol from non-recyclable waste products every year.
Excellent CNBC clip debunking the falsehoods surrounding corn-based ethanol: ‘The pros and cons of ethanol, with Wendy Wintersteen, dean of agriculture & life sciences at Iowa State University; Bruce Rastetter, CEO of Hawkeye Energy; and Scott Sperling, of THL Partners’.
Leaders from the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association (CRFA), the European Bioethanol Fuel Association (eBio), and the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) today welcomed the thoughtful approach world leaders took in assessing biofuels’ role in the current world food crisis. Their joint statement can be read here.
From a Reuters article out of Germany: ‘The head of the U.N.’s climate agency (UNFCCC) rejected the idea that carbon-cutting biofuels should be banned…”I think biofuels are a very important part of the solution,” [Yvo] de Boer said’, referring to high energy prices and climate change.
‘In a milestone decision today, the House of Commons overwhelmingly passed a bill that will implement a national Renewable Fuel Standard, requiring ethanol and biodiesel blended transportation fuels in Canada. It is the first legislation of its kind in Canada.’ The complete CRFA press release can be read here.
CBC’s The National aired an interesting segment this week on making cellulose ethanol from garbage. One of the world-leading companies in this area is a company in Quebec called Enerkem. They have partnered with Canada’s largest ethanol producer, GreenField Ethanol, to use their respective technologies to produce cellulose ethanol on a commercial scale from urban trash and other sources of waste biomass. With oil prices hitting yet another record of over $135 per barrel this week, and gas prices at the pump continuing to skyrocket, making a cleaner-burning and less expensive fuel from waste products cannot come soon enough.
Dr. Robert Zubrin has an article in the Spring 2008 edition of The New Atlantis – A Journal of Technology & Society, entitled ‘In Defense of Biofuels’. It is a comprehensive and fact-based refutation of the negative and false information currently being disseminated against biofuels.
Mariann Fischer Boel, Member of the European Commission responsible for Agriculture and Rural Development, gave a great speech in Brussels earlier this week titled, ‘Biofuels: more valuable as fuel than as a scapegoat’. Robert McFarlane, President Reagan’s national security adviser, also makes several strong arguments in his op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, ‘Don’t Give Up on Energy Independence’. In National Review, Clifford D. May writes in ‘Food Fight’ about broader issues concerning real development in the developing world. In The Globe and Mail, Shawn McCarthy explains in ‘Barrelling Ahead’ how much money OPEC is now raking in, and what they are doing with all that petro-wealth. And in the Chicago Tribune, Dr. Robert Zubrin and Gal Luft describe how ‘Food vs. fuel [is] a global myth’, what the real problem is, and how to solve it.
Rick Tolman, CEO of the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) in the U.S., has an interesting take on the fuel and food debate, which has received a lot of attention of late – albeit often flawed and sensationalist coverage. His column, ‘Recipe for a Food and Fuel Smear Campaign’, can be found on the NCGA website. It is also worth watching the CNN video clip, ‘Oil and your food bill’, after reading his column. As well, a story in The Associated Press today quotes two senior United Nations officials, who both say that market speculation is driving food costs.