Re: [Biofuel] For Sale: 300 Sq. Ft. House in Toronto

[Bob Molloy]

Hi Jesse,
   When I was last in Toronto it was below zero and still
plunging, I was stuck in an airport going nowhere, my baggage had gone
missing, I'd fallen out with my girl friend, I had a cold coming on and yes
I could hear more than five languages around me but only one resembling
mine. Spoken -  no, gabbled at high speed and higher decibels - in an
unintelligible Belfast accent.  The speaker, according the notice above her
head, was quaintly termed an "Information Desk". .
"Desk" I could accept, at a stretch. In reality it was a counter. But
"Information" was clearly an oxymoron. At third attempt I deciphered the
words. She was telling me to be careful of my baggage and that my flight had
been cancelled, again. However, there were hopes of something "in a boot tew
ires". I didn't want to travel in a boot. I wanted what I'd paid for - a
regional airline seat I told her. She assured me that I'd get one, this time
she did'nt say it was in a boot but "at a boot sicks aclack".
I gave up.
I'd be there still if my girlfriend hadn't taken pity on me.
Today I live in paradise but enjoy visiting cities. The most recent was
Maputo in Mozambique where the potholes can take a whole bus. It was a
helluva buzz. But you want me to believe it's "darned fun" living in a tower
of Babel which boasts 300 square feet houses in an atmosphere that in your
own words varies from "chilly" to "infernal"?
Come off it Jesse, either you're dragging my chain or you've missed your
last counselling session.
Regards,
Bob.
 PS: that wasn't a screen freeze, it was Yahoo's oxymoron catcher. They're
on to you.

- Original Message -
From: "Jesse Frayne" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: 
Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2008 5:49 AM
Subject: Re: [Biofuel] For Sale: 300 Sq. Ft. House in Toronto


> I'm having a horrible time with Yahoo.  I have to type
> really fast because any second my screen is going to
> freeze.  I fished your adroit comment out just now,
> Bob, and phooey on youey, we Torontonians are a
> stalwart and loyal race!  It's darned fun here.
> Though chilly!  Luckily in summer it's infernal!  But
> where else can you hear five different languages on
> your way to the bank?
>
> Wait a sec, I have to pass this on to the group.. a
> cool project..  sustainable housing.. wait for it.
>
> --- Bob Molloy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> > Why would anyone, including Torontoans, want to live
> > in Toronto?
> > Bob.
> >
> > - Original Message -
> > From: "Jesse Frayne" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > To: 
> > Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2008 4:53 AM
> > Subject: Re: [Biofuel] For Sale: 300 Sq. Ft. House
> > in Toronto
> >
> >
> > > Say, in Toronto, that's a BIG house.  We're rather
> > > small people, you know.
> > >
> > > And just look at the landscaping possibilities!
> > >
> > > --- Zeke Yewdall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > >
> > > > In Boulder, that wouldn't be a bad price per
> > square
> > > > foot...
> > > >
> > > > On Jan 14, 2008 5:31 AM, Bill Ellis
> > > > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > > > > 300 seems kind small that's like 15' X 20'. A
> > > > standard Mobile Home is about 900. Something
> > special
> > > > about this house?
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > Kirk McLoren <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > Subject: For Sale: 300 Sq. Ft. House in
> > Toronto
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
>
http://deathby1000papercuts.blogspot.com/2008/01/for-sale-300-sq-ft-house-in
> > -toronto.html
> > > > > For Sale: 300 Sq. Ft. House in Toronto
> > > > >
> > > > > They're proud of it the asking price is $179,
> > > > 900.00.
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > -
> > > > > Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage.
> > > > > -- next part --
> > > > > An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
> > > > > URL:
> > > >
> > >
> >
> /pipermail/attachments/20080114/b2d6c72b/attachment.html
> > > > >
> > ___
> > > > > Biofuel mailing list
> > > > > Biofuel@sustainablelists.org
> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
> http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel
> > > > >
> > > > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever:
> > > > > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html
> > > > >
> > > > > Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz
> > list
> > > > archives (70,000 messages):
> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
> http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > Wildbill
> > > > > Sutton.VT
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > -
> > > > > Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all
> > > > with Yahoo! Mobile.  Try it now.
> > > > > -- next part --
> > > > > An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
> > > > > URL:
> > > >
> > >
> >
> /pipermail/attachments/20080114/bbb1bcea/attachment.html
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > ___
> > > > > Biofuel mailing list
> > > > > Biofuel@sustainablelists.o

Re: [Biofuel] New coins for a new world

[Keith Addison]

Hi Evan

>hi keith,
>
>i happen to have a Christian Born Again outlook on the world so i 
>saw that verse fit into the link nicely.

It's quite easy to make a lot of things fit a lot of other things if 
you want them to.

>regarding the second attach on the US well that is obvious. just 
>like the first one a planned attack so will the second. by who? 
>well

Of course it was a planned attack, that much is obvious, but not much else is.

>who are  supposed to be the enemies?? Muslims, OK but what have 
>muslims ever done to the US prior to 9-11 none. but its a great 
>zionist plan no?

So some people say. Other people say other things.

>why atomic or nuclear because the US wants Iran because of a threat 
>of nuclear weapens but one problem they dont have any and there 
>are tons of proof of that just like there was proof that iraq did 
>not have any either.
>
>but to justify an invation/attack/war with iran they have to set it 
>up . just like previous wars.

Well yes, there's lots about all that in the list archives. There's 
lots of different ways of connecting the dots too, that's just one of 
many possibilities.

>the real issue is really who is pulling the strings/controls media/ 
>weapens/ money.  history has all the answers but when the general 
>population is uneducated or being swept away by hollywood who has 
>time to read up on history, actually there a fellow screaming it 
>out, you might have heard of him his name is ron paul.

http://www.mail-archive.com/search?q=%22ron+paul%22&l=biofuel%40sustainablelists.org
Biofuel - Ron Paul
31 matches

>plenty of info out there just need to look.

:-) Oh yes. But how to look at what you find is another matter. 
People find what they're looking for and believe what they want to 
believe, though very often it's other people who want them to believe 
it, and not many know how to tell the difference. On the other hand 
large numbers of people are wide awake these days, at least to some 
things, more and more all the time.

You spoke with assurance, so I questioned it, but it's just surmise. 
That's okay, just so we know. I don't want to argue with you.

