Foreword
Thanks to fears that the
growing of crops for use in energy, or as feedstocks for biobased products,
results in unsustainable competition with food crops, the land-use change
brought about by cultivation of feedstock crops is always heavily scrutinised.
This month, there has been controversy about precisely how any land-use change
is accounted for. Under the US Renewable Fuel Standard, all crops intended for
use as biofuel feedstock must be grown on land that had previously been farmed
before the Standard came into effect. This legislation is in place in order to
protect wild native grasslands. The EPA’s manner of measuring this has been
criticised by environmental groups, as it merely involves comparing current energy
crop areas with 2007 levels (the year the Standard came into force). Critics
believe that this allows for the legislation to be circumvented, as long as an
equivalent amount of existing cropland is.........
Other News this Month Includes:
Policy
- European Parliament approves RED II
agreement
- US departments encourage Congress to recognise
biomass carbon-neutrality
- US environmental groups claim oversight in
feedstocks land-use monitoring
- UK government celebrates first ever
"Green Week"
- Christmas TV advert highlighting palm oil use banned
Markets
- Despite increase, Stobart still not supplying
to capacity
- Stora Enso acquires Swedish cellulose
company
- Record Brazilian soybean exports expected
Research & Development
- Algae "switch" to increase starch
production
- Strategies to improve biorefinery yields of
different feedstocks
- BBSRC commits funding to bioeconomy networks
Wood & Crop
- US wood pellet supply
- Falling crop supplies in UK and EU
- Slight tightening of wheat stocks
- AEG to build CoalSwitch plants in US
- Enviva to supply Mitsubishi with pellets
- Funding granted for Canadian pellet plant
- Fire prevention regulations settled for
waste wood sector
Other Feedstocks
- UK government to take action on food waste
- Improving algal productivity by increasing
CO2 uptake
Events
Feedstock Prices