Soy
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Bioenergy > Feedstocks > Biodiesel feedstocks > Soy
Information about biofuel produced from soy/soy oil (also known as "soya").
Contents |
Sustainability
- The Roundtable on Sustainable Soy is a multi-stakeholder effort to address sustainability issues related to soy production.
Papers/reports
- Forest Footprint Disclosure Annual Review (PDF file) - This February 2010 Forest Footprint Disclosure Project report makes available the results of its 2009 company disclosure request. The report "reveals the names of those businesses that have responded to its first call to disclose details of their ‘Forest Footprint’," defined as "the extent to which procurement policies for Forest Risk Commodities (FRCs) such as palm oil, soy, timber, beef, leather and biofuels are linked to deforestation. The Report identifies two high profile British High Street names as ‘Best Performers’ in their sectors – Marks & Spencer (General Retail) and Sainsbury’s (Food and Drug Retail)." [1] (PDF file)
- Turning Food Into Fuel: GM Drought Tolerant Soybean And Its Use In The Production Of Biodiesel, African Centre for Biosafety, 10 November 2006.
News
- Amazon rainforest will bear cost of biofuel policies in Brazil, 8 February 2010 by Mongabay: "Business-as-usual agricultural expansion to meet biofuel production targets for 2020 will take a heavy toll on Brazil's Amazon rainforest in coming years, undermining the potential emissions savings of transitioning from fossil fuels to biofuels, warns a new paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The research suggests that intensification of cattle ranching, combined with efforts to promote high-yielding oil crops like oil palm could lessen forecast greenhouse gas emissions from indirect land use in the region."
- "'To fill the biofuel production targets for 2020, sugarcane would require an additional 57,200 [square kilometers] and soybean an additional 108,100 sq km. Roughly 88% of this expansion (145,700 sq km) would take place in areas previously used as rangeland,' the authors write."
- See the PNAS paper, Lapola et al. Indirect land-use changes can overcome carbon savings from biofuels in Brazil.
- Administration Support for Biofuels is Part of a Bigger Policy Need, 4 February 2010 blog post by 25 x 25 Alliance: "The final rule adopted by EPA this week to implement the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) set in the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act correctly recognizes that high-efficiency, first-generation ethanol can, and will continue to, contribute to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions."
- "The agency and Administrator Lisa Jackson, a member of the working group, wisely broadened the scope of the research to cover wider spectrum of countries impacted by ILUC (from 40 to 160) and took into account more recent crop yield and land productivity numbers."
- "The latest research also saw an improvement in numbers for soy biodiesel, which now will be able to qualify for the advanced RFS subcategory, biomass-based diesel." [2]
- Beef Producers in Amazon Declare Moratorium, 28 August 2009 by VOA News: "Major beef and leather producers in Brazil have agreed not to use cattle raised in recently deforested areas of the Amazon rainforest."
- "The Brazilian government and independent third-party observers will enforce the moratorium using satellite photographs, aerial fly-overs, and site visits. The meat processors have agreed not to buy cattle from those responsible for newly deforested lands."
- "Brazil is already using this system to monitor soybean production. The country is a major soy producer, and since 2006 a coalition representing soybean growers, processors, and civil society groups has been cooperating on a moratorium on soy from recently deforested Amazon land."[3]
- Brazilian Soy Moratorium Extended For One Year, 28 July 2009 by Dow Jones on CNNMoney.com: "The Brazilian Vegetable Oils Industry Association...Tuesday said that the soy moratorium will be extended for one year. 'This is the sort of industry initiative we need to stop the destruction of the Amazon',' said Paulo Adario, environmental group Greenpeace's Amazon Campaign director..."
- "Greenpeace is part of the Brazilian soy moratorium in which major trading companies such as Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM) and Bunge (BG) agree not to purchase beans from areas deforested after 2006."
