[Biofuel] 6% of global grain for biofuels - Bioenergy - Renewables International
http://www.renewablesinternational.net/6-of-global-grain-for-biofuels/150/453/89553/ [link and graphic in on-line article] Biomass 6% of global grain for biofuels German renewable energy agency AEE argues that there is a lot of leeway for energy crops. But only if the world stops eating meat, one might add. In a new press release, the AEE has published the chart below based on the latest data from the FAO and International Grains Council. It shows that roughly 44 percent of global grain production in 2015/16 will go to food production. The second largest share is feedstock for animals at 35 percent. Biofuels only make up six percent, with “other” covering the remaining 14 percent. “In addition to feeding the global population, there is a lot of leeway to plant energy crops for an environmentally friendly energy supply,” the press release comments. This statement, however, cannot be read from the chart, which does not indicate the amount of available land. Assuming that grain production remains constant, an increase in biofuel production from grain would only be possible if less fodder were produced for animals. But then, people would have to eat less meat – whereas, in fact, the global population is eating more. (Note that the AEE makes no such connection.) Instead, the AEE draws its conclusion from the rising volume of grain on stock even as the EU reaches new record levels of wheat exports. Indeed, global wheat production and the volume on stock do seem to be healthy. Whether we can produce significantly more amounts of biofuels is a different question. Certainly, greater meat consumption and greater biofuel production are conflicting goals in this respect. Finally, it should be pointed out that not all biofuels come from grain. Rapeseed falls under the scope of the International Grains Council; palm oil does not, for instance. The press release is a contribution to the discussion in Germany on the conflict between food crops and energy crops. At the moment, the German government has practically put an end to greater bioenergy production, largely out of the concern that more energy crops will make food supply scarcer. ___ Sustainablelorgbiofuel mailing list Sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org http://lists.eruditium.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel
[Biofuel] Leaked EU Memorandum Reveals Renewed Attempt at Imposing Water Privatization on Greece
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/32499-leaked-eu-memorandum-reveals-renewed-attempt-at-imposing-water-privatization-on-greece [links in on-line article] Leaked EU Memorandum Reveals Renewed Attempt at Imposing Water Privatization on Greece Tuesday, 25 August 2015 00:00 By Satoko Kishimoto and Olivier Hoedeman, Corporate Europe Observatory | News Analysis The requirement to sell off €50 billion in public assets is one of the most controversial aspects of the 'agreement' that Eurozone countries and the Troika forced on the Greek government during mid-July's night of shame. Details of exactly what Greece is required to privatise have now emerged with the leaking of the Memorandum of Understanding for a three-year ESM programme prepared by the Troika's International Monetary Fund, European Commission and European Central Bank. [1] The leaked document lists 23 state assets, ranging from airports to service utilities, and presents precise steps and timelines for privatisation. It comes as a shock that this list includes two large public water companies: Athens Water Supply Sewerage S.A (EYDAP) and Thessaloniki Water Supply Sewerage S.A. (EYATH), which provide drinking water for the country's two biggest cities. The Troika had insisted on water privatisation in an earlier memorandum, but strong public opposition had blocked this proposal. In June 2014 the Council of State, the country's highest administrative court, ruled that transferring a controlling stake in Athens' public water utility EYDAP to private hands was unconstitutional because of the responsibility of the state to protect citizens' fundamental right to health. [2] The new Memorandum foresees the sale of 11% of EYDAP shares, which seems minimal at face value, but given that 38.7% of EYDAP's shares are already owned by private companies and individuals, it would leave 49.7% of the utility in private hands. As for Thessaloniki, a non-binding referendum was held in May 2014, resulting in a 98% vote against water privatisation. This citizen-led initiative mobilised 218,002 voters and sent a crystal clear message rejecting the planned sale of 51% of EYATH shares to private investors (French water multinational Suez and Israel's state-owned Merokot had shown interest). The leaked Memorandum now orders the liquidation of 23% of state-owned shares; knowing that another 26% are already in private hands, this would make the company 49% private. In both cases, the Troika is demanding a selloff at the maximum level possible without directly conflicting with the court ruling. George Archontopoulos, the president of the Thessaloniki water workers' union, fears that private investors will be given management control as a present. Therefore whether it is 49% or 51%, we oppose further privatization of the company, says Archontopoulos. Rightly so because there are numerous examples of so-called public-private partnerships in which water multinationals own just under half of the shares but control the utility de facto. An ironic example is that of Germany´s capital Berlin, which sold off 49.9% of its water company (BWB) in 1999. Despite minority ownership, the private companies controlled management and were guaranteed high profits through secret contracts. In 2013, Berlin's water was taken back in public hands, after almost 15 years of unpopular privatisation. As reported by The Guardian last week, the push by the German government and the EU institutions to privatise Greek water starkly contradicts the trend in the rest of Europe where cities are remunicipalising water after failed privatisation experiments. Germany's water sector is overwhelmingly public-owned and publicly-managed and the German population enjoys high-quality water services provided by these public utilities. Enough harm has been done already. The public water companies of Athens and Thessaloniki have been on the Athens stock exchange for nearly 15 years. Since then the number of employees in Thessaloniki decreased from 700 to 229. This is a very small number of water workers for a city over one million inhabitants and a 2,330-km piped network. In a comparable city like Amsterdam (1.3 million served population, 2,700 km network), the public water company employs 1,700 staff. Similar cuts have taken place in Athens. The water utilities of both Athens and Thessaloniki are modern and well-functioning and there is no logical rationale for privatisation. Despite the severe social crisis in Greece, EYDAP and EYATH have been providing high quality, essential services at one of the most affordable tariffs in Europe. The companies are efficient and have healthy finances. The Troika's insistence on privatisation is driven by misguided ideology. For one, the sale of the water utilities shares will yield insignificant earnings when considering the big picture. Worse, handing control over essential services to
[Biofuel] Exclusive: Pennsylvania Family Dealing with Water Contamination Linked to Fracking Industry | DeSmogBlog