Best

Keith


>evan
>
>Keith Addison <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
>Hello Evans
>
>>absolutely perfect!!!
>>
>>a very nice visual to help others better understand the magnitude of
>>the problem.
>>
>>1Ti 6:10(KJV) For the love of money is the root of all evil: which
>>while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and
>>pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
>>
>>i wonder how many millions of people will be effected by the last
>>part of this verse.
>>
>>there's one more attack on the way
>
>According to whom?
>
>>and would not be surprised if an atomic bomb gets dropped in a major
>>city in the US where there is great poverty and power maybe
>>washington??
>
>Who'll be doing the dropping?
>
>Best
>
>Keith
>
>
>>Kirk McLoren wrote:
>>
>>
>>http://blip.tv/file/520347
>>
>>
>>  also dont miss
>  > http://blip.tv/file/488854

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Re: [Biofuel] New coins for a new world

[Evans Antoniou]

hi keith,

i happen to have a Christian Born Again outlook on the world so i saw that 
verse fit into the link nicely.

regarding the second attach on the US well that is obvious. just like the first 
one a planned attack so will the second. by who? well

who are  supposed to be the enemies?? Muslims, OK but what have muslims ever 
done to the US prior to 9-11 none. but its a great zionist plan no? 

why atomic or nuclear because the US wants Iran because of a threat of nuclear 
weapens but one problem they dont have any and there are tons of proof of 
that just like there was proof that iraq did not have any either.

but to justify an invation/attack/war with iran they have to set it up . just 
like previous wars.  

the real issue is really who is pulling the strings/controls media/ weapens/ 
money.  history has all the answers but when the general population is 
uneducated or being swept away by hollywood who has time to read up on history, 
actually there a fellow screaming it out, you might have heard of him his name 
is ron paul.

plenty of info out there just need to look.

evan

Keith Addison <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Hello Evans

>absolutely perfect!!!
>
>a very nice visual to help others better understand the magnitude of 
>the problem.
>
>1Ti 6:10(KJV)  For the love of money is the root of all evil: which 
>while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and 
>pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
>
>i wonder how many millions of people will be effected by the last 
>part of this verse. 
>
>there's one more attack on the way

According to whom?

>and would not be surprised if an atomic bomb gets dropped in a major 
>city in the US where there is great poverty and power maybe 
>washington??

Who'll be doing the dropping?

Best

Keith


>Kirk McLoren  wrote:
>
>
>http://blip.tv/file/520347
>   
>   
>   also dont miss
>   http://blip.tv/file/488854


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[Biofuel] Fwd: GRAIN - Livestock special issue - Seedling January 2008

[Keith Addison]

>Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2008 15:46:07 + (GMT)
>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Subject: [New from GRAIN] Livestock special issue - Seedling January 2008
>
>New from GRAIN
>January 2007
>http://www.grain.org/nfg/?id=549
>
>
>LIVESTOCK SPECIAL ISSUE
>
>In this special edition of Seedling, we take a close look at the 
>livestock industry. Behind the scenes this global industry is going 
>through a rapid process of concentration as it extends its control 
>over livestock farming. As consumption of meat increases, hundreds 
>of thousands of small farmers have been tied into production 
>contracts mainly for the export market. Furthermore, we are heading 
>for more diseases, more deadly types of disease, and more capacity 
>for these diseases to spread. And yet, the international response 
>fails to reflect the seriousness of the situation. Meanwhile 
>traditional cultures dependent on livestock are also being further 
>marginalised as illustrated in this issue of Seedling in Mongolia 
>and Niger.
>http://www.grain.org/seedling/?type=71
>
>
>EDITORIAL
>Read the Editorial: http://www.grain.org/seedling/?id=527
>This issue of Seedling is currently available in PDF. You can 
>download the full issue of Seedling here: 
>http://www.grain.org/seedling/?id=527&PDF (6.6 MB)
>
>
>LIVESTOCK BREEDING IN THE HANDS OF CORPORATIONS by Susanne Gura
>http://www.grain.org/seedling/?id=528
>(PDF) http://www.grain.org/seedling/?id=528&PDF
>Scarcely noticed by the general public, the global livestock 
>industry is going through a rapid process of concentration. Company 
>takeovers and co-operation agreements proliferate and technology is 
>changing fast. Patents are flying out for genetic material, and 
>other proprietary strategies are being vigorously pursued. In a 
>process that bears an uncanny resemblance to what has happened to 
>the global seed market, the breeding sector - now renamed "livestock 
>genetics" - is becoming the nerve centre of the industry and 
>extending its control over livestock farming. Quick to seize the 
>opportunity, agro-giants such as Monsanto are moving in.
>
>
>MONGOLIAN HERDERS DEMAND THEIR RIGHTS by GRAIN with Dorj Borjigin 
>and Yangjain Tegusbagar
>http://www.grain.org/seedling/?id=529
>(PDF) http://www.grain.org/seedling/?id=529&PDF
>As part of the carve-up of the world that followed the end of the 
>Second World War, the Chinese were able to bring under their sphere 
>of influence an area to the south of Mongolia, which they called 
>Inner Mongolia. Although today the region formally remains 
>autonomous, the Chinese effectively control it. Two Mongolians - 
>Dorj Borjigin and Yangjain Tegusbagar - talked to GRAIN about the 
>problems they face in their country, which they call Southern 
>Mongolia.
>
>
>CONTRACT FARMING IN THE WORLD'S POULTRY INDUSTRY by GRAIN
>http://www.grain.org/seedling/?id=530
>(PDF) http://www.grain.org/seedling/?id=530&PDF
>Over the last 40 years the world has witnessed a remarkable increase 
>in the consumption of poultry, pork and beef. Multinational meat 
>processing companies have been able to respond to the hugely 
>expanded export trade only by tying hundreds of thousands of small 
>farmers into production contracts. In this article we examine 
>contract farming in the poultry sector of two leading producing 
>countries - Brazil and Thailand.
>
>
>RIGHTS OF PASSAGE IN NIGER Interview with Bouréima Dodo
>http://www.grain.org/seedling/?id=531
>(PDF) http://www.grain.org/seedling/?id=531&PDF
>Bouréima Dodo is an agro-pastoral producer in Niger, executive 
>secretary of the Association for the Re-dynamisation of Livestock in 
>Niger (AREN), a national organisation with about 36,000 members, and 
>part of the Niger Farmers' Platform, which is linked to the Network 
>of Farmers' and Agricultural Producers' Organisations of West Africa 
>(ROPPA).
>
>
>VIRAL TIMES - THE POLITICS OF EMERGING GLOBAL ANIMAL DISEASES by GRAIN
>http://www.grain.org/seedling/?id=532
>(PDF) http://www.grain.org/seedling/?id=532&PDF
>The world is in the midst of big changes with respect to global 
>animal diseases. We are heading for more diseases, more deadly types 
>of disease, and more capacity for these diseases to spread. There is 
>also a greater probability of the emergence of zoonotic diseases and 
>global pandemics. Yet the international response to this situation 
>has so far failed by a large measure to reflect the seriousness of 
>the crisis. The fault lies in governments' unwillingness to confront 
>the dominant powers of industrial livestock farming - whether it be 
>the pharmaceutical corporations and their patents or the industrial 
>meat corporations and their factory farms.
>
>
>GERM WARFARE - LIVESTOCK DISEASE, PUBLIC HEALTH AND THE 
>MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX by GRAIN
>http://www.grain.org/seedling/?id=533
>(PDF) http://www.grain.org/seedling/?id=533&PDF
>Animal diseases that threaten human health - the global reaction by 
>governments to this is plagued by three key problems: infor

[Biofuel] Designing for Climate Change: Disaster Resistant Classrooms in Hotspots in the Developing World

[Jesse Frayne]

Sent to Jock, at FullBelly, from his buddy who is
finishing his thesis for Harvard doing sustainable
architecture in the Phillipines.

Which Jock forwarded to us, and I thought you guys
might find it interesting.
 
