by: Stevenson Jacobs, The Associated Press 6-14-08 TruthOut.com: "Floods that have inundated the Midwest could reduce world corn supplies and drive food prices higher at a time when Americans are stretching their grocery budgets and when people in poor countries have rioted over rising food costs. The U.S. government will report in late June on how many acres of corn were lost to flooding, but farmers and agriculture experts say the toll appears grim, with thousands of acres probably destroyed in the region that grows most of the world's corn.

 "Soil variation occurs across multiple geographic scales ranging from vast climatic regions of the Earth to a 50 acre farm field to the molecular world of soil nano-particles in a pinch of soil. For example, in a forest or an agricultural field, soil properties vary from the summit of a hill down to the base. Within a single soil aggregate that may be less than a quarter inch in diameter, there is a variable distribution of open spaces (soil pores), solids (soil particles), and water and gas molecules, and within each of the elements themselves there is variation, such as different pore shapes and different elemental solids.

CHICAGO – The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) joined Lt. Governor Pat Quinn and other Chicago municipal officials as they announced Illinois’ efforts to find uses for the sediment choking the state’s lakes and rivers. Seven barge loads of more than 10,000 tons of Peoria Lake mud were relocated to the old U.S. Steel South Works site on Lake Michigan for use as topsoil, turning a mile long stretch of private property into viable public park land. The barges were loaded at East Peoria and unloaded in Chicago as the latest phase of Illinois’ innovative “Mud to Parks” project is implemented. The event marked the second installment of Illinois River mud at the South Works site, a 550-acre parcel on the shores of Lake Michigan about 10 miles south of the Loop. For more than a century, the South Works factory generated slag (molten metallic refuse from the steelmaking process), creating acres of hard, barren ground.

"Researchers at the University of Minnesota have developed a new, carbon-neutral way to convert vegetable-based fuels to syngas, a breakthrough that could allow producers to power hydrogen fuel cells or create a replacement for America's dwindling supplies of natural gas, all without relying on fossil fuels. We've all had the experience of watching cooking oil smoke once a pan reaches a certain temperature—and suffered the indignity of having to scrub off the caked-on, carbonized gunk that results. A similar problem plagued researchers trying to convert biofuels: When heated, they clogged the pores of the catalyst used to transform them into syngas, which is a mixture of gases that include hydrogen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide.

"The high price of petroleum, government incentives to reduce dependence on imported oil, and growing efforts to address climate change have created a perfect storm for bio-based products, driving demand for alternative feedstocks for biofuels and chemicals and cleaner biotech-based production processes. Industrial biotechnology has enhanced the efficiency of biofuel production and made possible production of a range of polymers and chemicals from agricultural starting materials. The next challenge facing the biorefinery industry is producing, harvesting and delivering abundant feedstocks in an economically and environmentally sustainable fashion." according to Brent Erickson, executive vice president of Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) Industrial & Environmental Section.

Leadership changes in key Congressional commitees point toward a dramatic shift in US energy policies, none more so than the replacement of Oklahoma Republican James Inhofe as chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee by California Democrat Barbara Boxer. "Nowhere is there a greater threat to future generations than the disastrous effects of global warming," Boxer said at a Senate Democratic Caucus meeting. "One of my top priorities will be to spotlight this issue ... with the goal of ultimately bringing legislation to the Senate floor."

There is still time to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, if we take strong action now, according to the Stern Review Report on the Economics of Climate Change. The scientific evidence is now overwhelming: climate change is a serious global threat, and it demands an urgent global response.

Jatropha curcas is a promising source of biofuels. It is a particularly important plant because
it can be grown on arid and semi-arid land that is not agriculturally suited for food crops. Read More ...

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"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced an executive order that joins California's landmark global warming law with the Northeast's program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It is the first step in creating a system that helps California's largest manufacturers comply with stricter environmental regulations, a Schwarzenegger administration official said. Industrial corporations and utility companies must cut their greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 25 percent by 2020.

Aimed at all stakeholders in the energy debate, the 2nd Annual European Energy Policy Conference is part of a 5-year commitment to the development of debate and critical discussion on the issues surrounding the energy industry, energy policy, sustainability and relations with the wider energy industry. Key issues covered include security of supply, LNG, renewables, investment climates, emerging markets, global energy consumption, energy efficiency, EU ETS and current projects in place that are helping to drive forward cleaner production of energy. REEEP's International Director, Marianne Osterkorn, presented at the event.