http://www.desmogblog.com/2015/08/21/pennsylvania-family-dealing-water-contamination-linked-fracking-industry [links and images in on-line article] Exclusive: Pennsylvania Family Dealing with Water Contamination Linked to Fracking Industry By Julie Dermansky • Friday, August 21, 2015 - 03:58 The Chichura family has flammable well water, most likely due to a fracking job gone wrong in Pennsylvania’s Susquehanna County. Their water well, along with those of four of their neighbors, was allegedly contaminated with methane in the fall of 2011, shortly after Cabot Oil started drilling operations near their home. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) confirmed the Chichuras had methane in their water on September 21, 2011, and advised them to equip their well with a working vent to avoid a possible ignition. The contamination of wells is not an anomaly. The DEP identified 245 sites potentially contaminated by the fracking industry between 2008 and 2014. As leaseholders with Cabot, the Chichuras believed the company would take care of them if anything went wrong. “Accidents will happen,” was the family’s thinking when their water first went bad, Elaine Chichura told DeSmog. But four years later, after being unable to come to an agreement with Cabot on how much the company should compensate them for the loss of the value of their home, their diminished quality of life, and the length of time the company is obligated to deliver water to them, they doubt that Cabot has any intention of doing the right thing. Every day, Cabot Oil sends a water truck to fill a giant water bladder the company installed in the Chichura's basement. But not long after an October date was set for the Chichuras and Cabot to meet with a judge who will preside over a legally binding arbitration session, Cabot suggested methane levels were returning to normal and water deliveries would soon cease. On June 29, DEP geologic specialist Eric Rooney arrived to test the Chichura’s water, working alongside Sierra Derby, an employee of Moody and Associates, Inc., the company testing water on behalf of Cabot. Rooney’s job was to determine if mitigation work done by Cabot Oil at one of its nearby well pads succeeded in lowering the methane levels in the water. The Chichuras, who doubt that the tests are being done properly, confronted the pair when they realized the water testing began without a knock on their door. The family wanted to observe the entire process, start to finish. Rooney claimed to understand the family's frustration and apologized for not announcing himself. “You don’t know how important water is until you lose it,” Rooney told DeSmog. “Everyone involved treats us like it is just an inconvenience,” Elaine Chichura told DeSmog, but it is more than just a nuisance. Their sense of security is gone, she said. No longer do they feel their home is their castle. They’re not sure whether it’s safe to remain there. Radon detectors remind them that not only their water, but the very air they breathe, could be contaminated. Andrew Chichura thinks test results provided to the family by Moody and Associates on behalf of Cabot, showing lower levels of methane in their water occurred because the water testers did not adequately purge the well before collecting samples. Even to the naked eye, the Chichura’s water is effervescent. It can be lit on fire after being contained in a closed jar, indicating the presence of methane. “The family has good reason to doubt the DEP’s test,” Joshua Pribanic, a journalist and co-founder of Public Herald, an independent investigative journalism agency, told DeSmog. “Based on our experiences with homeowners, industry, and DEP, we know that DEP more actively communicates with industry than the public,” Pribanic said. “The public is being left out of the discussion.” Pribanic was surprised DeSmog was able to document DEP doing a water test. Many have tried to film the agency in action, but he said the DEP has been known to abort testing if someone with a camera is around. Rooney and Derby fielded questions from the Chichuras and DeSmog during the sampling collection process, and explained their testing techniques. Some questions Rooney deflected, telling DeSmog he’d answer if contacted later. However, Rooney did not return DeSmog’s calls or emails requesting further information. Derby also failed to respond to DeSmog’s follow-up questions – though she said she or her boss could answer any questions after the testing was done. The Chichura’s first concern was whether the well had been purged before the testing began. The water test started after the water was purged for “15 minutes,” DEP’s standard purging time, Rooney said. Zacariah L. Hildenbrand, a scientist, working with a team from the Collaborative Laboratories for Environmental Analysis and Remediation (CLEAR) at the University of Texas at
[Biofuel] Minnesota poised to play a role in next-generation heating oil
http://www.biodieselmagazine.com/articles/493287/minnesota-poised-to-play-a-role-in-next-generation-heating-oil Minnesota poised to play a role in next-generation heating oil By The Minnesota Soybean Research Promotion Council | August 21, 2015 While the leaves on the trees have yet to turn color, and the cold blast of winter remains a distant memory to some, the change of seasons could yield new economic opportunities for Minnesota’s biodiesel industry. At a forum sponsored by the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council, attendees listened as a diverse group of energy influencers described Bioheat, a blend of biodiesel and heating oil, as a 21st century heating oil that promises to increase the diversity of the U.S. energy supply. In the soybean fields of Minnesota, farmers are growing that diversity. “Biodiesel has earned its stripes as a transportation fuel,” said Tom Slunecka, CEO of the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council. “The heating oil market represents an exciting opportunity for Minnesota to continue its role as a leader in renewable energy.” New markets and uses for biodiesel offer significant potential for U.S. soybean farmers and the entire biodiesel industry. Within the biodiesel market, soybean oil has a 50 percent share. Heating oil is well established in many of the New England states such as Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire as heating oil has traditionally provided an economical way to meet the heating needs of homes, multifamily dwellings, and small businesses. A homeowner can use 1,000 gallons over the season. Bioheat has positive environmental attributes. According to a report released by the National Oilheat Research Alliance, biodiesel blends at 20 percent (B20) with ultra-low sulfur heating oil are lower in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) than natural gas when evaluated over 100 years, while blends of 2 percent (B2) or more are lower in GHG than natural gas when evaluated over 20 years. The report also found that biodiesel blended at 5 percent would require approximately 300 MMgy. Assuming the biodiesel industry average of 50 MMgy per plant, Bioheat would be responsible for six plants built and continuously operated. Thus, nearly 270 full time jobs can be directly attributed to Bioheat. “Biodiesel blending into home heating oil has proven to be a winner,” said Paul Nazzaro, CEO of the Nazzaro Group and advisor to the National Biodiesel Board. “With a decade of technical and market positioning on the record, continued support from biodiesel stakeholders like Minnesota Soybean will be imperative to keep this momentum intact to ensure biodiesel producers have a healthy and growing market to move their production allocations long term.” ___ Sustainablelorgbiofuel mailing list Sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org http://lists.eruditium.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel
[Biofuel] NGT News - Next-Gen Transportation: REG Closes Acquisition of Biodiesel Refinery and Terminal
