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rap on Asian biofuels. By Marwaan Macan-Markar. Asia Times. Nov 29,
2007. European Union (EU) demand for Asian-produced biofuels,
particularly palm oil, is coming at a high social and environmental
cost, a report released on Tuesday by the United Nations Development
Program (UNDP) warns. The UN agency in its annual "Human
Development Report 2007/2008" cautioned countries in the region against
following the lead taken by Indonesia and Malaysia, the main producers
of palm oil as a biofuel. Ethanol Craze Cools As Doubts Multiply: Claims for Environment, Energy Use Draw Fire; Fighting on the Farm By LAUREN ETTER. Wall Street Journal. November 28, 2007. Little over a year ago, ethanol was winning the hearts and wallets of both Main Street and Wall Street, with promises of greater U.S. energy independence, fewer greenhouse gases and help for the farm economy. Today, the corn-based biofuel is under siege. Natives: Are we the Problem, Mr. Minister? By Fauwaz Abdul Aziz November 27, 2007. Sarawak’s Dayak Ibans are wondering whether their cultivation of small plots of oil palm is the problem hindering the cultivation and production of certified sustainable palm oil. As they see it, they are not the ones ‘displacing indigenous communities from their land, committing violence against and persecuting them and trampling on their customary rights’. Therefore, it was to their wonder when Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Peter Chun Fah Kui reportedly expressed concern yesterday that small farmers would not meet the standards required by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) criteria for sustainable palm oil production. Can wildlife conservation banking generate investment returns? By Rhett A. Butler, mongabay.com. November 27, 2007. The new initiative will give palm oil producers another option in protecting regional biodiversity and forests. It may also provide attractive returns for investors. Mr. Brand says that from a financial standpoint, conservation could be competitive with other types of land use. Green group wary of plans for "eco-friendly" palm By Niluksi Koswanage Reuters UK. Nov 26, 2007. Friends of the Earth said the Malaysian and Indonesian governments appeared to be using the program, a voluntary industry-led initiative, as an excuse not to legislate to protect rainforests from the rapid expansion of palm-oil estates. The Terrible Illusion of Biodiesel. By Eric Brooks‚ Nov. 26‚ 2007. Biodiesel does -not- produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions than petroleum diesel, in fact it produces more. And the reality gets even worse than that. Biodiesel and other biofuels have suddenly become a huge booming industry which, because of the the nature of how those fuels are produced, is now destroying the planet and human civilization much faster than global warming. This needs to be repeated... The new biofuels boom is -worse- than global warming. Whatever Happened to Biodiesel? By Michael Schirber, Special to LiveScience. November 26, 2007. European farmers currently growing rapeseed for biodiesel could reduce their carbon footprint by more than half if they planted trees and let regular diesel be burned instead. This is partly because commonly used fertilizers emit nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas that has nearly 300 times more warming effect than carbon dioxide, which tends to get all the attention. ... Mcfueling. One way to be sure to reduce the carbon footprint is to reuse vegetable oil or animal fat to make biodiesel. U.N.: Greenhouse Gases Hit High in 2006. By Eliane Engeler. November 26, 2007. The panel's report, which said human activity is largely responsible for global warming ... Two of the most important greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere reached a record high in 2006. ... They are produced by natural sources, such as wetlands, and by human activities such as fertilizer use or fuel combustion. The climate ‘timebomb’ of palm oil. November 8, 2007. Giant retailers such as Unilever, Nestlé and Proctor & Gamble were accused yesterday of unleashing a ticking 'climate bomb' in driving up the demand for palm oil from Indonesia. A Greenpeace report said that, to meet the demand for cheap vegetable oil, 4million hectares of peatland – equal to the size of Switzerland – is at risk. Who's Fueling Whom? Why the biofuels movement could run out of gas. By Richard Conniff. Smithsonian magazine, November 2007. So what's the hitch? Partly it's that bit about doing a little planning. The move to biofuels thus far looks more like a stampede than a considered program to wean ourselves from fossil fuels. Critics in the financial community have used words like "gold rush" and even the dreaded "bubble," fretting that "biofool" investors are putting too much money into new refineries, which could go bust as markets and subsidies shift or as technologies and feedstocks become obsolete. Biofuel boondoggle: US subsidy aids Europe's drivers. A maneuver called 'splash and dash' cost US taxpayers perhaps $30 million last year, but the charges are rising fast. By Mark Clayton. The Christian Science Monitor . June 8, 2007. Fast-rising worries over global warming have created a biofuel boondoggle. Called "splash and dash," "touch and go," or an unfair trade practice, it features biofuels traders who exploit a US tax credit, European drivers who get cheaper diesel fuel, and American taxpayers, who are footing the bill. It also illustrates a cautionary tale of how government incentives, no matter how well-intentioned, can sometimes be subverted into windfalls for the few. Hidden costs of corn-based ethanol: Diverting corn from food to fuel could create unprecedented turmoil. By Colin A. Carter and Henry I. Miller. Christian Science Monitor. May 21, 2007. Policymakers and legislators often fail to consider the law of unintended consequences. The latest example is their attempt to reduce the United States' dependence on imported oil by shifting a big share of the nation's largest crop – corn – to the production of ethanol for fueling automobiles. Land is Life: Land Rights and Oil Palm Development in Sarawak, by Marcus Colchester,Wee Aik Pang,Wong Meng Chuo and Thomas Jalong was first published in 2007 by Forest Peoples Programme and Perkumpulan SawitWatch. This is the fourth in a series of publications by Forest Peoples Programme and SawitWatch examining the social and environmental impacts of oil palm development. Two previous studies were published in 2006, Promised Land: Palm Oil and Land Acquisition in Indonesia: Implications for Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples by Marcus Colchester, Norman Jiwan, Andiko, Martua Sirait, Asep Yunan Firdaus, A. Surambo and Herbert Pane published by Forest Peoples Programme, SawitWatch, HuMA and ICRAF and Ghosts on our own land: oil palm smallholders in Indonesia and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil by Marcus Colchester and Norman Jiwan published by Forest Peoples Programme and SawitWatch. A third book by Dr. Afrizal The Nagari Community, Business and the State by Marcus Colchester,Wee Aik Pang,Wong Meng Chuo and Thomas Jalong was first published in 2007 by Forest Peoples Programme and Perkumpulan SawitWatch. How the Palm Oil Industry is Cooking the Planet. Greenpeace. 2007 Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 ................................................................................................................................................................................................................... |
Life of the Land |
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