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
Brazil is hailed as a biofuels success story - producing and using ethanol from high yielding crops within the country. But those indigenous families who have been displaced by sugar cane cultivation see things differently
UK fund managers are selling investments in jatropha plantations as a wallet-swelling, planet-saving financial bonanza. But the reality for poor farmers is very different. Andrew Wasley reports
UK fund managers are selling investments in jatropha plantations as a wallet-swelling, planet-saving financial bonanza. But the reality for poor farmers is very different
European Commission guidance would allow biofuels to be labelled as sustainable even if forests have been destroyed to make way for the palm oil plantations
Industry research says biofuels, not electric cars or biogas likely to make up majority of renewable transport targets but admits some will need to be imported
A new generation of biofuels is poised to come into the market. Grown on unused, ‘marginal’ land they won’t compete for our food crops. But just where exactly is all this marginal land, and whose backyard might it be? Helena Paul reports
Renewables good, fossil fuels bad... unless, of course, renewables begin to take up more and more land in order to meet our energy needs. Paul Kingsnorth adds fuel to a tricky debate.
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.
Green energy is coming under pressure to clean up its act after severe criticism of the Government’s attempts to change the rules on how renewable energy is calculated and further condemnation of the ‘splash and dash’ trading scam in biofuels.
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.
The backlash against large scale biofuel production continues to build as Friends of the Earth urges the European Union to scrap its target for 10 per cent of transport fuel to come from crops by 2020.
On Monday, Zac Goldsmith and Prince Charles test drove a series of environmentally friendly vehicles at an event arranged by Revolve, a charity which promotes sustainable transport.
The third report of the year from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is expected to green-light nuclear power and large-scale biofuel production as a way of tackling climate change, to the dismay of environmentalists worldwide.
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...
In his final State of the Union address, George Bush announced his support for the adoption of biofuels on a massive scale. But is the plan such a good idea? By Pat Thomas