http://www.ngtnews.com/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.11042#.VdxKX5fw_3k REG Closes Acquisition of Biodiesel Refinery and Terminal by NGT News on Thursday August 20, 2015 Renewable Energy Group Inc. (REG) has completed its acquisition of substantially all the assets of Imperium Renewables Inc., including a 100-million-gallon nameplate capacity biodiesel refinery and terminal at the Port of Grays Harbor, Wash. Under the deal, REG paid Imperium $15 million in cash and issued 1.675 million shares of REG common stock. For two years post-closing, Imperium may receive up to $0.05/gallon for biodiesel produced and sold at Grays Harbor. REG says it assumed $5.2 million of Imperium’s debt from Umpqua Bank, which has agreed to provide the newly named REG Grays Harbor LLC with an additional loan capacity of up to $5 million to fund capital expenditures and improvements at the facility. In addition, Imperium retained its net working capital value of approximately $25 million. “We are excited to now offer high-quality REG-9000 biomass-based diesel produced at Grays Harbor to better serve new and existing customers along the West Coast and other low-carbon fuel markets, ” says REG President and CEO Daniel J. Oh. “The transition at Grays Harbor has been seamless so far - thanks to the dedicated team at Imperium, who we are now proud to have as members of the REG family.” Most of Imperium’s employees have agreed to stay on with REG. According to REG, the Grays Harbor location includes 18 million gallons of storage capacity and a terminal that can accommodate feedstock intake and fuel delivery on deepwater PANAMAX class vessels, as well as possesses rail and truck transport capabilities. A formal grand opening will be announced at a later date. ___ Sustainablelorgbiofuel mailing list Sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org http://lists.eruditium.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel
[Biofuel] Grape waste could make competitive biofuel
http://www.rdmag.com/news/2015/08/grape-waste-could-make-competitive-biofuel Grape waste could make competitive biofuel Thu, 08/20/2015 - 3:00pm Univ. of Adelaide The solid waste left over from wine-making could make a competitive biofuel, Univ. of Adelaide researchers have found. Published in Bioresource Technology, the researchers showed that up to 400 L of bioethanol could be produced by fermentation of a ton of grape marc (the leftover skins, stalks and seeds from wine-making). Global wine production leaves an estimated 13 million tons of grape marc waste each year. Nationally it is estimated that several hundred thousand tons are generated annually and it is generally disposed of at a cost to the winery. “This is a potentially economic use for what is largely a waste product,” says Assoc. Prof. Rachel Burton, Program Leader with the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence in Plant Cell Walls in the School of Agriculture, Food and Wine. PhD candidate Kendall Corbin analyzed the composition of grape marc from two grape varieties, cabernet sauvignon and sauvignon blanc. She also investigated pre-treatment of the grape marc with acid and enzymes. Corbin found that the majority of the carbohydrates found in grape marc could be converted directly to ethanol through fermentation with a yield of up to 270 L/ton of grape marc. The leftover product was suitable for use as an animal feed or fertilizer. Ethanol yields could be increased by pre-treatment with acid and enzymes up to 400 L/ton. “Using plant biomass for the production of liquid biofuels can be difficult because of it structurally complex nature that is not always easily broken down,” says Corbin. “Grape marc is readily available, can be sourced cheaply and is rich in the type of carbohydrates that are easily fermented.” Assoc. Prof. Burton says: “We’ve shown that there is a potential new industry with the evolution of local biofuel processing plants to add value to the grape for an environmentally friendly biofuel.” Source: Univ. of Adelaide ___ Sustainablelorgbiofuel mailing list Sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org http://lists.eruditium.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel
[Biofuel] Cheap oil makes it tough for ethanol to pay bills | The Salt Lake Tribune
http://www.sltrib.com/home/2859042-155/cheap-oil-makes-it-tough-for Cheap oil makes it tough for ethanol to pay bills By Mario Parker Bloomberg News First Published Aug 20 2015 09:36AM • Last Updated Aug 20 2015 09:36 am Cheap crude oil may make it hard for ethanol companies to pay their bills on time. The lowest oil prices in six years are hitting biofuel producers two ways: They're making ethanol less attractive as a blend for gasoline, and emboldening the arguments of petroleum backers who say the U.S. law mandating consumption of the fuel alternative is obsolete, Standard Poor's Ratings Services Inc. said in a report Wednesday. The most noteworthy trend in the energy industry during the past year has been the precipitous decline in commodity prices, and chief among these has been plummeting oil prices, Michael Ferguson, a credit analyst at SP, wrote. The lower oil prices may present a difficult rationale for blending ethanol. Crude oil has fallen 57 percent in the past year to $40.80 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest since March 2009. Gasoline has plunged 42 percent and ethanol has dropped 31 percent. Regulatory support has also waned. In May, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed reducing the amount of ethanol required to be mixed with gasoline from statutory levels set in 2007, citing changing driving habits and fuel use since then. That's not reason enough to abandon the policy, according to Growth Energy, a Washington-based trade group. Cheap gas and cheap oil is never a certainty, and often it is the exception, Tom Buis, chief executive officer of the lobby, said in an emailed statement. The Renewable Fuels Association, also a Washington-based trade group, said the SP report is really out of step with the realities of the market place today. Low-priced crude oil lowers gasoline costs and makes ethanol less attractive for blending beyond government mandates. An additive, ethanol is used to boost gasoline supply and lower prices. Consumers are saying, 'I've already got cheap gas, why do I need this ethanol?' Ferguson, the report's author, said in a telephone interview Wednesday. Poet in Sioux Falls, S.D., is the largest ethanol producer, followed by Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. in Chicago; Valero Energy Corp. in San Antonio; and Green Plains Renewable Energy Inc. in Omaha. In the United States, ethanol is made mostly from corn. Companies risk getting pinched between cheap oil, which caps how much they can charge for ethanol, and corn that's subject to weather-related price spikes, according to the credit agency. Ample supply and higher input costs threaten to pressure production margins for the rest of the year, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Tobias Nystedt and James Evans said in an Aug. 7 report. That, combined with cheap oil and policy changes, brews uncertainty, anathema to credit analysts, SP said. ___ Sustainablelorgbiofuel mailing list Sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org http://lists.eruditium.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel
[Biofuel] IRS publishes tax code for biodiesel tax credits
