October 2008
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This page includes information on news and events in October 2008. (News and events are archived here at the end of the month.)
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Events
- 1-4 October 2008, Rome, Italy: 4th International Exhibition of the Biofuel Industry and Technology. As part of ZeroEmission Rome 2008. (Theme: biofuel)
- 3-5 October 2008, Bangkok, Thailand: EcoInnovAsia. Organized by the National Innovation Agency, Thailand. (Themes: biofuel, bioplastics)
- 5-14 October 2008, Barcelona, Spain: World Conservation Congress (hosted by IUCN; themes: environment, sustainability)
- Biofuels-related events:
- Biofuels: a win- win- win solution for Climate Change?
- Biofuel sustainablity standards - comment on "Version Zero"!
- Biofuels - Potential, Challenges and Solutions
- Biofuels-related events:
- 6-7 October 2008, Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Next generation biofuels markets (Themes: next generation biofuels, markets, financing, commercialization)
- 6-7 October 2008, Ottawa, Canada: CANBIO’s Annual Bioenergy Conference, Trade Show and Study Tour. (Themes: technology, commercialization)
- 6-8 October 2008, Madison, Wisconsin, USA: 8th Annual BioCycle Conference On Renewable Energy From Organics Recycling
- 6-10 October 2008, Ames, Iowa, USA: Biodiesel Technology Workshop. (Themes: biodiesel, technology)
- 7-10 October 2008, Singapore: Ethanol & Biofuels Asia 2008. (Themes: ethanol, feedstocks, technology, commercialization)
- 9-10 October 2008, Chicago, Illinois, USA: Platts 3rd Annual Cellulosic Ethanol and Biofuels. (Themes: cellulosic ethanol, technologies, feedstocks)
- 9-12 October 2008, Augsburg, Germany: RENEXPO 2008. (Themes: cogeneration)
- 13-14 October 2008, Gothenburg, Sweden: 3rd BTLtec (Biomass to Liquid) (Themes: biomass, liquid fuels, gasification)
- 14-16 October 2008, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA: Energy from Biomass and Waste. (Themes: biomass, waste)
- 15-16 October 2008, Newark, Nottinghamshire, UK: Biodiesel Expo 2008. (Theme: biodiesel)
- 15-16 October 2008, London, United Kingdom: Biofuels-Expo 2008
- 15-16 October 2008, St. Louis, Missouri, USA: Transition to a Bioeconomy: Environmental and Rural Development Impacts. Organized by the Farm Foundation and USDA. (Themes: bioeconomy, biofuels, rural development)
- 16-17 October 2008, Miami, Florida, USA: 3rd Americas Sugar & Ethanol Trade. (Themes: sugar, ethanol, trade)
- 16-18 October 2008, Valladolid, Spain: Expobioenergía’08. (Themes: bioenergy, biomass)
- 19-21 October 2008, Beijing, China: 4th World Biofuels Symposium. (Themes: biofuels, ethanol, biodiesel)
- 20-21 October 2008, Hamburg Germany: Jatropha World 2008. (Themes: biofuels, jatropha, biodiesel)
- 22 October 2008, Rome, Italy: Policy Dialogue on Potential Sustainable Wood Supply in Europe (PDF file). (Themes: Europe, wood)
- 22-23 October 2008, Bangkok, Thailand: SNV International Workshop on Financing of Domestic Biogas Plants. (Themes: biogas, financing)
- 22-24 October 2008, Buenos Aires, Argentina: Sustainable International Biofuel Summit & Expo 2008 (Theme: biofuels)
- 22-23 October 2008, Hamburg, Germany: 7th H2Expo 2008. (Themes: hydrogen, fuel cells)
- 23 October 2008, Kansas City, Missouri, USA: Food and Fuel Forum - Addresses the question, "how will agriculture produce enough grain to nurture a growing, worldwide demand for both food and fuel uses?" Speakers include representatives of the Congressional Research Service, National Corn Growers Association, American Bakers Association and Food and Agriculture Organization. (Themes: crops, food versus fuel.)
- 23-24 October 2008, Seattle, Washington, USA: 2008 Algae Biomass Summit.
- 23-24 October 2008, The Woodlands, Texas, USA: Algae Commercialization Business Roundtable, Research, and Networking Forum.
- The National Algae Association brings existing algae oil production companies, algae researchers, algaeprenuers and investors together to share ideas and exchange information to overcome technological hurdles to fast track commercialization of the algae oil industry. (Themes: algae, technology)
- 27-28 October 2008, São Paulo, Brazil: International DATAGRO Conference on Sugar and Ethanol. (Themes: ethanol, sugarcane)
- 28-29 October 2008, Stuttgart, Germany: The 8th pellets industry forum. (Themes: wood pellets, industry)
- 28-30 October 2008, Berlin, Germany: Biofuels 2008 - 3rd Annual Meeting.
- This third annual conference will bring together leaders from Europe's biodiesel, ethanol and biogas producers, oil and gas majors, agribusiness companies, governments and regulatory bodies, technology providers and automotive manufacturers amongst others to examine the key issues and challenges at the heart of the region’s biofuels industry. Organized by the World Refining Association. (Themes: biofuels, technology, legislation)
[edit]
News
- Brazil announces the 'International Conference on Biofuels', to be held in São Paulo, Brazil, 17-21 November 2008.