Subject: Designing for Climate Change: Disaster
Resistant Classrooms in Hotspots in the Developing
World



Dear Jock,

Here is the revolutionary idea that I have been
spending most of my nights putting together.

What I am looking forward to is to find broadcast tv,
newspapers and magazines who might find interest in
the results of this competition. As early as now we
have some 40 international architecture firms
competeing,and we are hoping to hit 100 before the
deadline on February 29, 2008 happens. 

This is the effort of a Kennedy School of Government
student that we should do more to aid those afflicted
already by climate change much more than just
individually lowering our carbon foortprint by turning
off lights and biking to to campus. 

This exiting project is found on the website (
www.millennium-school.org
  ). The Millennium
School is a design competition for school buildings in
developing countries located in the tropics dealing
with the new impact of climate change. The competition
aims to solicit the best architecture-for-humanity
designs from all over the world and create a forum for
change where architects in a collective effort will
find solutions to the problems of school buildings in
the developing world, and in particular those that are
constantly faced by natural disasters like typhoons
and earthquakes.   This will facilitate the emergence
of new sustainable design solutions and appropriate
technologies that will improve the quality of school
buildings being destroyed by 250km/hr winds and built
with cheap materials.   The competition will offer a
new venue for the practice of architecture for a
client group that would otherwise have no access to
design professionals that can solve their problems. 

 

Schools are not for education, but because these are
the shelters of last resort in the yearly typhoon and
storm surges that are escalating in region. At least
this area be built better. 



I got to gather the prize amounts
($10,000,1st)($5,000, 2nd)($3,000, 3rd prizes ) and  a
year of work, all departments in the Philippine
Government to allow me to build with land and
construction funds to rebuild a distroyed school
facility in the Bicol Region (1,300 classrooms
destroyed in 5 hour of the storm Reming) 

 

The output of this is : 

 

1.   A Pioneer Architectural Blueprint for
developing nations that architects in these regions
can get new ideas to building safer and more
sustainable school facilities. Each comes with an
additional $2000 prize for best in category. 

 

· Alternative Design 

· Alternative Power 

· Alternative Cooling 

· Alternative Materials 

 

The dates of the competition are as follows : 



FEB 29, 2008DEADLINE FOR REGISTRATION 

FEB 29, 2008DEADLINE OF SUBMISSION OF
QUESTIONS 

MAR 7, 2008 DEADLINE OF DISPATCH TO
ANSWERS 

APR 3, 2008  DEADLINE OF RECEIPT OF
ENTRIES 

APR 7-18, 2008 JUDGING 

APRIL 25, 2008 AWARDING AND EXHIBITION 



There will be an awarding at the Harvard University on
the 30th of April to celebrate and exhibit the
results. 



Thank you for always supporting my ideas. 



Illac Diaz 





My back ground links : 



Nominated in 2006 as one of the Ten Outstanding Young
Persons of the World ( Jaycees International) 



Winner of the presigious MIT $100 K Businessplan
competition which made designed dormitories that make
the tenants assemble the rooms for  a few free days
stay. The conept is built like an IKEA system using
the same skill they use for shanties, but now with
designed and prepared matterials. And the breakthrough
was the grouping of the marginalized community not by
income, but by professional skills and stimulate
employers to know were to find them. These has been a
better system to take them out of shanties by alowing
them to move to better livelihoods. To date it has
grown from 40 beds to 2000, having served as a second
home to 110,000 migrants. (
http://illacdiaz.multiply.com/video/item/31 ) 



Also founded the MyShelter foundation building earthen
schools in several islands devastated by typhoons with
no budgets ro adaptability to reconstruct them. This
foundation has built its 5th clinic and 40th classroom
in the rural areas. (
http://harvard.facebook.com/album.php?aid=85691&id=619975533


) 






Jesse Frayne
itsdinner.ca
Neighbourhood catering and general joie de livre


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Re: [Biofuel] For Sale: 300 Sq. Ft. House in Toronto

[Jesse Frayne]

I'm having a horrible time with Yahoo.  I have to type
really fast because any second my screen is going to
freeze.  I fished your adroit comment out just now,
Bob, and phooey on youey, we Torontonians are a
stalwart and loyal race!  It's darned fun here. 
Though chilly!  Luckily in summer it's infernal!  But
where else can you hear five different languages on
your way to the bank?  

Wait a sec, I have to pass this on to the group.. a
cool project..  sustainable housing.. wait for it.

--- Bob Molloy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Why would anyone, including Torontoans, want to live
> in Toronto?
> Bob.
> 
> - Original Message -
> From: "Jesse Frayne" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: 
> Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2008 4:53 AM
> Subject: Re: [Biofuel] For Sale: 300 Sq. Ft. House
> in Toronto
> 
> 
> > Say, in Toronto, that's a BIG house.  We're rather
> > small people, you know.
> >
> > And just look at the landscaping possibilities!
> >
> > --- Zeke Yewdall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >
> > > In Boulder, that wouldn't be a bad price per
> square
> > > foot...
> > >
> > > On Jan 14, 2008 5:31 AM, Bill Ellis
> > > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > > > 300 seems kind small that's like 15' X 20'. A
> > > standard Mobile Home is about 900. Something
> special
> > > about this house?
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Kirk McLoren <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Subject: For Sale: 300 Sq. Ft. House in
> Toronto
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
>
http://deathby1000papercuts.blogspot.com/2008/01/for-sale-300-sq-ft-house-in
> -toronto.html
> > > > For Sale: 300 Sq. Ft. House in Toronto
> > > >
> > > > They're proud of it the asking price is $179,
> > > 900.00.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > -
> > > > Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage.
> > > > -- next part --
> > > > An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
> > > > URL:
> > >
> >
>
/pipermail/attachments/20080114/b2d6c72b/attachment.html
> > > >
> ___
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> > > >
> > >
> >
>
http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel
> > > >
> > > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever:
> > > > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html
> > > >
> > > > Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz
> list
> > > archives (70,000 messages):
> > > >
> > >
> >
>
http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Wildbill
> > > > Sutton.VT
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > -
> > > > Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all
> > > with Yahoo! Mobile.  Try it now.
> > > > -- next part --
> > > > An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
> > > > URL:
> > >
> >
>
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> > > >
> > > >
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> > > >
> > >
> >
>
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> > > >
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> > > >
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> list
> > > archives (70,000 messages):
> > > >
> > >
> >
>
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> > > >
> > >
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> > >
> >
>
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> list
> > > archives (70,000 messages):
> > >
> >
>
http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
> > >
> >
> >
> > Jesse Frayne
> > itsdinner.ca
> > Neighbourhood catering and general joie de livre
> >
> >
> >   Looking for the perfect gift? Give the gift
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Neighbourhood catering and general joie de livre


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Re: [Biofuel] New coins for a new world

[Keith Addison]

Hello Evans

>absolutely perfect!!!
>
>a very nice visual to help others better understand the magnitude of 
>the problem.
>
>1Ti 6:10(KJV)  For the love of money is the root of all evil: which 
>while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and 
>pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
>
>i wonder how many millions of people will be effected by the last 
>part of this verse. 
>
>there's one more attack on the way

According to whom?

>and would not be surprised if an atomic bomb gets dropped in a major 
>city in the US where there is great poverty and power maybe 
>washington??

