In Brief… – for Jun. 23, 2011

Ethanol vote fails:A proposal to end subsidies for the U.S. ethanol industry failed a key vote in the Senate June 14. The Senate voted 59 to 40 against limiting debate on the measure from Republican Tom Coburn that would have ended the federal ethanol tax credit and the tariff on ethanol imports before they were

New Questions Being Raised About Benefit Of Biofuels

Anew report raising additional doubts about the green credentials of biofuels has stalled investment in Europe and threatens the future of some producers. After a two-year investigation, the European Commission has decided that the complex issue of “indirect land use change” can lessen carbon savings from biofuels. The concept is relatively new, and still being



U.S. May Open To Canadian Biofuels

While it will likely be months before a decision is made, the U.S. Envi ronmental Protect ion Agency has launched a process that could open the American market to Canadian biofuels and biomass. The EPA has called for comments on a request from Ottawa to accept Canadian crops and crop residue for use in making


Biofuel Standards Will Affect Farmers

The Renewable Fuel Standards will have an effect on farmers. The federal mandate is that there is a renewable fuel quantity that must be added to fossil fuel, for gasoline a five per cent ethanol blend will be added and for biodiesel a two per cent blend will be added to diesel. These amounts are

Tapping Alberta’s “Other” Liquid Gold Resource

Mention the term “liquid gold” in Alberta and livestock manure isn’t likely the first thing that jumps to mind. But it’s slowly becoming part of the conversation as researchers learn more about how to harvest the nutrient benefits of this potentially abundant resource and byproduct of the livestock industry. One of the latest and most


U.S. Ethanol Policy Roundly Criticized

If the United States reduced the amount of corn required for its ethanol requirements by just one per cent, it would double Zimbabwe’s entire annual corn consumption and save American taxpayers $50 million a year. Bill Lapp, a U.S. market analyst, tossed those statistics out at the annual GrainWorld conference in Winnipeg last week to

Biofuels Here To Stay

Biofuels represent the only way to significantly reduce carbon emissions in road transport fuel and are likely to account for at least 12 per cent of supply by 2030, an official with oil giant BP said March 2. “There is no other alternative that I can really subscribe to in terms of decarbonizing road transport,”


Forget Fuel Costs, U.S. Farmers Cheer Oil Surge

Not too long ago, a surge in oil prices would have caused a groan of misery from the U.S. farm belt, forced to pay higher prices for tractor fuel and fertilizer. Today, farmers are far more likely to cheer. The farm sector’s response to a surge in fuel costs has inverted for two important reasons:

U.S. Biodiesel On Life Support, But Smiling

Biodiesel, still a moneylosing proposition in the United States compared to oil-based diesel, is about to have its best year ever thanks to government tax credits and usage mandates. But it will take months for the biodiesel industry to bounce back after being stranded last year, when the government let its six-year subs idy expi