- Algae-based oil would save 160m tonnes CO2, 24 October 2008 by LowCarbonEconomy.com: "Algae-based transportation fuel could reduce global carbon dioxide emissions by over 160 million tonnes, according to the Carbon Trust."
- "The organisation has set up a funding initiative to boost research and development into algae biofuels with the aim of creating an alternative to fossil fuels by 2020."
- "It has set up the Algae Biofuels Challenge, which it will fund with up to £6 million and will also have the backing and funding of the (U.K.) Department of Transport.
- "According to the Carbon Trust, algae could produce between six and ten times more energy per hectare than conventional biofuel feedstocks, while generating just 20 per cent of the carbon emissions of fossil fuels."[2]
- Biofuel plants hit economic road block, 12 October 2008 by the Associated Press: "[W]eeds have begun to encroach on the [Lilbourn, MO] Great River Soy biodiesel plant, which produced just 94,000 gallons over two weeks before it ran out of money and was shuttered."
- "It's a scene that has been repeated throughout the United States."
- "Hopes ran high in many small towns amid an explosive interest in biofuels and a rush to build large plants. Unseen by planners, however, was the coming spike in crop prices and a financial meltdown unlike any that America has seen since the Great Depression."[3]
- British biofuels hit the environmental mark, 12 October 2008 by Farmer's Weekly: "Nearly all (97%) of biofuels sourced from British feedstocks met the government’s RTFO (Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation) environmental standards, according to the first report by the Renewable Fuels Agency (RFA) – the body set up to administer the RTFO. That compared with just 20% for all biofuels used by UK fuel companies."
- "Speaking on behalf of the biofuel industry, the Renewable Energy Association’s Clare Wenner said the findings clearly showed the UK biofuels industry was delivering on its promises to provide biofuels that both made greenhouse gas savings and were produced in a sustainable way."
- "The report also showed that an overall carbon reduction of 44% was achieved against a government target of 40%."[4]
- U.S. announces 'Biofuels Action Plan', 7 October 2008 by Science News: "U.S. government officials have released the National Biofuels Action Plan (PDF file), an interagency plan to accelerate development of a sustainable biofuels industry."
- "U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer and Department of Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said the plan is in response to President George Bush's goal of cutting U.S. gasoline consumption by 20 percent in the next 10 years.
- "Bodman said the plan is a 'strategic blueprint' showing the way to increasing biofuels production by 2022. He said the plan shows how to accomplish that goal 'in cost-effective, environmentally responsible ways that utilize a science-based approach to ensure the next generation of biofuels that are made primarily from feedstocks outside the food supply that are produced sustainably.'"[5]
- Biofuels standards challenged by new report on Malaysian Palm Oil , 8 October 2008 by Friends of the Earth UK: "Malaysian palm oil is finding its way into British petrol tanks despite concerns about its carbon balance and the rainforest being destroyed to produce it - according to a new report by Friends of the Earth international."
- "The UK Renewable Fuels Agency (RFA) has reported that Malaysian palm oil being used for fuel in the UK meets a 'qualifying environmental standard', but Friends of the Earth's research reveals it is far from green."
- The FOE report finds that Sarawak state in Malaysia "plans to more than double its 2007 levels of oil palm acreage by 2010....at the expense of tropical forests" and that "companies regularly practice open burning on carbon rich peat soils releasing millions of tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere".[6]
- See the report Malaysian Palm Oil: Green Gold or Green Wash?
- World needs to rethink biofuels - U.N. food agency, 7 October 2008 by Reuters: "The Western world needs to rethink its rush to biofuels, which has done more harm pushing up food prices than it has good by reducing greenhouse gases, a United Nations report said on Tuesday."
- "The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said policies encouraging biofuel production and use in Europe and the United States was likely to maintain pressure on food prices but have little impact on weaning car users away from oil."
- "'The report finds that while biofuels will offset only a modest share of fossil energy use over the next decade they will have much bigger impacts on agriculture and food security,' it said in its annual State of Food and Agriculture report."
- "'There is an urgent need to review current policies supporting, subsidising and mandating biofuel production and use,' the report said, recommending more funding be directed to 'second generation' biofuels which will come from non-food plant matter such as straw or algae."[7]
- U.S. needs environmental standards for biofuels, 2 October 2008 by mongabay.com: "The U.S. lacks criteria to ensure that cellulosic ethanol production will not harm the environment, warn scientists writing in the journal Science. The researchers say that with proper safeguards, cellulosic ethanol can help the U.S. meet its energy needs sustainably."
- Read the original article, Sustainable Biofuels Redux (subscription required)
- IRGC Policy Brief: "Risk governance guidelines for bioenergy policies" (PDF file), 1 October 2008: The International Risk Governance Council published the policy brief "Risk governance guidelines for bioenergy policies". "The policy brief and the guidelines it contains are the result of a year-long project which has examined the opportunities and risks of bioenergy, identified deficits in the governance of those risks, and developed recommendations for improvements to the risk governance of bioenergy."[8]
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