Who'll be doing the dropping?

Best

Keith


>Kirk McLoren <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
>
>http://blip.tv/file/520347
>   
>   
>   also dont miss
>   http://blip.tv/file/488854


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Re: [Biofuel] New coins for a new world

[Evans Antoniou]

absolutely perfect!!! 

a very nice visual to help others better understand the magnitude of the 
problem.

1Ti 6:10(KJV)  For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some 
coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through 
with many sorrows. 

i wonder how many millions of people will be effected by the last part of this 
verse.  

there's one more attack on the way and would not be surprised if an atomic bomb 
gets dropped in a major city in the US where there is great poverty and power 
maybe washington??

Kirk McLoren <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: 


http://blip.tv/file/520347
   
   
  also dont miss
  http://blip.tv/file/488854



   
-
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[Biofuel] An Oil Quandary: Costly Fuel Means Costly Calories

[Keith Addison]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/19/business/worldbusiness/19palmoil.html?em&ex=1200891600&en=065afe9782fe8f05&ei=5087

The Food Chain
An Oil Quandary: Costly Fuel Means Costly Calories
New York Times

January 19, 2008
By KEITH BRADSHER

KUANTAN, Malaysia - Rising prices for cooking oil are forcing 
residents of Asia's largest slum, in Mumbai, India, to ration every 
drop. Bakeries in the United States are fretting over higher 
shortening costs. And here in Malaysia, brand-new factories built to 
convert vegetable oil into diesel sit idle, their owners unable to 
afford the raw material.

This is the other oil shock. From India to Indiana, shortages and 
soaring prices for palm oil, soybean oil and many other types of 
vegetable oils are the latest, most striking example of a developing 
global problem: costly food.

The food price index of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the 
United Nations, based on export prices for 60 internationally traded 
foodstuffs, climbed 37 percent last year. That was on top of a 14 
percent increase in 2006, and the trend has accelerated this winter.

In some poor countries, desperation is taking hold. Just in the last 
week, protests have erupted in Pakistan over wheat shortages, and in 
Indonesia over soybean shortages. Egypt has banned rice exports to 
keep food at home, and China has put price controls on cooking oil, 
grain, meat, milk and eggs.

According to the F.A.O., food riots have erupted in recent months in 
Guinea, Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Senegal, Uzbekistan and Yemen.

"The urban poor, the rural landless and small and marginal farmers 
stand to lose," said He Changchui, the agency's chief representative 
for Asia and the Pacific.

A startling change is unfolding in the world's food markets. Soaring 
fuel prices have altered the equation for growing food and 
transporting it across the globe. Huge demand for biofuels has 
created tension between using land to produce fuel and using it for 
food.

A growing middle class in the developing world is demanding more 
protein, from pork and hamburgers to chicken and ice cream. And all 
this is happening even as global climate change may be starting to 
make it harder to grow food in some of the places best equipped to do 
so, like Australia.

In the last few years, world demand for crops and meat has been 
rising sharply. It remains an open question how and when the supply 
will catch up. For the foreseeable future, that probably means higher 
prices at the grocery store and fatter paychecks for farmers of major 
crops like corn, wheat and soybeans.

There may be worse inflation to come. Food experts say steep 
increases in commodity prices have not fully made their way to street 
stalls in the developing world or supermarkets in the West.

Governments in many poor countries have tried to respond by stepping 
up food subsidies, imposing or tightening price controls, restricting 
exports and cutting food import duties.

These temporary measures are already breaking down. Across Southeast 
Asia, for example, families have been hoarding palm oil. Smugglers 
have been bidding up prices as they move the oil from more subsidized 
markets, like Malaysia's, to less subsidized markets, like 
Singapore's.

No category of food prices has risen as quickly this winter as so- 
called edible oils - with sometimes tragic results. When a Carrefour 
store in Chongqing, China, announced a limited-time cooking oil 
promotion in November, a stampede of would-be buyers left 3 people 
dead and 31 injured.

Cooking oil may seem a trifling expense in the West. But in the 
developing world, cooking oil is an important source of calories and 
represents one of the biggest cash outlays for poor families, which 
grow much of their own food but have to buy oil in which to cook it.

Few crops illustrate the emerging problems in the global food chain 
as well as palm oil, a vital commodity in much of the world and 
particularly Asia. From jungles and street markets in Southeast Asia 
to food companies in the United States and biodiesel factories in 
Europe, soaring prices for the oil are drawing environmentalists, 
energy companies, consumers, indigenous peoples and governments into 
acrimonious disputes.

The oil palm is a stout-trunked tree with a spray of frilly fronds at 
the top that make it look like an enormous sea anemone. The trees, 
with their distinctive, star-like patterns of leaves, cover an eighth 
of the entire land area of Malaysia and even greater acreage in 
nearby Indonesia.

An Efficient Producer

The palm is a highly efficient producer of vegetable oil, squeezed 
from the tree's thick bunches of plum-size bright red fruit. An acre 
of oil palms yields as much oil as eight acres of soybeans, the main 
rival for oil palms; rapeseed, used to make canola oil, is a distant 
third. Among major crops, only sugar cane comes close to rivaling oil 
palms in calories of human food per acre.

Palm oil prices have jumped nearly 70 pe

[Biofuel] Dark side of a hot biofuel

[Keith Addison]

Dark side of a hot biofuel
In Indonesia, oil palms feed world thirst for clean fuel, but 
forests, climate and species pay a steep price

By Tom Knudson - [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Published 12:00 am PST Sunday, January 20, 2008
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A1

On the Indonesian island of Sumatra, a worker arranges a load of cut 
palms for shipment to a facility to process their valuable oil. But 
palm plantations are taking a toll on forests and native species.

Every morning, the cage doors swing open and 34 orangutan orphans 
climb into the outstretched arms of their human mothers.

Grabbing at wrists, tugging at elbows, these baby apes cling to the 
young women like Velcro, happy to be free of their cages, to play in 
the dappled sun of the nearby forest for a few hours.

It's primate day care, a scene that seems choreographed for the 
Animal Planet channel. But this spectacle of one hominid helping 
another is more than entertainment. It is a genuine reflection of 
environmental collapse.

These rust-red fluff balls were born in the wild, in the steamy, 
lime-green rain forest of tropical Indonesia. Today this jungle is 
being leveled and its great apes captured, killed and orphaned to 
grow palm oil, a plantation crop refined into biofuel for 
environmentally conscious consumers in Europe and the United States.

We live in a world of wanna-be-green commerce, of guilt-ridden 
citizens eager to protect nature, shrink their carbon footprints and 
free themselves from Middle East oil. But not every new fuel and 
eco-friendly product soothes the planet. Some are saddled with 
environmental baggage of their own, with not-so-obvious links to 
pollution, climate change and deforestation.

During the past year, supported by a fellowship from the Alicia 
Patterson Foundation, I have reported on two such cases: a gourmet 
line of "conservation-based" Starbucks coffee that was grown on a 
plantation in a threatened Ethiopian rain forest and a petroleum 
substitute fueling U.S. cars that was strip-mined from Canada's 
boreal forest.