http://biofuels-news.com/display_news/9533/IRS_publishes_tax_code_for_biodiesel_tax_credits/ August 20, 2015 IRS publishes tax code for biodiesel tax credits The US tax authority IRS has published a notice informing claimants about the federal income tax treatment of fuel credits under sections 6426(c) and (d) of the internal revenue code. These sections regulate the federal payments made to biodiesel and alternative fuel producers in compensation for producing these fuels. The section 6426(c) allows a blender of a biodiesel (including renewable diesel) mixture to claim a credit (biodiesel mixture credit) against its tax liability, relating to the tax imposed on taxable fuel. Similarly, section 6426(d) allows a claimant that sells or uses alternative fuel as a fuel in a motor vehicle or motorboat, or in aviation, to claim a credit (alternative fuel credit) against the claimant's excise tax liability, relating to the tax imposed on diesel fuel and alternative fuel. Specifically, the notification deals with how income tax deductions for biofuels producers work with these payments. The IRS notifies producers of biodiesel and alternative fuel (sections 6426(c) and (d) respectively) that they must deduct the amount of fuel credits paid to them for fuel or fuel mixture sold or used during each calendar quarter of 2014 from the amounts they claim in income tax deduction. ___ Sustainablelorgbiofuel mailing list Sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org http://lists.eruditium.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel
[Biofuel] FREE WEBINAR Biodiesel Distribution: Progress, Obstacles and Opportunities Tuesday, September 1, 2015 | 2:00 PM CDT
http://150901-distribution-progress-obstacles-webinar.biodieselmagazine.com/ema/DisplayPage.aspx?pageId=Home Registration REQUIRED FREE WEBINAR Tuesday, September 1, 2015 | 2:00 PM CDT Biodiesel Distribution: Progress, Obstacles and Opportunities Biodiesel has many great attributes, but in today’s market, what value proposition do wholesalers, distributors, blenders and retailers ascribe to biodiesel and Bioheat in order to gain—or retain—customers? State incentives can play a big role in promoting biodiesel distribution and retail chains, but what other tools are leveraged to connect upstream production with downstream use? How has the delayed RFS rules affected the build-out of biodiesel distribution infrastructure? What is the state of the North American biodiesel distribution infrastructure today? Where do opportunities exist for development of infrastructure and supply chain growth, and what is needed to facilitate these? How have business models of biodiesel distributors changed with the market? Hear from a diverse mix of speakers representing a range of businesses address supply chain challenges, taxation, multistate transactions, wholesaling and POS systems, among other timely topics, as they relate to the development of a comprehensive North American biodiesel distribution network. ___ Sustainablelorgbiofuel mailing list Sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org http://lists.eruditium.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel
[Biofuel] Using fungi to harvest microalgae for biofuels
http://phys.org/news/2015-08-fungi-harvest-microalgae-biofuels.html Using fungi to harvest microalgae for biofuels August 21, 2015 by Jan Overney Microalgae are a promising feedstock for biofuels, but current methods of harvesting and dewatering them are unsustainable. Now researchers have shown that growing the algae with certain filamentous fungi to form lichens can reduce both cost and the energy input. Biofuels produced using microalgae could play an important role in the transition from a fossil fuel-based to a sustainable economy. While researchers have optimized the transformation of microalgae into biogas, harvesting and drying the algae continue to consume too much energy, accounting for 20-30% of the cost of biofuel production. Now, scientists from EPFL and the Universities of the Western Cape and Stellenbosch in South Africa have come across a filamentous fungus that could cut the cost of biomass harvesting. They presented their findings in the journal Bioresource Technology in June. Burning biogas made from microalgae only releases as much carbon into the air as the algae absorb during their growth, making algal biogas a potential carbon neutral substitute for natural gas. Curiously, the bottleneck to making the technology competitive is not in the technologically challenging process of transforming the algae into biogas, a mixture of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2). Researchers have solved this step using a highly efficient process called hydrothermal gasification as part of the SunCHem project . Instead, the bottleneck lies in the technologically much simpler step of harvesting the algae. Researchers Stephan Mackay and Eduardo Gomes may have serendipitously stumbled a potential solution to harvesting problem. When testing different types of microalgae, they noticed that in one of their samples, the algae lumped together into little pellets. Upon close investigation, they identified the culprit: a filamentous fungus, Isaria fumosorosea that had contaminated their samples. The pellets that they observed were in fact lichens, hybrid structures made up of algae and fungi. A few millimeters in diameter, the pellets are large enough to be harvested from the water with a simple filter, with much lower energy expenditure than conventional approaches such as drying and dewatering. According the Jean-Paul Schwitzguébel from EPFL's Laboratory for Environmental Biotechnology and the principal investigator of the study, the next steps would be to assess the energy savings that could be made using the approach if it were to be scaled up. ___ Sustainablelorgbiofuel mailing list Sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org http://lists.eruditium.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel
[Biofuel] RFA hits out at motorcyclists association for spreading myths about E15 : Biofuels Digest
http://www.biofuelsdigest.com/bdigest/2015/08/20/rfa-hits-out-at-motorcyclists-association-for-spreading-myths-about-e15/ [links in on-line article] RFA hits out at motorcyclists association for spreading myths about E15 August 20, 2015 | Meghan Sapp In Washington, the Renewable Fuels Association has released the following statement in response to a press release issued by the American Motorcyclist Association, in which the group calls on motorcycle riders to support legislation that would amend the renewable fuel standard (RFS) by prohibiting gas stations from selling fuel that contains more than 10 percent ethanol, and requiring those that are already selling higher ethanol blends to cease. “Once again, the AMA is engaging in scare tactics and spreading misinformation about E15. It’s nothing we haven’t heard before,” said Robert White, RFA vice president of industry relations. “AMA’s claims that E15 will suddenly become available at every fuel station in the country and replace E10, so that there will no longer be any legal fuel for motorcycles to use, are patently false. E15 has been on the market for three years and no motorcycle has misfueled using the higher ethanol blend or has been denied a warranty claim. Plus, the AMA ignores the fact that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires that the fuel dispenser label clearly identify what vehicles can and cannot use E15. Does the AMA believe that motorcyclists can’t read?” White said that the availability for motorcycles to use E10, which is approved for use in motorcycle engines, increased last year, and that more E10 and E0 were sold last year than in the previous year. “The AMA has gone to great lengths to confuse what the RFS means for consumers,” White said. “The law states that gasoline refiners and importers must purchase and blend renewable fuels with gasoline and diesel, or purchase credits. Most producers choose to blend renewable fuels because ethanol is cheaper than gasoline and has an octane rating of 113, but the availability of credits assures no marketer will ever have to offer higher level ethanol blends if they don’t want to. The RFS was meant to increase the amount of renewable fuels that are mixed in our gasoline supply each year, but that has not happened at the pace required by law because oil companies have steadfastly refused to give up any more market share. The EPA has chosen to ignore the statute and is proposing to substantially reduce the renewable volume obligations (RVOs). AMA claims that the only way to accomplish injecting higher biofuel volumes in the marketplace is with E15. But, no marketer will ever have to move exclusively to higher ethanol blends, and E10 will always be an option for non-approved engines. In fact, EPA requires it.” ___ Sustainablelorgbiofuel mailing list Sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org http://lists.eruditium.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel
[Biofuel] In Appalachia, the Coal Industry Is in Collapse, but the Mountains Aren't Coming Back
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/32494-in-appalachia-the-coal-industry-is-in-collapse-but-the-mountains-aren-t-coming-back [links in on-line article] In Appalachia, the Coal Industry Is in Collapse, but the Mountains Aren't Coming Back Tuesday, 25 August 2015 00:00 By Laura Gottesdiener, TomDispatch | News Analysis In Appalachia, explosions have leveled the mountain tops into perfect race tracks for Ryan Hensley's all-terrain vehicle (ATV). At least, that's how the 14-year-old sees the barren expanses of dirt that stretch for miles atop the hills surrounding his home in the former coal town of Whitesville, West Virginia. They're going to blast that one next, he says, pointing to a peak in the distance. He's referring to a process known as mountain-top removal, in which coal companies use explosives to blast away hundreds of feet of rock in order to unearth underground seams of coal. And then it'll be just blank space, he adds. Like the Taylor Swift song. Skinny and shirtless, Hensley looks no more than 11 or 12. His ribs and collarbones protrude from his taut skin. Dipping tobacco is tucked into his right cheek. He has a head of cropped blond curls that jog some memory of mine, but I can't quite figure out what it is. He's pointing at a peak named Coal River Mountain. These days, though, it's known to activists here as the Last Mountain, as it's the only ridgeline in this area that's still largely intact. We continue picking our way along a path on topless Kayford Mountain, a few miles from Hensley's hometown (population 514, according to the 2010 census), as he resumes chronicling his adventures on ATVs. Nearby is the Seng Creek mine, still semi-active and one of Hensley's favorite racing spots. Active mines are always the best race tracks, he assures me, since you get the added thrill of outrunning security guards and watching explosions, which sound, he tells me, like hundreds of dump trucks emptying their loads all at once. As we walk, we're careful to step over crevices known as mine cracks - deep narrow drops into the earth most often formed by the caving in of old underground mines. Hensley stops to peer into one crack filled with broken Bud Lite bottles and I joke that it leads straight through to China. But Hensley knows better. At his young age, he's already an expert on everything about mountain-top removal: how companies blast the peaks with ammonium nitrate and fuel oil - the same chemical combination that Timothy McVeigh used to detonate the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995. He knows that the process fills the air with toxic coal dust, benzene, and carbon monoxide, while contaminating nearby streams with arsenic. However, Hensley doesn't know and can hardly imagine what this region - his home - was like before the peaks were removed. I wasn't alive when those mountains were there, he observes a few hours later. And even though the industry in West Virginia is in the grips of an unprecedented collapse that threatens to dethrone King Coal once and for all, this 14-year-old and all the other children growing up in the shadow of these blank spaces will never see the decapitated peaks return to thickly forested mountain tops. The King Is Dead In the first half of this year, at least six domestic coal companies filed for bankruptcy. In February, West Virginia's Covington Coal fell, followed by Xinergy and Grass Creek Coal in April, Patriot and Birmingham Coal Coke in May, and AM Coal in June. In August came the biggest announcement of all: the $10-billion coal giant Alpha Natural Resources had entered the bankruptcy sweepstakes, too. Only four years earlier, Alpha had secured its position as one of the world's largest coal outfits by purchasing the Appalachian company Massey Energy for $7 billion and expanding its operations to 60 mines, many in Appalachia. But its reign would prove short-lived. The price of coal has been plummeting as utility companies shift to significantly cheaper shale gas, extracted through the drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to produce power. This April, for the first time since the U.S. Energy Information Administration began collecting data in 1973, gas surpassed coal as the nation's number one producer of energy. By late July, the New York Stock Exchange announced that it had suspended trading of Alpha Natural Resources' stock because it was worth next to nothing. In August, the inevitable occurred. Alpha submitted a bankruptcy filing which read in part: The unprecedented changes facing the coal industry run deep and are occurring at a frenetic and unpredictable pace...The U.S. coal industry as currently structured is unsustainable. By now, the funeral was underway and the first obituaries were appearing. Headlines in various papers not only announced Alpha's demise, but offered autopsies for the entire industry. As the New
[Biofuel] Casino Capitalism: Economist Michael Hudson on What's Behind the Stock Market's Roller-Coaster Ride
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/32501-casino-capitalism-economist-michael-hudson-on-what-s-behind-the-stock-market-s-rollercoaster-ride [video in on-line article] Casino Capitalism: Economist Michael Hudson on What's Behind the Stock Market's Roller-Coaster Ride Tuesday, 25 August 2015 00:00 By Amy Goodman, Democracy Now! | Video Interview Black Monday is how economists are describing Monday's market turmoil, which saw stock prices tumble across the globe, from China to Europe to the United States. China's stock indices fell over 8 percent on Monday and another 7 percent today. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average initially fell a record 1,100 points before closing down nearly 600 points. The decline also caused oil prices to plunge to their lowest levels in almost six years. To make sense of what's really behind the fluctuations in the market, we are joined by economist Michael Hudson, president of the Institute for the Study of Long-Term Economic Trends, a Wall Street financial analyst and author of the book, Killing the Host: How Financial Parasites and Debt Bondage Destroy the Global Economy. TRANSCRIPT: AMY GOODMAN: Black Monday. That's how economists are describing yesterday's market turmoil, which saw stock prices tumble across the globe, from China to Europe to the United States. China's stock indexes fell over 8 percent Monday and another 7 percent today. