Wednesday-Night

More on Biofuels and clean energy
Race for biofuels heats up in Africa
The drive to produce crops such as sugar cane and palm oil that can be converted into biofuels is spurring land grabs across Africa that may contribute to food shortages and deforestation, Friends of the Earth says in a new report. […]

AGRA works to achieve a food secure and prosperous Africa through the promotion of rapid, sustainable agricultural growth based on smallholder farmers.
Oxfam, a British aid agency, warned that Niger faced disaster due to persistent flooding.
(BBC) Oxfam issued its warning as nearly eight million people, or half the population, are already facing hunger because of failed […]

2010: International Year of Biodiversity
Canadian Business and Biodiversity Program
U.S. Center for Biodiversity
Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability: Special issue on biodiversity, ecosystem services and human well-being
As E.O. Wilson accepts his 2007 TED Prize, he makes a plea on behalf of all creatures that we learn more about our biosphere — and build a networked encyclopedia of […]

Clean energy; Alternative energy news
February 2010 The Pew Center on Global Climate Change: Clean Energy Markets: Jobs and Opportunities

New inexpensive solar cell design
One of the most promising technologies for making inexpensive but reasonably efficient solar photovoltaic cells just got much cheaper. Scientists at the University of Toronto in Canada have shown that inexpensive nickel can […]

Pembina Institute; Arctic & Antarctic
U.S. lawmaker wants halt to TransCanada pipeline
House Energy and Commerce committee chairman Henry Waxman urged the State Department to block TransCanada’s planned Keystone XL pipeline.
“This pipeline is a multi-billion-dollar investment to expand our reliance on the dirtiest source of transportation fuel currently available,” Mr. Waxman said in a letter to […]

More on oil and Wednesday-night.com Oil Notes

For several years, Wednesday Nights have witnessed often passionate discussions on the validity of M. King Hubbert’s prediction of the early depletion of (easily accessible - ‘cheap’) fossil fuels. With current rising oil prices, Hubbert’s Peak has become a familiar term far beyond the circles of energy experts. […]

GM Crops Go to US High Court, Environmental Laws on the Line
(IPS) “The issue here then becomes how amenable is the Supreme Court going to be in terms of allowing citizens to bring suit against an agency that is not doing its job”.
But the legal implications are only half the story. Also implicated, at least […]

Trucks are loaded with sugar cane, which will be used to produce biofuels, in Brazil.
Photograph: Paulo Whitaker/Reuters
More on Biofuels
Rethinking Green: Fuel for debate
Although ethanol appears to emit, by some measures, somewhat fewer greenhouse gases when burned in your vehicle, the intensity of energy required to produce some of ethanol’s key feedstocks, and its additional land-use […]

Oil Companies Loath to Follow Obama’s Green Lead Surprise!
The Obama administration wants to reduce oil consumption, increase renewable energy supplies and cut carbon dioxide emissions in the most ambitious transformation of energy policy in a generation. But the world’s oil giants are not convinced that it will work. Even as Washington goes into a frenzy […]

See also U.S. Presidential Campaign - Issues
John McCain on […]