IMAP, Inc., an exclusive global merger and acquisition (M&A) organization, is pleased to announce the availability of its 2010 Alternative Energy Global Report. The report details M&A activity in the alternative energy industry by country and region for the last 12 months, growth projections for the remainder of 2010 and beyond, and insight into industry trends.

The food crisis at the end of the last decade and the resulting food riots that occurred in cities all over the world exposed the vulnerability and fragility of the current global food system and highlighted the increasing problem of urban food security. Urban households were among the hardest hit by the food and economic crises as they saw their purchasing power decline drastically.

There is rising skepticism about the potential positive environmental impacts of first generation biofuels. Growing biofuel crops could induce diversion of other crops dedicated to food and feed needs. The relocation of production could increase deforestation and bring significant new volumes of carbon into the atmosphere.

Mass planting of jatropha as a biofuel crop could benefit poor
areas as well as combating global warming, but only if a number of
scientific and production issues are properly addressed, a review has
warned.

Recent increases in production of crop-based (or first-generation) biofuels have engendered increasing
concerns over potential conflicts with food supplies and land protection, as well as disputes over greenhouse gas reductions. This has heightened a sense of urgency around the development of biofuels produced from non-food biomass (second-generation biofuels).