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"The objective of this study is to:  compile the available recent literature on ILUC emissions;  compare these emissions with the assumed gains of biofuels;  assess how ILUC changes the carbon balance of using biofuels;  formulate policies to avoid these extra emissions associated with ILUC. Trends in land use, with and without biofuels All the studies on global agricultural markets reviewed predict that new arable land will be required to meet future global demand for food and feed. Although there will be increased productivity on current arable land (intensification), food and feed demand will probably grow faster, which means that mobilization of new land is likely to occur. Biofuels produced from crops (the current mainstream practice) will add extra demand for crops like wheat, rice, maize, rapeseed and palm oil. This will increase prices for these crops (as well as for land) and lead to two impacts: intensification of agricultural production and conversion of forests and grasslands to arable land. In this report we consider the issue of indirect land use change initiated by EU biofuels policy and seek to answer the following questions:  What is the probability of biofuels policies initiating land use changes?  What greenhouse gas emissions may result from indirect land use change, expressed as a factor in the mathematical relation given above?  What technical measures can be applied and what policy measures adopted to limit or entirely mitigate indirect land use change and the associated greenhouse gas emissions? We first (Chapter 2) broadly discuss the mechanism of indirect land use change. We next discuss why there is a perception among stakeholders that there is a serious risk that EU biofuels policy will initiate indirect land use change (Chapter 3) and consider the figures cited by other studies as an indication of the magnitude the associated greenhouse gas emissions  (Chapter 4). We then broadly consid

"it was all summed up clearly for me by members of COPAGEN, a coalition of African farmer associations, scientists, civil society groups and activists who work to protect Africa's genetic heritage, farmer rights, and their sovereignty over their land, seeds and food. All these knowledgeable people have shown me that the answer is quite straightforward: many of those imported mistakes, disguised as solutions for Africa, are very, very profitable. At least for those who design and make them."

Early comprehensive life cycle assessments (LCA's) that compared biofuels with fossil fuels already appeared in the beginning of the eighties. Since then the public, scientific and political interest in biofuels has continuously grown and the number of biofuels and assessed parameters has increased.At the same time, the methodology for this type of assessment has improved with certain aspects of the approach having come up by and by a process which still continues today. Several issues related to the land use currently stand in the centre of expert discussions. Keywords: Environmental assessment; Biofuels; Transport; Land use assessment; Fossil fuels Article Outline 1. Objective, scope and background 2. Procedure 3. Results: comparison of biofuels and fossil fuels 3.1. Biofuels from agriculture compared to fossil fuels and against each other 3.2. Biofuels from residues compared to fossil fuels and against each other 4. Results: land use aspects 5. Conclusions and outlook 5.1. Competing land use 5.2. Competing biomass usages

An alternative to the electric scenario. More land use, more jobs - though less qualified ones, less technology. To be compared.

"The U.S. Departments of Energy and the Interior have picked a former nuclear site in Nevada to be transformed into a zone for testing "cutting-edge" solar energy technologies. The research will take place on 25 square miles of land owned by the Interior's Bureau of Land Management, an area larger than the size of Manhattan, the Energy Department said today in a statement. The area lies in the southwest corner of the Nevada Test Site, about 65 miles (104.6 kilometers) northwest of Las Vegas, where the U.S. military used to detonate atomic weapons. The Energy Department's National Nuclear Security Administration will oversee the project, according to the statement. "

"Understanding the carbon balance of a business is a vital first step towards thinking about management decisions that may have some mitigating effect on climate change by reducing GHG emissions. The calculator has been updated with the latest UK National Inventory Report (1990-2006) data published in April 2009. This may change the output from previously entered data. Working through the steps below will help you calculate your carbon balance and understand the results. Step 1 - Get your data together. You will need physical data for crops, stock and energy use. Step 2 - Log-in (on menu bar) to enter your farm details or if you have previously used the calculator select a farm profile that has already been created by clicking on it. Step 3 - Create a calculation for the farm selected. If you have already created calculations for the farm selected you may also modify, copy or use any of these, also by clicking on the description. Step 4 - Enter data in the input screen. For more guidance visit the Help page. Step 5 - When finished obtain your CALM report by clicking "Report" at the top of the screen and choosing the output format you require. Step 6 - Use the mitigation advisory notes, available from the reports section, to assess ways you can improve your carbon balance."

Daniel Barrie and Daniel Kirk Davidoff, from the University of Maryland, conducted an experiment aimed to demostrate what huge wind turbine fields could do to the environment, extra to producing electricity. They took the pattern of expanding turbine fields to an extreme, and used a computer model to calculate what might happen if all the land from Texas to central Canada, and from the Great Lakes to the Rocky Mountains were covered in one massive wind farm. What did they get with this simulation? They got a decrease of the wind speed with 2-3 meters per second (5.5 - 6.7 mph), plus a disruption of the air currents over all the north hemisphere. And that could be a source for storms, hurricanes, and other meteorological phenomena.

If Self-Reliant Cities is a snapshot of a certain historical moment, why then have we decided to reissue it more than a quarter of century after its original publication? Because we deeply believe the energy and climate crises must ultimately be solved at the local level. It is there that the proverbial rubber meets the road, where theory becomes practice, where policy must be implemented. Cities are where more than two thirds of Americans and half the world's population live. Cities are the locus of authority closest to the people. Cities have significant authority over land use and building standards.

Driving south out of the agricultural town of Ainsworth, you can't miss its newest crop: wind turbines, three dozen of them, with steel stalks 230 feet high and petal-like blades 131 feet long, sprouting improbably from the sand hills of north-central Nebraska, beside ruminating cattle. Though painted gray, the turbines stand out against the evening backdrop of battleship-colored thunderclouds and bear an almost celestial whiteness when day's light is right. Airplane pilots can spot them from far away, and rarely does a bird make their unfortunate acquaintance. The sound of 8.5-ton blades, three to a turbine, turning and turning, only enhances their almost supernatural presence. Standing at the base of a turbine's stalk, you hear a whistling whoosh - whuh ... whuh ... whuh - as steady summer winds come like the breath of gods to toy with pinwheel amusements.

Historically, wind technology has been seen on land and near offshore locations. Restrictions, such as prohibitively expensive offshore foundations to support wind turbines larger than 20 meters, may be viewed as stunting potential market growth. Now, new technology based on floating turbines may enable deeper offshore placement. The view mentioned with this news is that pushing turbines further out to sea will equalise the issue of aesthetics. However, the real issue here is can this technology deliver a useful and economic addition to the grid.

could this become a trend?