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average initially fell a record 1,100 points before closing down nearly 600 points. The decline also caused oil prices to plunge to their lowest levels in almost six years. Joining us now to try to make sense of what's really behind the fluctuations in the market is economist Michael Hudson, president of the Institute for the Study of Long-Term Economic Trends, a Wall Street financial analyst and distinguished research professor of economics at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. His latest book, Killing the Host: How Financial Parasites and Debt Bondage Destroy the Global Economy. MICHAEL HUDSON: Welcome to Democracy Now! It's great to have you with us. Thanks for having me again. AMY GOODMAN: Professor Hudson, talk about what happened in China and what happened here in the United States. MICHAEL HUDSON: Well, what happened in China doesn't have very much to do at all with what happened in the United States. Wall Street would love to blame China, and the Obama administration would love to blame China, and Europe would love to blame China. But most of the Chinese stocks went down because small Chinese investors were borrowing from, let's say, the equivalent of payday loan lenders to buy stocks. There was a lot of small speculation in Chinese stocks pushing it up. But this was an internal Chinese phenomenon. And China, as a whole, doesn't really have the problems. The real problem is that we're still in the aftermath of when the bubble burst in 2008, that all of the growth in the economy has only been in the financial sector, in the monopolies - only for the 1 percent. And it's as if there are two economies, and the 99 percent has not grown. And so, the American economy is still in a debt deflation. So the real problem is, stocks have doubled in price since 2008, and the economy, for most people, certainly who listen to your show, hasn't grown at all. So, finally, the stocks were inflated really by the central bank, by the Fed, creating an enormous amount of money, $4.5 trillion, essentially, to drop over Wall Street to buy bonds that have pushed the yields down so high - so low, to about 0.1 percent for government bonds, that pension funds and investors say, How can we make money? So they buy stocks. And they borrowed at 1 percent to buy up stocks that yield maybe 4 percent. But who are the largest people who buy the stocks? They're the companies themselves that have done stock buybacks. They're the managers of the companies that have used their earnings, essentially, to push up stock prices so they get more bonuses. Ninety precent of all the earnings of the biggest companies in America in the last five years have gone for stock buybacks and dividends. It's not being invested. It's not building new factories. It's not employing more people. So, the real problem is that we're in a nonrecovery in America, and Europe is in an absolute class war of austerity. That's what the eurozone is, an austerity zone. So that's not growing. And that's really what's happening. And all that you saw on Monday was just sort of like a shift, tectonic shift, is people realizing, Well, the game is up, it's time to get out. And once a few people want to get out, everybody sees the game's up. AMY GOODMAN: And China? MICHAEL HUDSON: In China, it's largely small borrowers who borrowed from intermediate lenders, that have borrowed from the big banks. So a lot of individuals in China that tried to get rich fast by riding the stock
[Biofuel] July OPEC output hits 3yr-high as Iran oil returns to market — RT Business
https://www.rt.com/business/312183-opec-output-grew-in-july/ [table and links in on-line article] July OPEC output hits 3yr-high as Iran oil returns to market Published time: 11 Aug, 2015 13:32 OPEC pumped 31.5 million barrels per day (bpd) last month as Iran raised its production to 2.86 million bpd, the highest since international sanctions against the country were toughened in June 2012. The return of Iranian oil to the market could make oil even cheaper than the current lows of about $49.50 a barrel. “According to secondary sources, total OPEC crude oil production averaged 31.51 million barrels per day in July, an increase of 101,000 barrels per day over the previous month. Crude oil output increased mostly from Iraq, Angola, Saudi Arabia and Iran, while production in Libya showed the largest drop,” OPEC said in its monthly report Tuesday. Under the influence of top producer Saudi Arabia, the cartel, which produces more than 40 percent of the world’s oil, has refused to cut output. The Gulf kingdom has told OPEC it reduced its own production by 200,000 bpd to 10.36 million bpd in July. The World Bank said Monday that when Iran completes its full return to the world oil market, the volume of oil sold will increase by about 1 million bpd. As a result, oil prices will decline next year by about $10 per barrel, or approximately 21 percent from current levels, the World Bank said. In June, OPEC officially maintained its production quota at 30 million bpd, but has been exceeding it in practice since then. The cartel is seeking to tackle competition from other global players, especially US shale oil producers. The cartel raised its outlook for oil supplies from non-OPEC countries by about 90,000 bpd in 2015. This is a clear sign that despite Riyadh-led efforts to dump oil prices and thus remove shale oil, which is expensive to extract and refine, from the market, it is taking longer than previously expected to elbow out shale and other players. The massive decline in oil prices, down from $115 per barrel in June 2014, has have hurt Saudi Arabia, too. The oil-rich kingdom, which needs a crude price of $106 per barrel to break even, has spent $65 billion of its reserves since the oil decline began, and intends to raise some $27 billion on bond markets by the end of the year to compensate for lavish government spending. ___ Sustainablelorgbiofuel mailing list Sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org http://lists.eruditium.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel
[Biofuel] SitNews: First Pure Electric Passenger Vessel By LAINE WELCH
http://www.sitnews.us/LaineWelch/080215_fish_factor.html [image and links in on-line article] First Pure Electric Passenger Vessel By LAINE WELCH August 02, 2015 Sunday PM (SitNews) - The first seagoing electric powered passenger vessel in the U.S. is set to launch next summer in Juneau. The E/V Tongass Rain is a 50 foot, 47 passenger catamaran designed for eco-education and whale watching tours. Its primary fuel source will be rain, delivered to the boat via Juneau’s hydroelectric power grid and stored in a bank of lithium batteries. The more modern batteries are less than half the weight of a traditional lead acid battery, and they provide three times the power and charge three times as fast, said Bob Varness, president and manager of Tongass Rain Electric Cruise (TREC). http://tongassrain.com The hull of the craft, designed by Jutson Marine in Vancouver, has been certified by the Coast Guard for 150 nautical miles “for safe harbor” in six and half foot seas at 12 knots. Once the propulsion system gets the green light, Varness said building will be underway. “No noise, no emissions … and the system only has one moving part, so you don’t have exhaust systems to deal with, turbo chargers or cooling systems, or injection pumps. Every 50,000 hours the battery manufacturer recommends pulling the motor out, putting new bearings and seals on either end and they send you the same one back,” he said. Varness, who also is an independent Torqeedo electric marine motor dealer, said some alternative powers are being used by U.S. mariners on a small scale, but not in commercial fishing. His small troller runs up to 130 miles on a single charge and recharges for $1.25, and he