[Biofuel] Fwd: Farming Matters - Family farming: a way of life

[Keith Addison]

Subject: Farming Matters - 29.4 - Family farming: a way of life
From: Farming Matters magazine 
To: ke...@journeytoforever.org
Date: Thu, 09 Jan 2014 18:32:24 +0100

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Farming Matters - Family farming: a way of life

December 2013 | Vol. 29 no. 4

The United Nations declared 2014 as the International Year of Family 
Farming, recognising the multiple social, economic, environmental 
and cultural functions of family farmers. Many family farmers have 
proven to be innovative and resilient under the right 
socio-political framework and conditions - especially when supported 
by the right policies.


Using agro-ecological practices, family farmers can exert a large 
degree of autonomy and still be part of the global economy - working 
with, rather than against nature. They pool their labour and 
resources, and increase their yields. They organise themselves and 
make their voices heard. They build their own educational spaces 
where they learn from each other and teach others. Women play a key 
role in these strategies.


This issue of Farming Matters highlights inspiring experiences of 
strengthening family farming, while maintaining the values and 
knowledge that characterise this particular and resilient type of 
agriculture.







Read 
| 
Download 
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Preview




The mother of our breath

Palauan traditional farming shows how agriculture, family values and 
culture are interconnected. Facing challenges, family farmers 
selectively adopt and adapt new approaches while trying to maintain 
their values. To strengthen their voice and their position, the 
small-scale family farms of these islands are collectively standing 
up for their rights and calling for support to maintain important 
(agri)cultural customs. 
Read 
more




"We are a political and economic force"

In countries where big businesses receive favourable treatment, 
peasants, indigenous peoples and pastoralists fight for their 
survival. Deo Sumaj, one of the leaders of the Peasant Movement of 
Santiago del Estero Via Campesina in Argentina, talks about this 
struggle against threats such as land grabbing, and about ways the 
peasant movement builds food sovereignty. 
Read 
more




From conflicts to profitable alliances

In the North-West Region of Cameroon, conflicts have been increasing 
between sedentary family farmers and pastoral communities as 
pressure on the available land increases. Farmer-pastoralist 
alliances are helping to resolve the conflicts by transforming the 
relationships between these families. By engaging in dialogue, both 
groups can benefit from synergies between their different farming 
systems. 
Read 
more



AND MORE

- 
Farmers 
in Focus
- 

[Biofuel] One Little Bug Could Lead To Low Cost Biofuel

[Darryl McMahon]

http://cleantechnica.com/2014/01/08/new-bacteria-leads-to-low-cost-biofuel/

[images and links in on-line article]

This Little Bug Could Be The Graphene Of Low Cost Biofuel

From the exotic Valley of Geysers in far eastern Russia comes a 
bacteria that could propel the biofuel market far past its petroleum 
rivals. We’re comparing it to graphene, that atom-thin “wonder 
material,” because like graphene this little bug possesses uniquely 
powerful properties, enabling it to function faster and more efficiently 
than its conventional counterparts.


And for that pathway to low cost biofuel, we US taxpayer can thank 
ourselves: The latest research on this bug was supported by the 
Department of Energy’s Office of Science, through the Bioenergy Research 
Center anchored by Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of 
Georgia.

A Superbug For Biofuel

The bacteria in the spotlight is Caldicellulosiruptor bescii, which 
thrives in hot water, as in 75 to 90 degrees Centigrade (up to 194 
degrees Fahrenheit).


It was discovered back in 1990 but if that name doesn’t ring a bell 
you’re not alone. Until 2010 it went under the moniker Anaerocellum 
thermophilum but was reclassified in 2010 with its current and slightly 
less pronounce-able name.


Back home in Mother Russia the bacteria’s diet consisted of whatever it 
could find in a really hot environment with no oxygen: crystalline 
cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin, starch, and gum Arabic.


If you’re looking at the cellulose in that list, you’re seeing what 
biofuel researchers saw, which is the potential to use the bacteria for 
munching through the tough cell walls of woody plants (that’s the 
cellulose) and converting the biomass to sugars, at a far lower cost 
than current technology allows.


The money part of the process is the bacteria’s cellulase, CelA, which 
is the enzyme that converts cellulose into sugars.


Researchers have found that the bacteria loves to digest napier grass, 
Bermuda grass, and switchgrass as well as poplar, which is significant 
because the poplar tree is becoming the It Girl of the biofuel world. It 
touches all the bases: a non-food, low-maintenance perennial plant 
requiring little or no extra water, which can be raised on marginal 
lands and double as a natural remediation for contaminated sites.

How Fast Is That Bug?

This whole Caldicellulosiruptor bescii thing has been flying under our 
radar for a while, although last year we did take note of its 
heat-loving cousin, Caldicellulosiruptor obsidiansis, which is found 
right here in hot springs at Yellowstone Park.


In terms of biofuel costs, the heat tolerant angle is important because 
it enables the enzymes to keep chugging away with greater efficiency in 
the harsh environment of a biofuel processing operation.


The latest news comes from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory 
(NREL), which has just completed a thorough analysis of the enzyme CelA, 
published in the journal Science.


In this round of tests, the researchers confirmed that CelA can digest 
cellulose almost twice as fast as its conventional counterpart, a widely 
used enzyme called Cel7A (I know, confusing, right? Couldn’t they use a 
different name or something?).



How’d They Figure That Out?

To get to that conclusion, NREL researchers fed the enzyme a 
commercially available crystalline form of cellulose called Avicel, 
which you food people out there may recognize as a form of dietary 
fiber. It is also used in the biofuel industry as a standard test 
platform for cellulose degradation.


Here’s the meat  of NREL’s findings:

…CelA not only can digest cellulose in the more common surface 
removal, but that it also creates cavities in the material, which leads 
to greater synergy with more conventional cellulases, resulting in 
higher sugar release.


As for the graphene comparison, the researchers sound just as excited 
over their results as the graphene news we’ve been covering. This is 
what NREL scientist Yannick Bomble has to say:


CelA is the most efficient single cellulase we’ve ever studied – by 
a large margin. It is an amazingly complex enzyme, combining two 
catalytic domains with three binding modules. The fact that it has two 
complementary catalytic domains working in concert most likely makes it 
such a good cellulose degrader.


Another Step For Low Cost Biofuel

If CelA ends up in commercial biofuel production, it won’t be working 
all on its own. Currently, most biofuel production is based on a 
“cocktail” of 15 to 20 different enzymes including Cel7A. However, 
according to NREL Cel7A is the one doing most of the work.


So, if CelA can sub in for Cel7A, that will have a significant impact on 
the efficiency of the digestion process, leading to significantly lower 
biofuel production costs.


Also helping things along is NREL’s discovery that CelA loves xylose, so 
it could also replace other xylose-specializing enzymes in the biofuel 
cocktail (xylose is a