Biodiesel

Biofuels, the World’s Energy Past and Future

By Mario Osava
The number of victims of serious burns, some fatal, has increased in Brazil. Without money to buy cooking gas, the price of which rose 30 percent this year, many poor families resort to ethanol and people are injured in household accidents.

Argentina Takes Controversial Step Backwards in Biofuel Production

By Daniel Gutman
Argentina, historically an agricultural powerhouse, has become a major producer of biofuels in recent years. However, this South American country is now moving backwards in the use of this oil substitute in transportation, a decision in which economics weighed heavily and environmental concerns have been ignored.

Oil Palm Expands on Deforested Land in Brazil’s Rainforest

By Fabiana Frayssinet
The green of the oil palm plantations is unbroken along kilometre after kilometre of red soil, devastated in the past by loggers and ranchers. The oil palm, a sign of alarm for some and of hope for others, is here to stay in the Amazon rainforest state of Pará in the extreme north of this country.

It’s Either Orangutans Or Cheap Palm Oil

By Kafil Yamin
When four men were sentenced to eight months in jail in March for the ‘murder’ of orangutans, it was the first time that people associated with Indonesia’s booming palm oil industry were convicted for killing man’s close relations in the primate family.

Biodiesel Brings Cleaner Air

By Kara Santos
For the past three months, a transport group in the Philippines has been making use of biodiesel processed from used cooking oil for their jeepneys.