Nothing captured my attention like the orphaned orangutans of 
Indonesia. Here was a new generation of primates with no forest to 
explore, no mothers to mimic. Yet they clowned around at my feet, 
nearly stole my backpack and played tug of war with a stick. Other 
endangered species don't do that.

As symbols of environmental change, orangutans are hard to beat. But 
their struggle is more than a tale of paradise lost. It is also - 
through the logging of Indonesia's great rain forests and the 
resulting massive release of carbon into the atmosphere - a story 
with a broader connection to the warming of the Earth's atmosphere 
and mankind's role in triggering it.

By coincidence, my November visit came just ahead of the largest 
global climate gathering in years, a United Nations conference in the 
Indonesian resort community of Bali.

As delegates from nearly 190 nations met to lay the groundwork for a 
global warming treaty, another climate drama with worldwide 
implications was unfolding 400 miles to the north across the pale 
blue Java Sea in Borneo and farther west in Sumatra.

Where a rich rain forest once stood, storing carbon in its roots, 
branches, trunks and soil, vast fields of oil palms stretched across 
the landscape, displacing native people and leaving some of the 
world's most majestic creatures - from Sumatran tigers to orangutans 
- without a home.

"There is no greater curse for orangutans in Borneo and Sumatra than 
palm oil plantations," said Biruté Galdikas, one of the world's 
leading primate scientists, who lives in Indonesia but spends part of 
the year in Los Angeles, home to her nonprofit group: Orangutan 
Foundation International. "People who buy palm oil have orangutan 
blood on their hands."

Growing taste for palm oil as fuel

For more than 30 years, Indonesia's oil palm plantations have fed a 
global market for vegetable oil, most used in everyday food products 
from cream cheese to candy bars, cookies to hamburger buns. As 
concern about climate change and oil prices has grown, interest in 
palm oil as a green, renewable fuel has soared.

The trend began in Europe a decade or so ago when governments began 
subsidizing companies to blend soybean, palm and other vegetable oils 
with diesel to reduce carbon emissions. Since 2004, biodiesel 
production has more than doubled in Europe to 4.9 million metric tons.

Now biodiesel is catching on in the United States. Last year, the 
nation's largest biodiesel plant, supplied in part with palm oil, 
opened in Washington state. In 2007, 15 million gallons of palm oil 
were offloaded in Southern California, where it helped power cruise 
ships and semi-trailer trucks.

Regulators are increasingly uneasy. This week, European Union 
officials plan to propose a law to ban the import of biodiesel 
derived from crops grown on recently destr

[Biofuel] Informa reports on food-versus-biofuel costs

[Keith Addison]

http://southeastfarmpress.com/grains/ethanol-grain-0108/

Informa reports on food-versus-biofuel costs

Jan 18, 2008 12:15 PM, By David Bennett
Farm Press Editorial Staff

Informa Economics News Release:
http://www.informaecon.com/NewsReleaseDec10.pdf
Full report:
http://www.informaecon.com/Renew_Fuels_Study_Dec_2007.pdf

Has the drive for more corn acres to produce ethanol caused a spike 
in U.S. food prices? Despite a year's worth of noise backing such a 
connection, new analysis by Informa Economics has found the claims 
dubious.

While comprehensive, the report is unlikely to escape criticism as 
pro-ethanol interests commissioned it. In a recent press conference 
announcing the report's release, Informa employees preemptively 
pushed against such claims.

"We provide objective analysis," said Bruce Scherr, Informa CEO. "We 
tell every client that if we do a study and the pills are bitter, so 
be it. We Š aren't guided by an end result the client wants Š We have 
hundreds and hundreds of clients in every part of the agriculture 
food renewable energy and energy value chain. We haven't got an axe 
to grind. Our interest is sustainable profitability and sustainable 
business liability for every sector and segment of the industry."

And what Informa's study has found "debunks the claim that the 
ethanol expansion and associated increased corn demand has been the 
sole, or even major, source of CPI food inflation.

"In fact, corn prices play a relatively minor role in this equation. 
The farm value of raw commodities in food account for roughly 19 
percent of total U.S. food costs. The remaining 81 percent is the 
so-called marketing bill that includes labor, packaging, 
transportation, energy, advertising expenditures, depreciation, rent, 
interest costs, business taxes and profits among other costs.

"Consider that since the 1950s, this trend toward the minor role of 
commodities in the consumer price equation has been the result of a 
tremendous decline in percentage of consumer income spent on food 
that's dropped from the mid-1950s from 22 percent to, roughly, 12 
percent today."

Moreover, "there was a decline of at-home consumption that 
represented 18 percent of the 22 percent - down to roughly 7 percent 
today. The consequence is the commodity prices play a less important 
role today than they have over the last four or five decades."

There continues to be broad support for ethanol and biofuels in the 
United States "because people correctly perceive that (biofuels) are 
an important part of us addressing serious national energy security 
challenges," said Bill Lee, who not only chairs the Renewable Fuels 
Foundation (which commissioned the report) but also manages a 
Minnesota ethanol plant. "And they're a way to mitigate the effects 
fossil fuels have on global climate change."

Over the last year, those in the biofuel industry have been "dismayed 
that our friends in the food, livestock and petroleum industry have 
been misstating the case against biofuels. You could say they're 
super-sizing the impact corn and ethanol are having on consumer 
prices for food Š The whole food-versus-fuel debate has generated 
more heat than light.

"That's why we engaged Informa to help get the facts Š We believe 
this study sets the record straight. Hopefully, it will be the end of 
disingenuous and, frankly, irresponsible representation in food and 
livestock about the impact of corn and ethanol on food prices."

Scherr said the study doesn't deny that corn demand is expanded due 
to ethanol growth. But it does "exhibit that, statistically, corn 
prices are essentially uncorrelated with consumer food prices with a 
correlation coefficient of about 20 percent. Statisticians know that 
is a relatively minor relationship. In fact, random numbers generally 
correlate higher than that."

So what does Scherr and colleagues believe is driving global commodity prices?

"As the study points out, it's mainly synchronous global growth and 
middle-income expansions around the globe. Those are growing at 
unprecedented magnitudes Š"

Scherr said there are likely 400 million to 700 million people 
achieving at least middle-income status with new "marginal income" 
prospects. This burgeoning sector is demanding improvements "from new 
infrastructure to more processed or value-added food products."

The net effect has been that over the last five to 10 years, "we've 
not been operating under the same demand curves. The curves are 
shifting to the right - it's classic Economics 101. Population growth 
with new income shifts demand curves."

This is especially evident in countries like China, "which is the 
largest construction site in the world. The Indian economy is growing 
at (a rate) just under double digits. China's growth is in double 
digits."

Also a factor: ocean freight rates have increased five or six times 
over the last four or five years.

Extraordinary income growth with large numbers of people results in 
"in

[Biofuel] Gandhi And The Struggle Against Imperialism

[Keith Addison]

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19143.htm

Gandhi And The Struggle Against Imperialism

International Day of Nonviolence, 02/10/07, United Nations, NYC

By Johan Galtung, dr hc mult, Professor of Peace Studies;

 Mr Chairperson, Foreign Ministers, Excellencies, Panelists,

 23/01/08 "ICH" -- -- Gandhi was fighting the UK Empire, meaning UK 
invasion and occupation.  One invasion, Viceroy Richard Wellesley in 
1798 against the Sultan of Mysore, was also clearly anti-Muslim.  The 
same year Napoleon's mission civilisatrice invaded Egypt to make 
himself Sultan el-kebir, Great Ruler, but were thrown out in 1801. 
The English came in 1807 and Egypt was a colony till 1922.

