New Delhi: By the time the Indian contingent leaves for the global climate change summit in Copenhagen next month, the government will be ready with a holistic strategy for promoting environment-friendly vehicles.
ONCE upon a time, biofuels were thought of as a solution to fossil-fuel dependence. Now they are widely seen as a boondoggle to agribusiness that hurts the environment and cheats taxpayers. A report commissioned by the United Nations endorses neither extreme. It gives high marks to some crop-based fuels and lambasts others.
Use of sugar cane-based ethanol as a substitute for gasoline is among the cheapest and easiest ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to a Brazilian study published on Wednesday.
Cane ethanol provides about eight times the energy used to produce it and adoption of new cane plant varieties and processes could increase its efficiency further.
This report is based on a review of published research up to mid-2009 as well as the input of independent experts world-wide. It recognizes that the research that has accrued over recent years presents a complex and uncertain picture of the risks and benefits of biofuels.
Agriculture both affects and is affected by climate change. No other sector is more climate-sensitive. Agricultural and food production in developing countries will be adversely affected by climate change, especially in countries that are already climate-vulnerable (drought, flood and cyclone prone), and that have low incomes and high incidence of hunger and poverty.
This report details the investment required to ensure food security in 2050, noting both the impacts of climate change on agricultural production, as well as the mitigation potential of agriculture.
Scientists and companies around the world are working on microbiological processes to make bioethanol out of cellulose. They're also wondering whether butanol may not be even better.
The Cabinet on Monday approved an amendment in the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) Ordinance to enable it to regulate marketing and pricing of ethanol as petroleum product.
Rio De Janeiro: Cars running on sugarcane ethanol can produce as many harmful pollutants as those using ordinary petrol (gasoline), according a study published by Brazil
