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• Biofuels
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Biofuels

Food versus fools

The price of corn is on the rise, the price of sugar is in decline. So which one makes more sense as a biofuel feedstock?

By Andrew Leonard July 23, 2007

How many bottles of Chianti does it take to fill up a BMW?

Europe has too much wine. But does converting the excess into biofuel make even drunken sense?

By Andrew Leonard June 26, 2007

Cellphone charger totalitarianism

What do Chinese government policy toward cellphones and corn-based ethanol have in common?

By Andrew Leonard June 13, 2007

A margarita made with ethanol

First, the biofuel industry came for my tortillas. But then, my tequila? And my beer? Is the apocalypse nigh?

By Andrew Leonard May 30, 2007

Oil companies: High gas prices are Bush's fault

The president's ethanol push is discouraging the industry from investing in new refinery capacity, executives say. What does the White House think of that?

By Andrew Leonard May 24, 2007

From the Iowa plains to the Amazon jungle

Which is the bigger threat to Brazil's rain forest: Locally grown sugar cane, or American corn?

By Andrew Leonard May 17, 2007

Hurricane ethanol

Who's the culprit in Japan's fruit juice price hikes? Florida weather or Brazilian sugar cane?

By Andrew Leonard May 11, 2007

When the invasive species met the illegal immigrant

How to simultaneously achieve border control and energy independence, with the help of a "noxious weed"

By Andrew Leonard May 10, 2007

How Portugal screwed up Brazil

First there was a sugar rush. Then a gold rush. Both left unsightly scars on the history of Brazil. What will the ethanol rush bequeath?

By May 2, 2007

Lords of the dirt

All hail the soil scientist: the future of humanity is crumpled in their hands

By Andrew Leonard April 26, 2007

The legislators of corn

Michael Pollan is optimistic that the time has come to remake the farm bill. Has he been to South Dakota lately?

By Andrew Leonard April 23, 2007

The biofuel scramble for Brazil

If the foreign investment in the Brazilian ethanol industry constitutes a new "Great Game," who might end up the loser? A lesson from Afghanistan.

By Andrew Leonard April 18, 2007

Much ado about tortillas and ethanol

But is the real villain here biofuels? What about trade rules written at the behest of multinational agribusinesses?

By Andrew Leonard April 6, 2007

What does universal health care have to do with ethanol?

Robert Rapier, the blogosphere's most dedicated crusader against corn-based biofuel, gets sick in Scotland

By Andrew Leonard April 6, 2007

Down on the biodiesel farm

John Deere, the tractor manufacturer, can't get enough of that biofuel love.

By Andrew Leonard March 29, 2007

Why Monsanto loves ethanol

Biofuel demand is boosting sales of the latest biotech crop products.

By Andrew Leonard March 26, 2007

Jorge W. Bush visits "the neighborhood"

Talking that "free trade" talk, the president heads to Brazil to pump up ethanol. Why would anyone doubt his sincerity?

By Andrew Leonard March 7, 2007

"Switchgrass is cool, dude"

A House hearing on energy development shockingly features politicians asking experts substantive questions about ethanol and peak oil.

By Andrew Leonard March 1, 2007

Bush's cellulosic ethanol road show

The president is all smiles as he hypes biofuels in North Carolina, but his budget requests tell a different story.

By Andrew Leonard February 22, 2007

Live by the corn syrup, die by the corn syrup

Can Coca-Cola's corporate woes be blamed on ethanol?

By Andrew Leonard February 20, 2007

Currently in How the World Works

A name China scholars will remember

John "Beginning Chinese" DeFrancis passes away. Who knew he once tangled with Senator Joe McCarthy?

Friday, Jan 9, 2009 00:12 EST

Obama: "A clean break from a troubled past"

The president-elect makes his case to the nation for immediate action on the economy. Let's hope Senate Republicans were listening.

Thursday, Jan 8, 2009 20:12 EST

Even Wal-Mart gets the blues

Cutbacks in discretionary spending take their toll, even at the "low-price leader"

Thursday, Jan 8, 2009 17:26 EST

How humans cooled the earth -- 500 years ago

After pandemics caused a mass die-off in the New World, farmland turned to forest and temperatures dropped

Thursday, Jan 8, 2009 03:05 EST

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