 Gandhi fought an evil empire as seen by how they reacted to the 
Sepoy mutiny 150 years ago or to the 1919 Amritsar massacre. 
Churchill not only referred to him as a semi-naked fakir, but 
sincerely hoped he would fast himself to death.  But in 1947 it was 
all over: first went India, then the rest of the empire, mainly due 
to Gandhi's nonviolence.  Today they are both, India and England, 
blossoming, India with a brilliant linguistic federalism and 
phenomenal economic growth, England heading the same way but still 
with some residual imperialism. And Gordon Brown sounds much like 
Tony Blair without the flare; in the "special relationship" with the 
senior partner.

 The US global Empire--broader, deeper, and more evil--was the 
successor to the UK global Empire, with Israel being the successor in 
the Middle East and Australia in the Pacific. They all have settler 
colonialism in common. That spells invasion and occupation; today by 
the USA in Iraq, Afghanistan and partly Saudi-Arabia, and by Israel 
in Palestine.  But people hate being invaded and occupied, regardless 
of invader-occupier creativity in legitimizing the exercise.  So 
there is massive resistance in all four, like there was in Norway 
under Germany.

 How did Gandhi resist?  By brilliantly transcending the conflict 
between the kshatriyah varnadharma of violent heroic struggle, and 
his own swadharma of nonviolence into nonviolent heroic struggle, 
known as satyagraha.  Born 9/11 1906; with no readiness to kill but 
to be killed, the ultimate sacrifice.

 To many satyagraha above all means nonviolent struggle resisting 
direct and/or structural violence.  But there is much more to 
satyagraha, particularly five points that go beyond such terms as 
"struggle", "resistance", "heroic" and "sacrifice", way into deeper 
and wiser politics than victorious invasions.

 All five points apply to the four anti-imperial struggles 
today.  The struggles spell an end to fundamentalist Christian US and 
hard Zionist Israeli imperialism. But the gandhian points would raise 
USA and Israel to conviviality with others.  They cut both ways: 
these are gandhian messages not only to the invaders-occupiers in 
Washington-Jerusalem but, also to the invaded-occupied in 
Iraq-Afghanistan-Palestine-Saudia. The more they are practiced the 
better for both sides, and for us all.

 Point 1:  Never fear dialogue.

Gandhi dialogued with everybody in his many struggles, including with 
the Viceroy of an Empire he had come to loathe. And it bore fruits.  
It is pathetic to watch a US Secretary of State travel in and out of 
Israel assuring them that she will meet with neither Hamas, nor 
Hizbollah, nor Damascus, nor Tehran when that is exactly what she has 
to do to make her points and maybe learn some new ones.  She may feel 
it is too much an honor for those evil parties. But they [1] may not 
see an encounter with the USA as that much an honor, nor [2] will 
this approach make them more amenable.  They will not go away anyhow.

 But this also applies to a Mullah Omar and a Hektamayar, 
representing the religious and the national resistance, on top of 
which comes the resistance from the overwhelming majority of Afghans 
one way or another who simply want neither invasion nor occupation.  
USA/NATO fight three wars.  Thou shalt dialogue. The conditionality 
approach, first NATO out, then talks, is highly understandable, but 
that point can be much better communicated in a dialogue covering all 
issues.

 Point 2: Never fear conflict: more opportunity than danger.

For Gandhi conflict was a challenge to know each other, having 
something in common, not being irrelevant to each other. Let us talk 
it over!  He preferred violence to cowardice and conflict, disharmony 
to no relation at all; the best being, of course, the nonviolence of 
the brave and relations of harmony.

Conflict can be understood the Anglo-American way as violent 
clashes of actors-parties, or as an incompatibility of the goals of 
those actors-parties. The former perspective leads to control of one 
or more party, usually of Other, even to 
incapacitation-expulsion-extermination. The latter may lead to 
problem-solving.  Thus, how can legitimate goals of all parties be 
accom

[Biofuel] Banning "Bad" Biofuels, Becoming Better Consumers

[Keith Addison]

http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5587

Analysis: Banning "Bad" Biofuels, Becoming Better Consumers

Raya Widenoja and Brian Halweil - January 23, 2008 - 12:05am

Casual observers might consider it a setback for proponents of 
ethanol and biodiesel now that Europe is planning to ban biofuels 

 
made from crops grown on high-value conservation lands. But the truth 
is, shunning biofuels produced on wetlands, grasslands, and 
deforested land is good for both critics and supporters. Overall, 
it's even good for the biofuel industry because it might restore some 
faith in their product, which has been attacked from all corners in 
recent months. The main problem with Europe's new law, in fact, may 
be that it is not stringent enough. 


A ban on some biofuels is good because there's a natural tendency to 
take advantage of a bull market. As with any crop, when demand grows, 
farmers will expand production onto new territory, whether it's the 
sloping, erosion-prone "back forty," a parcel of nearby forest, or a 
patch of wetlands. The rising demand for grains and oilseeds for 
food, livestock feed, and now biofuels is encouraging farmers across 
the world to expand their cropland as much as the law and the market 
tolerate.

In South America, soybean farmers and ranchers are encroaching on the 
Amazon,  and 
palm oil plantations are continuing an alarming expansion 
 
across large swaths of virgin forests and peatlands in Southeast 
Asia. There are double benefits for local actors to clear forested 
land now, because the timber is valuable and so is the new cropland. 
Even though much of the logging and land conversion is done 
illegally, governments seldom have enough enforcement muscle to stop 
such profitable businesses.

But it's not just about the growers. Consumers are probably the most 
important part of today's raging biofuels market. People are 
interested in biofuels because they want to do something good for the 
planet-and if they realize that some of these fuels are linked to 
alarming social and environmental practices, the demand will dry up 
as they stop buying biofuel blends at the pump and pressure their 
governments to reverse biofuel mandates.

The only way forward for the market is to keep working on 
sustainability standards and accurate life-cycle measurements of the 
greenhouse gas impacts of a given biofuel. Like jeans and sports 
shoes, each gallon of fuel needs a tag that promises it was not 
produced in the equivalent of a biofuels sweatshop. Without 
regulation and transparency from field to tank, the industry simply 
cannot live up to its promise of a cleaner, better future.

The benefits of biofuels can be many: reducing dependence on oil, 
keeping money and jobs in the local economy, and reducing greenhouse 
gas emissions and other pollutants, to name a few. But not all 
biofuels are created equal, and their benefits in fact vary wildly 
depending on the feedstock, how it is grown and harvested, where it 
is grown, and how it is processed.

Making ethanol from corn doused with chemical fertilizers is much 
less efficient than making it from corn grown in a no-till rotation 
and fertilized organically with a cover crop. In the United States, 
biodiesel produced from soybeans grown locally is much more efficient 
and climate friendly than corn ethanol, and more so if the beans are 
grown in a no-till system.

