Biodiesel

In 1980 The Ecologist published an iconic Special Edition' devoted to the multi-use 'wonder crop' hemp. 34 years on, Thomas Prade finds the case for industrial hemp is as strong as ever.

This month in Sumatra, Indonesia, 1,500 armed men demolished four indigenous villages and displaced inhabitants who were not willing to surrender their land to a palm oil company.

Petrol prices are on the rise, so is youth unemployment. So why aren't more people thumbing it? Adam Weymouth travels through the generational gap to find out

From plastic bag-free towns to refashioned clothes and bus fleets run on chip fat, here's a guide to what you can do to tackle waste in your community

Study predicts the yields of jatropha will fall in the next decade and that it is better suited to community-level, rather than industrial-scale, production for the biofuel market

Sundance Renewables in Wales is a pioneering workers' co-operative and social enterprise converting used cooking oil into a low emissions alternative to diesel

It has taken just one year for the land-based biofuels (agrofuels) bubble to inflate and burst. In February 2007, the Ecologist was almost alone in pointing out that growing energy crops for car fuel was ecological nonsense; now the tide of academic studies showing that agrofuels are neither energy - nor carbon-efficient seems unstoppable.

China has announced a major drive towards the use of biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel - just as another report pours more water on the idea that biofuels will end the energy crisis.

An open letter signed by over 230 organisations and individuals – including author/campaigner Mark Lynas and Green Party MEP Caroline Lucas – has been sent to the European Union calling for ministers to vote against planned biofuel targets at the EU Summit on Friday.

The world fervour for biofuels continues to grow at an alarming pace. In this comprehensive special report, the Ecologist examines the facts, fictions and fabrications behind this ballooning industry. The results are worrying...

The world’s forests are natural carbon ‘sinks’ that remove and store atmospheric CO2. So why, in the name of saving the earth, asks Renton Righelato, are we cutting down these precious resources to make way for fuel crops?

The community of Machynlleth has gone beyond just investing in someone else’s wind turbine. They’ve clubbed together and planned, built and paid for one of their own.