What do you associate with biofuels? The term may conjure up images of green, sustainable, and earth-friendly technology, but many point to a very different reality. Using fuel made from crops like tallow and rapeseed may actually worsen greenhouse gas emissions, kill rain forests, and drive up food prices due to land competition.http://www.newser.com/2008 - Newseren-usNewser Feed GeneratorThu, 20 Nov 2008 2:53:55 CSThttp://www.newser.com/story/43024/cheaper-oil-likely-to-stay-awhile.html?refid=rss_all_defaultOil prices are down, and they’re likely to stay that way for now, writes Ronald Bailey for Reason . Not only did the recent spike in gas prices drive down demand in the US; it also heightened the effect of domestic and local production. Government mandates, made in response to the surge in oil prices, are likely to curb demand in the US for years.http://www.newser.com/story/43024/cheaper-oil-likely-to-stay-awhile.html?refid=rss_all_defaultTue, 18 Nov 2008 14:12:23 CSThttp://www.newser.com/story/42344/biofuels-green-cred-in-dispute.html?refid=rss_all_defaultBiofuels, once hailed as a planet-saving alternative to gasoline, are now savaged as much the opposite, the Wall Street Journal reports, with critics charging the “ripple effect” on land use globally actually adds climate-harming carbon. The EPA has signaled plans to modify biofuel emissions measurements to reflect that, but interested lobbyists are already lining up to refute those findings.http://www.newser.com/story/42344/biofuels-green-cred-in-dispute.html?refid=rss_all_defaultTue, 11 Nov 2008 9:15:45 CSThttp://www.newser.com/story/40564/us-farmers-see-leaner-times-in-stormy-market.html?refid=rss_all_defaultPlunging crop prices and soaring costs are hitting US farmers with a one-two punch that’s knocked the fight out of what had been one of the stronger segments of the nation’s economy, reports the Wall Street Journal . Corn prices have dropped some 50% since July, and prices for fertilizer and seed are expected to jump 40% next year.http://www.newser.com/story/40564/us-farmers-see-leaner-times-in-stormy-market.html?refid=rss_all_defaultWed, 22 Oct 2008 9:51:19 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/39376/biofuels-not-worth-upward-push-on-food-prices-un.html?refid=rss_all_defaultWhile use of biofuels is supposed to combat climate change, the effects of its production on food prices is not worth the emissions they offset, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said today. The FAO called for countries to review production quotas and subsidies that encourage biofuel use in light of the “continued upward pressure” on the price of agricultural goods, the Financial Times reports.http://www.newser.com/story/39376/biofuels-not-worth-upward-push-on-food-prices-un.html?refid=rss_all_defaultTue, 07 Oct 2008 14:24:49 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/39138/green-venture-capitalists-need-no-bailout.html?refid=rss_all_defaultThe canyons of Wall Street have been swept clean of liquidity, but the valleys of northern California are still flush with environmentally and financially green ideas, Jon Gertner writes in the New York Times ' Sunday magazine. Despite market madness, venture capitalists have seen little slowdown in their businesses, which are raising millions of dollars to fund “green tech” investments.http://www.newser.com/story/39138/green-venture-capitalists-need-no-bailout.html?refid=rss_all_defaultSat, 04 Oct 2008 14:33:05 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/37897/indias-effort-to-boost-biofuel-encounters-growing-pains.html?refid=rss_all_defaultJust months after India’s finance minister called converting food crops to biofuels “a crime against humanity,” the government has launched a program that aims to get 20% of India’s diesel from plants by 2017, relying heavily on hardy plants that won’t keep rob needed land. But the biofuel crops take years longer to yield much of value, making it a tough sell, the Economist reports.http://www.newser.com/story/37897/indias-effort-to-boost-biofuel-encounters-growing-pains.html?refid=rss_all_defaultMon, 22 Sep 2008 8:11:40 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/37655/oils-slide-as-chaotic-as-its-rise.html?refid=rss_all_defaultCrude oil prices have fallen 38% from their July high of $147.27 a barrel, and the decline is causing nearly as much consternation around the world as its meteoric rise in the first half of the year, reports the Washington Post. Oil-dependent governments are worried about revenues and forecasters are scurrying to revise outlooks. while alternative-energy companies see their prospects decline.http://www.newser.com/story/37655/oils-slide-as-chaotic-as-its-rise.html?refid=rss_all_defaultWed, 17 Sep 2008 7:21:43 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/37496/biodiesel-gains-converts-on-home-front.html?refid=rss_all_defaultHalf a billion gallons of it were brewed at home last year, and we're not talking beer. Homemade biodiesel is expanding from the days of hippies converting old electric water heaters to mainstream retailers offering safer, reliable processors, Wired reports. Anyone with the equipment, ranging from $3,000 to $13,500, can turn used veggie oil into the eco-friendly fuel.http://www.newser.com/story/37496/biodiesel-gains-converts-on-home-front.html?refid=rss_all_defaultMon, 15 Sep 2008 12:10:31 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/36721/biofuel-firms-african-land-grab-has-colonial-echoes.html?refid=rss_all_defaultAfrica is being seeded for a coming boom in biofuels, as Western companies buy thousands of acres to cultivate vegetable-oil-rich plants like the Jatropha curcas, Der Spiegel reports. In countries like Tanzania, Ghana and Ethiopia, firms are often securing century-long farming rights for nothing but a promise to invest in local roads and schools.http://www.newser.com/story/36721/biofuel-firms-african-land-grab-has-colonial-echoes.html?refid=rss_all_defaultFri, 05 Sep 2008 13:48:42 CDT