Meanwhile, ethanol from sugar cane grown in Brazil has far higher 
energy and climate benefits on average than either of these two 
options. But if the sugar cane is grown on a converted grassland, 
irrigated heavily, or treated with lots of inorganic fertilizer and 
pesticides, it starts losing its environmental benefits. Worse, if it 
is grown on a plantation where the laborers work in terrible 
conditions for a pittance, its social benefits leak away too.

Next-generation biofuel crops that can be produced with little water 
or fertilizer on dry or easily erodable soils, and that actually 
improve degraded soils, may have far superior benefits to even the 
best sugarcane ethanol. But if these second-generation fuels-derived 
mainly from quick-growing grasses and trees-are not produced with the 
goal of maximizing social and environmental benefits, they will have 
no more value than the dirtiest corn ethanol.

If the biofuels market (and related laws) recognize these 
differences, there will be an incentive to produce better biofuels. 
If not, then there's no reason for a producer not to convert more 
land and throw more chemicals and water at the crop to make it grow, 
even on totally unsuitable land. The more guidance growers and 
im

[Biofuel] Biofuels 'are not a magic bullet'

[Keith Addison]

He said, there was a need to keep problems in perspective, 
particularly the idea that rainforest-destroying palm oil plantations 
were being established all over southeast Asia simply to provide 
biodiesel.

"Only about 0.7% of palm oil used in the EU is used for biofuel 
production," he said.

Royal Society report:
http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Environment/documents/2008/01/14/RoyalSociety.pdf

---

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7187361.stm

Monday, 14 January 2008, 15:36 GMT

Biofuels 'are not a magic bullet'

By Richard Black

Environment correspondent, BBC News website

Biofuel crops can vary widely in their climate benefits

Biofuels may play a role in curbing climate change, says Britain's 
Royal Society, but may create environmental problems unless 
implemented with care.

In a new report, the Society suggests current EU and UK policies are 
not guaranteed to reduce emissions.

It advocates more research into all aspects of biofuel production and use.

The report says the British government should use financial 
incentives to ensure companies adopt cutting-edge and 
carbon-efficient technologies.

"Biofuels could play an important role in cutting greenhouse gas 
emissions from transport, both in Britain and globally," said 
Professor John Pickett from Rothamsted Research, who chaired the 
Royal Society's study.

  Nature has provided countless potential solutions in organisms as 
diverse as cows and microbes



Dianna Bowles, York University

"But it would be disastrous if biofuel production made further 
inroads into biological diversity and natural ecosystems.

"We must not create new environmental or social problems in our 
efforts to deal with climate change."

Variable savings

Biofuels - principally ethanol and diesel made from plants - are one 
of the few viable options for replacing the liquid fuels derived from 
petroleum that are used in transport, the source of about one quarter 
of the human race's greenhouse gas emissions.

Vehicles, and the infrastructure for delivering fuel through filling 
stations, can be modified at marginal cost - certainly compared with 
the price of a large-scale switch to hydrogen or electric vehicles, 
even if they were to prove technologically and economically 
worthwhile.

Hence the adoption by Europe and the US of policies to stimulate 
biofuel production and use.

But a number of recent scientific studies have shown that the carbon 
savings from using biofuels compared with petrol and diesel vary 
hugely, depending on what crop is grown and where, how it is 
harvested and processed, and other factors.



EU to reconsider biofuels

There are also concerns that widespread planting and use of biofuel 
crops would threaten natural ecosystems and raise food prices.

Policymakers are increasingly aware of such concerns. Before the 
Royal Society launched its report, European Environment Commissioner 
Stavros Dimas told the BBC that the EU had not foreseen all the 
issues thrown up by its target of providing 10% of Europe's transport 
fuel from plants.

Launching the Royal Society report, Professor Pickett noted that 
current EU and US policies did not mandate that biofuels should 
achieve any carbon saving.

The report said that the UK government's Renewable Transport Fuel 
Obligation (RTFO), which mandates that 5% of fuel sold on filling 
station forecourts by 2010 must come from renewable sources, suffers 
from the same flaw, though changes are being discussed in Whitehall.

As a result, the report concludes, these policies "will do more for 
economic development and energy security than combating climate 
change".

Next generation

On the UK policy front, the Society advocates:

*   extending carbon pricing to transport fuels

*   providing specific incentives for innovative 
approaches to fuels and vehicles

*   extending the RTFO to 2025

More generally, it says research into new biofuel technologies should 
be encouraged through financial incentives.

Of particular interest are ways of processing lignocellulose, the 
material which makes up the bulk of many plants and trees. Learning 
how to convert this easily and cheaply into ethanol or other biofuels 
would make refining much more efficient, and vastly expand the range 
of crops that could be used.

Biofuels: Next generation

"What we have to do is to undertake research and development in such 
a way that we can unlock the tremendous potential that nature has 
provided us with in terms of getting enzymes to degrade cellulose and 
make ethanol," said Professor Dianna Bowles from the University of 
York, another member of the Royal Society's study group.

"Nature has provided countless potential solutions in organisms as 
diverse as cows and microbes, and that offers tremendous hope."

But alongside this technology-focussed research, said Dr Jeremy Woods 
of Imperial College London, should go programmes aimed at measuring 
the true envir

[Biofuel] Brazilian ethanol not causing deforestation

[Keith Addison]

http://biopact.com/2008/01/wageningen-expert-brazilian-ethanol-not.html
Wageningen expert: "Brazilian ethanol not causing deforestation"

Ethanol production in Brazil is not causing deforestation in the 
Amazon region, says Peter Zuurbier, Associate Professor and Director 
the Latin America Office of Wageningen University, the world's 
leading center of expertise on tropical agriculture. According to 
him, the notion often held by NGO's that sugarcane is displacing 
cattle and soybean production into the Amazon is inaccurate. "The 
real problem lies in illegal deforestation and lack of property 
rights, as around 50 percent of the Amazon region has disputed titles 
and this is an invitation for timber companies" he says.

In an interview 
http://www.ethanolstatistics.com/Industry_News/Exclusive/Ethanol_Production_Brazil_Is_Not_Causing_Deforestation_in_the_Amazon_21012008.aspx
 
with Ethanol Statistics, prof Zuurbier tries to explain a dynamic 
process between illegal activities in the Amazon rainforest and the 
expansion of agricultural lands towards that region. NGO's often 
state that sugarcane production is displacing cattle and soybean 
production towards and into the Amazon, burning down the area to make 
it suitable for agriculture and pastures.

According to Zuurbier however, the process is slightly different. 
"Well organized groups and corporations with questionable land 
titles, but also official land owners began to chop down large 
acreages of forest to trade timber, both legally and illegally" he 
says. "Usually, after the empty strips of land were abandoned, cattle 
owners would move into these cheap lands. However, after 3 to 4 years 
of cattle breeding, the thin soil of the Amazon is completely useless 
without any form of fertilization and livestock owners usually move 
into the next abandoned area. Soybean farmers meanwhile replace the 
livestock in these areas, recognizing the opportunity to fertilize 
the area for soybean production."

