Category Archives: Biofuels

Environment groups accuse MasterChef of greenwashing after gas sponsorship deals unveiled

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Channel Ten show’s planned use of biomethane and hydrogen in cooking challenges ‘completely out of sync’ with changing attitudes, critics say

Environmentalists have accused the hit reality TV show MasterChef Australia of greenwashing after the Network Ten program announced sponsorship deals with gas companies.

The official sponsors for MasterChef’s 16th season include the Australian Gas Network (AGN), a subsidiary of Australian Gas Infrastructure Group, which is responsible for a national fossil fuel distribution network.

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Food, feed and fuel: global seaweed industry could reduce land needed for farming by 110m hectares, study finds

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Scientists identify parts of ocean suitable for seaweed cultivation and suggest it could constitute 10% of human diet to reduce impact of agriculture

An area of ocean almost the size of Australia could support commercial seaweed farming around the world, providing food for humans, feed supplements for cattle, and alternative fuels, according to new research.

Seaweed farming is a nascent industry globally but the research says if it could grow to constitute 10% of human diets by 2050 it could reduce the amount of land needed for food by 110m hectares (272m acres) – an area twice the size of France.

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Burning imported wood in Drax power plant ‘doesn’t make sense’, says Kwarteng

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Drax has taken £5.6bn in subsidies from energy bill payers but business secretary says practice is ‘not sustainable’

The importing of wood to burn in Drax power station “is not sustainable” and “doesn’t make any sense”, the business and energy secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, told a private meeting of MPs this week.

The remarks are significant as the burning of biomass to produce energy is an important part of the UK government’s net zero strategy and has received £5.6bn in subsidies from energy bill payers over the last decade. Scientists and campaigners have long argued that burning wood to produce electricity is far from green and can even increase the CO2 emissions driving the climate crisis.

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Halt use of biofuels to ease food crisis, says green group

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RePlanet calls on EU to ditch organic targets and for governments to lift bans on genetically modified crops

Governments should put a moratorium on the use of biofuels and lift bans on genetic modification of crops, a green campaigning group has urged, in the face of a growing global food crisis that threatens to engulf developing nations.

Ending the EU’s requirement for biofuels alone would free up about a fifth of the potential wheat exports from Ukraine, and even more of its maize exports, enough to make a noticeable difference to stretched food supplies, according to analysis by the campaign group RePlanet.

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US to proceed with production of biofuels despite global food crisis

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Campaigners call to prioritise grain for human consumption over its use as a fuel

The US will press ahead with biofuels production, the deputy secretary for agriculture has said, despite increasing concerns over a global food crisis, and calls from campaigners to prioritise grain for human consumption over its use as a fuel.

Jewel Bronaugh, the deputy secretary of agriculture, said US farmers could continue to produce biofuels without harming food production. “We are keeping food security top of mind, but at the same time we also want to remain steadfast in the support and promotion of biofuel,” she told journalists in London, where she met the UK government to discuss a possible trade deal and cooperation on food issues.

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How do you deal with 9m tonnes of suffocating seaweed?

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Across the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, scientists are developing alternative sustainable solutions to the golden tide of Sargassum

The Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt, first detected by Nasa observation satellites in 2011 and now known to be the world’s largest bloom of seaweed, stretches for 5,500 miles (8,850km) from the Gulf of Mexico to the western coast of Africa.

Millions of tonnes of floating Sargassum seaweed in coastal waters smother fragile seagrass habitats, suffocate coral reefs and harm fisheries. And once washed ashore on Mexican and Caribbean beaches, this foul-smelling, rotting seaweed goes on to devastate the tourist industry, prevent turtles from nesting and damage coastal ecosystems, while releasing hydrogen sulphide and other toxic gases as it decomposes.

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Kenya warms to the water hyacinth as wonder source of biofuel | Gilbert Nakweya

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This invasive plant was reviled for clogging rivers but now it’s helping provide cleaner energy and protect health

It is 9am on the shores of Lake Victoria’s Winam Gulf in Kenya’s Kisumu county. Tourists are arriving on the beach in droves, preparing to spend the day sunbathing and taking boat rides. Behind them, enormous marabou storks on spindly grey legs are pacing the beach, waiting for scraps.

Nearby, a group of women scan the horizon, looking for the fishing boats that will soon arrive with their daily catch.

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