believes electro-power would also be a good fit for salmon drift and gillnetters, jig and pot gear and other fisheries. “If you know where you’re going every day and it’s pretty much a routine, and if it’s not high speed, this technology is something that people really need to look at. All the products are off the shelf and available for purchase today,” he said. The products might be at hand, but the expertise to do electro-power conversions for fishing boats is not. “It’s so new, no one is even sure how to do it,” Varness said. Marine designer Trevor O’Brien agreed putting the technology aboard fishing vessels today is tricky. O’Brien manages the production engineering team at Armstrong Marine in Port Angeles, Washington, where the E/V Tongass Rain will be built. “This first boat is a lot simpler - it’s a passenger boat and we know exactly how many miles they run out and back. Figuring out how much electricity they need to make that run is a lot easier than a fishing boat that you don’t know where they’re going, or how long they’ll be running chillers or have their lights on O’Brien said chillers and compressors for the fish hold are a big power draw, and the lithium batteries do pose challenges. “The most complicated part is getting the batteries charged quickly, and some of the systems are liquid cooled and that can get complex. The charging circuits aren’t really user friendly, and you’ve got to be kind of an electrical expert to maintain and service the systems,” he explained. “For that reason, a lot of the battery manufacturers have required that they do installations and maintenance on the first boats being built. But I know they are working very hard to get the system to where people can maintain it on their own.” The biggest drawback now is battery price. The 50 foot Tongass Rain, for example, will use 10 five kilowatt batteries at $5,000 each. As with any new technology, O’Brien said prices will drop fast as it gets more widely used. And O’Brien and Varness are confident that will happen. To make believers out of the fishing fleets, both agreed it will take what they called a “soft hand off.” “We need to build a vessel and learn from it and challenge it and fine tune it until it is right. And then do mass production or conversions of that type of systems,” said Varness. “That’s why I’m excited about this project,” O’Brien said. “No one has done this yet and we are willing to be the guinea pig and make it happen. We’re one of the frontrunners and we want to prove it works because we think it is the future.” Also on the electro-front: Kodiak Electric Vessels/LLC received a $247,000 grant in 2013 from the state’s Emerging Energy Technology Fund. The small company has demonstrated two core technologies: a Power Dense Motor and Universal Modular Inverter Controller, for use in both stationary power generation and propulsion applications. The project team has filed for several patents and is in discussion with potential investors in anticipation of commercialization. ___ Sustainablelorgbiofuel mailing list Sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org
[Biofuel] TransCanada's 54-year-old time bomb explodes | rabble.ca
http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/council-canadians/2015/08/transcanadas-54-year-old-time-bomb-explodes [links in on-line article] TransCanada's 54-year-old time bomb explodes By Mark Calzavara | August 24, 2015 The Transportation Safety Board has released its report on the rupture and explosion of TransCanada's pipeline in Otterburne, Manitoba in January of 2014. The report can be read here. The pipeline was found to have ruptured due to a faulty weld created when it was built in 1960. The fatally flawed weld was not detected by any of TransCanada's inspections over the last 54 years. It finally revealed its presence in a massive explosion that sent flames hundreds of metres into the winter skies over Otterburne. TransCanada's pipeline Integrity Management Program is supposed to prevent ruptures like this. It failed. Just like it has failed in the other eight pipeline ruptures the corporation has had in Canada since 2009- more ruptures than any other pipeline company according to National Energy Board statistics. These ruptures occurred on both recently built pipelines and pipelines that are decades old which raises serious questions about TransCanada's ability to safely design, build and maintain pipelines. Transportation Safety Board investigations do not assign fault or determine civil or criminal liability. They don't have to because there are no accidents when it comes to pipeline ruptures. Every rupture is a failure of the company's Integrity Management Program. Every rupture is the company's fault. TransCanada is currently seeking approval to convert their 40-year-old Mainline natural gas pipeline to carry tar sands crude from Alberta through Ontario and then (in a newly built section of pipeline) across Quebec to an export terminal in New Brunswick. The Energy East pipeline would be the largest in Canada and pump 1.1 million barrels of crude oil per day, dwarfing TransCanada's controversial KeystoneXL pipeline. ___ Sustainablelorgbiofuel mailing list Sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org http://lists.eruditium.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel
[Biofuel] TransCanada Keystone XL Hits New Turbulence As South Dakota Permit Hearing Implodes Over Pipeline Corrosion, Market Demand | DeSmogBlog
http://www.desmogblog.com/2015/07/30/keystone-xl-hits-new-turbulence-south-dakota-permit-hearing-implodes-over-pipeline-corrosion-market [links and images in on-line article] TransCanada Keystone XL Hits New Turbulence As South Dakota Permit Hearing Implodes Over Pipeline Corrosion, Market Demand By Julie Dermansky • Thursday, July 30, 2015 - 14:11 Holes too big to fix were poked in TransCanada’s narrative that its Keystone XL tar sands pipeline will be the safest pipeline ever built. And questions were raised about how the pipeline company’s financial dealings are set up during Public Utilities Commission hearings in Pierre, South Dakota this week where state regulators are tasked to decide if the company is capable of following the rules the state set when the original Keystone pipeline permit was granted in 2010. A team of lawyers representing Native American tribes and the grassroots group Dakota Rural Action took the upper hand during the proceedings as they tried to have a TransCanada executive’s testimony impeached. The proceedings took on a circus-like atmosphere when TransCanada was unable to prevent lines of questioning it didn’t like. The commissioners seemed unsure of its own procedures. At one point, Commissioner Gary Hanson expressed frustration that he was having trouble drawing a distinction between TransCanada’s evidence and its advertising statements. The testimony of TransCanada’s key witness, Corey Goulet, president of Keystone Pipeline Projects, turned out to be an important centerpiece of the hearing. In pretrial testimony filed by Goulet, he stated the company would have no problem meeting the Commission’s amended conditions. However, TransCanada’s promises to build safe pipelines have been called into question with several high-profile incidents involving its existing pipelines, particularly the corrosion problems with the Keystone 1 pipeline. A TransCanada 'root cause analysis' document, made available online by DeSmog on Tuesday, shed troubling light on the external corrosion encountered on the Keystone 1. ‘ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS’ DOCUMENT CREATES HEADACHES, QUESTIONS FOR TRANSCANADA When Goulet was questioned about the significant corrosion discovered on the Keystone 1 pipeline in