Prof Zuurbier says the cause of deforestation and agricultural 
production in or near the Amzon, is simply illegal deforestation 
itself. The fact that Brazil still has questionable land titles, no 
set-aside policy and great difficulty to enforce existing laws to 
counter illegal timber trade, are the real reasons why the Amazon 
rainforest is in danger according to him:

The discussion on the sustainability of Brazilian ethanol was off to 
a fresh start in 2008, at the European Motor BioFuels Forum 2008 in 
Rotterdam. On the 9th and 10th of January, industry experts once 
again gathered to discuss various aspects of the growing market for 
fuel ethanol, specifically in Europe and Brazil. Among the subjects 
was of course sustainability. Conflicting opinions were expressed 
about the real contribution of ethanol to the reduction of CO2 
emissions, the impact of biofuels on food prices and food 
availability, and also indirect effects on tropical forests and 
biodiversity. Indirect effects, because the notion that Brazil is 
planting sugarcane in the Amazon region has proven to be factually 
wrong. The indirect effect seems to be a fair point however, since 
sugarcane fields are moving into areas that were previously used for 
cattle and soybeans.

In October last year, Ethanol Statistics interviewed José Roberto 
Moreira on the subject, who said that the idea of cattle moving into 
the Amazon would not be economically sustainable, because diseases in 
those areas would prevent Brazil from exporting beef. At the Biofuels 
Forum in Rotterdam, we discussed the issue again with Peter Zuurbier, 
Associate Professor and Director of the Wageningen UR Latin America 
Office. After having established the office in Piracicaba (São Paulo, 
Brazil), Mr. Zuurbier is now actively involved in research projects 
concerning the ethanol industry and an expert in the field of ethanol 
feedstock. In October last year, he organized a conference at 
Wageningen University, specifically aimed at exploring the indirect 
effects of sugarcane and soybean production on the Amazon. According 
to him, deforestation leads to soybean production near the Amazon, 
not the other way around.

The role of (il)legal timber trade
"It's a dynamic process between roughly two regions in Brazil," he 
says. "One is the Amazone region and the other is the rest of Brazil 
surrounding it. Over the past 15 years, soybeans have been moving 
North into the savannah-like Cerrado region, and up to the tropical 
rainforests of the Amazon. However, what happened after that was an 
interaction with often illegal timber trade in the Amazon region. 
Well organized groups and corporations with questionable land titles, 
but also official land owners began to chop down large acreages of 
forest to trade timber, both legally and illegally. Usually, after 
the empty strips of land were abandoned, cattle owners would move 
into these cheap lands.

However, after 3 to 4 years of cattle breeding, the thin soil of the 

Re: [Biofuel] Call to abandon biofuels targets

[Keith Addison]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/feedarticle?id=7243096

EU's energy chief defends biofuel policies

Reuters Monday January 21 2008

BRUSSELS, Jan 21 (Reuters) - The European Union's energy chief 
defended on Monday the bloc's plans to boost the use of biofuels to 
fight climate change following a British parliament report 
criticising the policy.

"The (European) Commission strongly disagrees with the conclusion of 
the Environmental Audit Committee of the British House of Commons ... 
where it says that the overall environmental effect of existing 
biofuel policy is negative," Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said 
in a statement.

Media have quoted the report as saying currently available biofuels 
cut transport CO2 emissions much more expensively than alternative 
measures.

It came days before the European Commission, the EU executive, is to 
present a legislative package on energy and climate change that will 
envisage cutting carbon dioxide emissions and increasing the use of 
renewable sources of energy.

Under previous plans, the EU has set a target of increasing the share 
of biofuels, such as ethanol, in transport fuels to 5.75 percent in 
2010 and to 10 percent in 2020.

But biofuels are coming under growing criticism from 
environmentalists and politicians who say their production is 
boosting food prices and leads to deforestation in developing 
countries.

The Commission said those concerns would be addressed in the package, 
due for publication on Wednesday, which will aim at increasing the 
share of renewable sources in power production to at least 20 percent 
in 2020 from 8.5 percent now.

"The Commission shares the House of Commons' concern that biofuels 
have to be sustainable, and that this sustainability has to be 
guaranteed by robust sustainability standards and mechanisms to 
prevent damaging land use change," it said.

The Commission will also propose how EU states should cut their 
greenhouse gas emissions after 2013 to achieve an agreed goal of 
reducing them by 20 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels. (Reporting by 
Marcin Grajewski, Editing by Peter Blackburn)


>   Call to abandon biofuels targets 
> By Roger Harrabin
> BBC Environment Analyst
>
>   The EU should abandon its biofuels targets because they are 
>damaging the environment, a committee of MPs says.
>
>   The Environmental Audit Committee says biofuels are 
>ineffective at cutting greenhouse gases and can be expensive.
>
>   It also says problematic emissions from cars can be cut more 
>cheaply and with lower environmental risk.
>
>   The report comes in the week the EU launches a huge, 
>over-arching climate change strategy which includes rules aimed at 
>reducing damage from biofuels.
>
>   In a draft, the EU admits that the current target of 5.75% 
>biofuels on the roads by 2010 is unlikely to be achieved. But it 
>maintains its target of 10% road biofuel by 2020.
>
>   It states that in future biofuels should not be grown on 
>forest land, wetland - including peat - or permanent grassland, a 
>move that will please critics.
>
>   The EU will also stipulate that biofuels should achieve a 
>minimum level of greenhouse gas savings.
>
>   But these figures have been contested, and it looks as though 
>the calculation will exclude the carbon released by disturbing soil 
>when the biofuels are planted. That would prove very controversial.
>
>   It is also unclear how the EU will ensure that its biofuels 
>production on agricultural land does not push up food prices or 
>displace food production, forcing peasants or other agri-businesses 
>into felling other virgin forest to grow crops.
>
>   The committee of MPs says the targets are putting up food 
>prices and threatening food supplies for the poor.
>
>   The EU and the UK government should concentrate on the use of 
>"sustainable" biofuels such as waste vegetable oil and the 
>development of more efficient biofuel technologies, it adds.
>
>   Sustainability fears
>
>   The Environmental Audit Committee says the UK government and 
>the EU have been "misguided" in prioritising biofuel for road 
>transport when it is much more efficient under current technology to 
>use biofuels for heating and cooling.
>
>   The committee notes that last week BBC News published an 
>admission by the EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas that the 
>EU had not foreseen all the problems entailed in biofuels.
>
>   The MPs say this proves the need for a moratorium on the 
>target until it is proved that biofuels can be produced sustainably.
>
>   It says current agricultural support for biofuels is largely 
>unsustainable.
>
>   Committee chairman Tim Yeo said: "Biofuels can reduce 
>greenhouse gas emissions from road transport - but at present most 
>biofuels have a detrimental impact on the environment overall."
>
>   The report is strongly backed by the RSPB which calls current 
>biofuels t

[Biofuel] Deadly Brew: The Human Toll of Ethanol

[Keith Addison]

Deadly Brew: The Human Toll of Ethanol
Bloomberg TV is airing a program about the "untold story of Brazil's 
ethanol industry."

It's scheduled for Thursday January 24th at 7 and 9 pm.
If you miss these viewings, search the archives on this website.

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