- "'Soya is no longer a significant force in the destruction of the Amazon rain forest,' said Brazil's Environment Minister, Carlos Minc"..."'However, we cannot say the same about cattle. The soya moratorium is a model for all relevant sectors'"
- "Brazil is the world's No. 2 producer of soybeans after the U.S." [4]
- Solix Biofuels begins production of oil made from algae, 23 July 2009 by Denver Business Journal: Solix Biofuels Inc., a Colorado State University startup company, "has started the production of oil made from algae."
- Brazilian miner Vale signs $500M palm oil deal in the Amazon, 25 June 2009 by Mongabay.com: "Vale, the world's largest miner of iron ore, has signed a $500 million joint venture with Biopalma da Amazonia to produce 160,000 metric tons of palm oil-based biodiesel per year....Vale says the deal will save $150 million in fuel costs starting in 2014, with palm oil biodiesel replacing up to 20 percent of diesel consumption in the company's northern operations. The biodiesel will be produced from oil palm plantations in the Amazon state of Pará."
- "environmentalists...fear palm oil production could soon become a major driver of deforestation in the region. Cultivation of oil palm is a leading cause of forest loss across Southeast Asia, but has yet to be widely planted in the Brazilian Amazon, where deforestation is mostly driven directly by conversion for cattle pasture expansion and indirectly by expansion of industrial agriculture, including soy."
- Agrofuels in the Americas: An Irrational Strategy, 28 April 2009 by Organic Consumers Association: "The Food First report, Agrofuels in the Americas (PDF file), looks back over the last several years of the ethanol/biodiesel boom. The authors conclude that using crop land to produce fuel is an irrational strategy – one that negatively affects climate change, the environment, food security, and rural development worldwide."
- "Similar evidence from Brazilian activist Maria Louisa Mendonça finds that 80% of Brazil's carbon dioxide emissions come from deforestation in the Amazon – largely driven by the expansion of soy monocultures....Mendonça debunks the myth that agrofuels are good for rural development in Brazil, citing numerous workers rights violations, industry concentration, health risks to workers, and land evictions."[5]
- Download the Food First report, Agrofuels in the Americas (PDF file).
- Brazil Can Protect Amazon as Crop Output Expands, Unger Says, 15 April 2009 by Bloomberg News: "Brazil can protect its Amazon rainforest and boost agricultural output by planting crops in areas now used for low-intensity ranching, Minister of Strategic Affairs Roberto Mangabeira Unger said."
- "Brazil, the world’s second-biggest soybean grower, yesterday renewed a ban on sales of the oilseed planted illegally in the Amazon rainforest."
- "Brazil is also the world’s biggest beef exporter and the biggest coffee and sugar-cane grower."[6]
- Brazil soy growers fear green backlash, plant trees, 17 March 2009 by Reuters: "Soybean farmer Clovis Cortezia has started replanting native rainforest trees on his farm to meet demands of international buyers keen to be environmentally responsible."
- "Like other growers in Brazil's No. 1 soy-producing state Mato Grosso, Cortezia started replanting trees native to Brazil's center-west savanna in 2007".
- "Environmental and consumer groups, particularly in Europe, have long complained that rapid expansion of Brazil's soy frontier was speeding up the deforestation of the Amazon."
- "Cortezia's restoration program is typical of simlar efforts launched by growers to meet 'green requirements' ranging from soil conservation to proper agrochemicals use."
- "Cortezia is part of the a program organized by the local government in a partnership with U.S. environment group The Nature Conservancy (TNC)."[7]
Countries
Look here for more detailed information on a specific country's or region's policies, organizations and industry.
Organizations
Events
2008
- 6 December 2008, London, UK: Agrofuel protest outside Greenergy, organised by Campaign Against Climate Change, Biofuelwatch and Food not Fuel. Protestors will target Greenergy, which they say are "the biggest supplier of agrofuels in the UK, using palm oil as well as soya." (Themes: climate, environment, palm oil, soy)
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