Gallagher Review: Put the brake on biofuels
Posted: 08 Jul 2008 10:18 AM CDT

Not so long ago biofuels were billed as a silver bullet that could cut greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector. But, as recent studies have confirmed, many are worse for the climate than the

Hot on the heels of Friday's 'Great coal train action' which halted coal shipments to Drax power station for the best part of two days, comes news of more anti-coal activity. Early this morning climate campaigners from 'Leave it in the Ground' occupied UK Coal's Lodge House site in

No one will be surprised that Greenpeace is against the construction of new nuclear power stations, but what some may find unusual is one of the solutions we are proposing to meet our energy needs and reduce our CO2 emissions - industrial CHP, or combined heat and power <

With the aim of promoting the 'Eddy Correlation Method,' a new technology that can continuously measure the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) absorbed by forests, the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology offered the first training course in Asia for observation specialists

A new report by the WWF has shown that the EU is continuing to consume its natural resources far faster than it can renew them, although the level of performance between different member states is widely diverging.

Brief News:

The European Union's 'ecological

It is becoming clear that biofuels made from sugar and vegetable oils will fail to substantially reduce our dependance on oil. Do second-generation biofuels stand a better chance?

Background:

In an attempt to reduce greenhouses gases in line with its Kyoto Protocol

High oil prices have already driven renewable energies such as wind power past the point where they can compete with fossil fuels. But more ambitious policies are needed to spur growth, say two leading think-tanks.

Brief News:

Renewable energies already account for 6% of

This 2006 guide ranks leading manufacturers 'on their global policies and practice on eliminating harmful chemicals and on taking responsibility for their products once they are discarded by consumers.' the scorecard ranks companies on their chemicals policy and practice, as well as on taking

A report published online in 'Nature Cell Biotechnology' on March 6, 2006 described how a team of researchers at Kyushu University and the University of California discovered a protein factor that affects the response of plants to carbon dioxide. Little is known about the CO2-sensing mechanism

Japan plans to reduce its dependence on petroleum from 47 percent (as of 2003) to 40 percent or less by 2030, according to the New National Energy Strategy released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry on May 31, 2006. Japan's oil dependence was as high as 76 percent just before the

The planet 'is a finite place with finite resources,' so tomorrow's engineers will need to incorporate sustainability into the structures, products, and processes they design, says University of Pittsburgh engineering professor Eric Beckman.

Pitt's new Sustainable Engineering

ANDREAS KOEHLER AND CLAUDIA SOM

Since pervasive computing is expected to become ubiquitous in the coming years, the question arises whether it will support sustainable development or may counteract that aim. Based on the results of a technology assessment study we show that

A joint venture between DuPont and Tate & Lyle PLC has been formed to produce 1,3-propanediol (PDO), the key building block for DuPontT Sorona® polymer, using a proprietary fermentation and purification process based on corn sugar. This bio-based method uses less energy, reduces emissions and

Friends of the Earth today highlighted proposals for 22 new municipal waste incinerators in England - which would more then double the current number - and called on the Government to end its love affair with incineration. The warning comes as Ministers chose Valentines Day to unveil a draft

CHALLENGE

Sustainability has become a significant force in every area
of human enterprise. As it is normally practiced in design, however, it often is seen as a purely technical or ethical agenda and not as an aesthetic one. In the construction industry, efforts to improve

Wave and tidal power can provide a fifth of the UK's electricity needs, according to a new report.

The Carbon Trust, which helps firms develop low-emission technologies, urges the government to increase support for wave and tidal concepts.

They are currently costly ways

Engineers have developed a method for 'precooling' small office buildings and reducing energy consumption during times of peak demand, promising not only to save money but also to help prevent power failures during hot summer days.

The method has been shown to reduce the

Britain could capture £85 million within four years of the global investment in wave and tidal energies, suggests a report on the opportunities for Scottish companies in marine renewable energies.

'The fact that the marine renewables sector is less well developed than other energy

Forest land cleared for timber is re-planted for commercial forestry and one of the forest industry's well-worn arguments is that they save trees, rather than destroy them, because for every tree cut down, two or three are planted. However, an intensively managed plantation, little more than

Every year more than 11 million tonnes of paper and board are consumed in the UK [1]. Much of this comes from Scandinavia. In order to satisfy our increasing demand for wood and paper products, the majority of the natural boreal forest in Scandinavia has been converted into intensively managed

EU ministers' failure to either authorise or reject a pest-resistant GMO maize means the Commission will have to approve the product. NGOs are highlighting public mistrust in GMOs and want to tighten up clearance rules.

In a June 2005 opinion, the European Food Safety Authority

Britain has the best wind resource in Europe, according to the first methodical investigation of wind in that country.

The wind blows all year and it peaks when demand for electricity is at its peak, says the report commissioned from Oxford University by the UK Department of Trade &

With REACH discussions making progress in Council and Parliament, the chemical industry sector has unveiled a new research agenda for innovation in the next 20 years.

European chemistry sector organisations meeting in London on 25 November have unveiled areas for future research and

China is in a position to become the world leader in wind power, according to a new Greenpeace report.

Wind Guandong, a study of wind power potential in the heavily industrialized Guandong province in southern China, says that by 2020 alone, the region could feasibly produce enough

A decade-long project to develop genetically modified peas with built-in pest-resistance has been abandoned after tests showed they caused allergic lung damage in mice.

The researchers - at Australia's national research organisation, CSIRO - took the gene for a protein capable of

A WWF survey has revealed traces of hazardous chemicals in the blood of children and parents over three generations. Industry denounces 'unfair pressure' ahead of a possible conclusion on the REACH chemicals law in November.

Biomonitoring involves taking samples of blood, tissue,

By 2010, the world will have to cope with as many as 50 million people escaping the effects of environmental deterioration, the UN warned on 12 October, the international day for disaster reduction.

Victims of highly publicised catastrophes like the Asian Tsunami or hurricane

Existing technology should be used to capture and store carbon dioxide underground to prevent emissions and curb global warming, experts suggested in a comprehensive report released by the United Nations.

The document, prepared by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

A £1 million project has begun to investigate the way organic carbon, in the form of compost or manure, can affect the way soil behaves.

The research is a collaboration between the University of Abertay Dundee's SIMBIOS centre, the Institute of Arable Crop Research, and consultancy

Energy from waste plants and small, localised, generators look set to benefit most from proposed changes to the renewables obligation.

The Government announced the start of the formal consultation on the renewables obligation this week aimed at improving the effectiveness of the

The hole in the ozone layer this year will probably be slightly smaller than the all-time largest of 2003, in line with the general trend of a gradual healing of the ozone layer's depletion, a U.N. agency said Friday.

'The size of this year's ozone hole is approaching an all-time

A German inventor has angered animal rights activists with his answer to fighting the soaring cost of fuel -- dead cats.

Christian Koch, 55, from the eastern county of Saxony, told Bild newspaper that his organic diesel fuel -- a home-made blend of garbage, run-over cats, and other

A recent debate has arisen over the net energy and environmental benefits of ethanol as a substitute for gasoline in transportation fuels. Argonne researcher Michael Wang, a world- leading expert in this field, recently presented the results of his research at the Ethanol Energy Open

Japan's Fujitsu Ltd, Fujitsu Laboratories, Ltd., and Toray Industries Inc. succeeded in joint development of a large case made of bioplastics, featured in Fujitsu's spring 2005 models of notebook computers, named FMV-BIBLO NB80K. This is the first time in the world that bioplastics made from