Missouri in 2012 — when the pipeline’s wall had corroded in one spot to the thickness of a dime — he downplayed the incident, claiming that none of the defects were close to rupturing. “None of the defects, in my experience in 30 years of pipelines, would be injurious from the perspective of being close to rupturing. Therefore the only problem would have been the depth of corrosion,” Goulet testified. (Audio of Goulet testimony, relevant corrosion section at ~ 32:45 – 33:40) Bruce Ellison, one of the lawyers for the intervenors, had handed Goulet a copy of the company’s root cause analysis report of the incident, before pointing out the corrosion area was much larger than Goulet had described. One of the defects involved a section of pipe where the wall had eroded 96.8 percent, which Ellison noted was close to a rupture incident. TransCanada lawyers objected to any reference to the report because Goulet claimed he had never seen it and that it was classified. But since the report had already been entered into evidence, the intervenors’ lawyers were allowed by the Commission to continue questioning him. In the course of discovery, TransCanada provided the report in question as part of the unclassified documents, and therefore could not exclude the report from evidence, the Commission said. After that dispute was settled, Goulet admitted he knew the location of sites where the pipeline had been dug up for inspection and repair. As indicated in the ‘root cause’ report, Site 5 was only 200 feet from the Mississippi River, the primary drinking water source for 18 million Americans, as well as agricultural water for crop production. Evan Vokes, former TransCanada employee turned whistleblower, and an expert witness for the intervenors, told DeSmog he has never seen a pipeline coating corroded as badly as the failed coating of the Keystone 1. It looked as if “it had been gnawed at by rats,” he told DeSmog. Another former TransCanada employee reviewed the report and found it shocking. The fact that damaged sections of the pipe were repaired instead of replaced concerned him greatly. “We cut out better pipe than what I’ve seen in those pictures,” he told DeSmog. TRANSCANADA’S TAX REVENUE CALCULATIONS OFF BY A LOT Goulet testified that the considerably lower amount of taxes TransCanada paid was less than had been estimated before construction — although the tax rate has since increased. While he stated he didn’t know the technical details of how the taxes are applied, he went on to testify that “TransCanada Pipeline LP is the owner of the Keystone XL pipeline,” explaining that it is a wholly owned subsidiary of TransCanada
[Biofuel] Dahr Jamail | The New Climate Normal: Abrupt Sea Level Rise and Predictions of Civilization Collapse
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/32131-the-new-climate-normal-abrupt-sea-level-rise-and-predictions-of-civilization-collapse [images and links in on-line article] Dahr Jamail | The New Climate Normal: Abrupt Sea Level Rise and Predictions of Civilization Collapse Monday, 03 August 2015 00:00 By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report We know things are a bit off when a rainforest is on fire. Over 400 acres of the Queets Rainforest, located in Olympic National Park in Washington State, nearby where I live, have burned recently, and it is continuing to burn as I type this. Fires in these rainforests have historically been rare, as the area typically receives in excess of 200 inches of rain annually. But this is all changing now. The new normal is that there is no longer any normal. The new normal regarding climate disruption is that, for the planet, today is better than tomorrow. Another perfect example of this is a crucial recent study led by James Hansen, the former director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. The study, authored by Hansen and more than a dozen other scientists and published online, warns that even staying within the internationally agreed goal of keeping the planet within the 2-degree Celsius temperature warming limit has already caused unstoppable melting in the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets. The study shows that this will raise global sea levels by as much as 10 feet by the year 2050, inundating numerous major coastal cities with seawater. As if that's not enough, Hansen's study comes on the heels of another study published in Science, which shows that global sea levels could rise by at least 20 feet, even if governments manage to keep global temperature increases to within the agreed upon safe limit of 2 degrees Celsius. The study warns that it is quite possible that 75 feet of sea level rise could well already be unstoppable given current carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere and recent studies that show how rapidly Greenland and several Antarctic ice sheets are melting. Disconcertingly, another new normal this month comes in the form of huge plumes of wildfire smoke over the Arctic. At the time of this writing, well over 12 million acres of forest and tundra in Canada and Alaska have burned in wildfires, and the smoke covering the Arctic sea ice is yet another anthropogenic climate disruption (ACD) amplifying feedback loop that will accelerate melting there. The additional smoke further warms the atmosphere that quickens the melting of the Arctic ice pack. As if that's not enough to keep you up at night, a recently published study by a team from Anglia Ruskin University's Global Sustainability Institute has shown that society will likely collapse within 30 years, due to catastrophic food shortages resulting from the ever-worsening impacts of ACD. The results show that based on plausible climate trends, and a total failure to change course, the global food supply system would face catastrophic losses, and an unprecedented epidemic of food riots, the Institute's director, Dr. Aled Jones, told Insurge Intelligence. In this scenario, global society essentially collapses as food production falls permanently short of consumption. Another shocking study, this one published in The Anthropocene Review, shows how humans are causing catastrophic shifts in planetary ecosystems that have been unprecedented for 500 million years. The study outlines how human actions have led to extinctions of plants and animals, and added that while species extinctions and other changes are far more advanced already, [g]lobal warming as a phenomenon is just beginning. Bad news from scientific studies flowed abundantly this last month when it comes to the oceans, as well. Another major report, this one published in Science, warns that the oceans and all marine life will be irreversibly changed unless there are immediate and dramatic cuts in carbon dioxide emissions - a scenario from the realm of fantasy, given the current political climate. The report states clearly that even the 2-degree Celsius maximum allowable temperature rise from ACD agreed upon by world governments will not prevent dramatic impacts on global ocean systems. As if all this isn't enough to impress upon you how rapidly ACD is progressing, 2014 was also confirmed as the hottest year ever recorded, both on land and in the oceans. That report was followed by another from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that showed that the first half of 2015 was, by far, the hottest ever recorded on the planet. As this dispatch dives into greater detail about how the world is being changed dramatically, buckle up. The news does not get any easier to take in. Earth The impacts from ACD continue to take dramatic tolls on the earth's species. Researchers recently reported that warmer temperatures across both North America and Europe are leading to
