In Nebraska, the Associated Press reports that the Sierra Club and Bold Nebraska, an NGO leading the charge against the XL Keystone pipeline, have come out against the proposed carbon dioxide pipelines by Summit Carbon Solutions and Navigator CO2 Ventures. They claim the risk is too high of leakages, that regulation for this new kind […]
In the UK, a coalition of 32 environmental organizations worldwide has sent a letter to the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, asking it to divest from Drax Plc, owner of the world’s largest wood-burning power station in the UK, and to clarify its position on biomass energy. BlackRock is Drax’s joint third largest shareholder, holding […]
In Norway, the country’s consumption of palm oil biodiesel saw a 70 percent drop from 2017 to 2018. “A big win for rainforests and the climate. Now the rest of Europe must follow suit”, says Rainforest Foundation Norway. In 2017, Norway consumed 317 million liters of biodiesel based on palm oil, corresponding to around 10 […]
In Austria, Finance and Trade Watch argue in their new report that aviation biofuels and other cleaner initiatives by the aviation industry to reduce their environmental footprint is just green washing because they say the goals set are unachievable. They specifically refer to aviation biofuel as “dangerous.” “We come to the conclusion that the current […]
In Sweden, a group of four NGOs have written an open letter to members of European Parliament urging them to rethink the proposals for the second version of the Renewable Energy Directive, claiming that Swedish forests are already in dire straights and that the RED proposals will only further diminish their quality. They want no […]
In Nigeria, a local NGO has lashed out at attempts to carry out a controlled trial of GM cassava as a potential ethanol feedstock, saying that the move by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, (IITA) and Zurich, Switzerland-based ETHZ Laboratories was a sly way to open the door for other GM crops such as […]
In Washington, dozens of environmental NGOs have sent a letter to the chairwoman of the voicing concern over the definition of forest-derived biomass as “carbon neutral” as included in an amendment to the Energy Policy and Modernization Act, Senate Bill 2012 approved last week, as well as an amendment that refers to “net carbon” negativity […]
In Indonesia, the country’s Forum for Environment believes that the new policy boosting subsidies for biodiesel will increase deforestation as a result of increased demand for palm oil. The organization wants to see the funds from the subsidy instead go towards solar, wind and community-based environmental projects that have economic development impacts on communities rather […]
In the UK, the National Farmers Union is criticizing NGOs for downplaying the benefits of biofuels while focusing on supposed negative aspects, forgetting that increased demand for crops from biofuels encourages on-farm investment and R&D that leads to increased net food production. More on the story.
