Environmental News Network

A “fragile” land tenure system and “a scarce presence” by the State were identified as key factors in rising Amazon deforestation last week. The diagnosis was delivered to the 3rd International Congress on Bioenergy last week by WWF-Brazil forest engineer Ana Euler, who said there was a need to re-discuss the Brazilian development model.

Biodiesel processors are in strong demand now that the price of petrol is going through the roof. (Small) businesses are increasingly beginning to produce their own biofuels and in an effort to breath more life into the new market, the U.S. Biofuels Exchange Inc. (USBE) has launched a biofuels platform. The new platform matches biofuel producers of all sizes with buyers.

Los Angeles is considering a plan that would reduce plastic bag use by retailers and ban foam containers at city facilities, reports the Associated Press. The city council’s energy and environment committee unanimously supported Tuesday a plan to ban the use of plastic bags at all supermarkets and retail stores, unless the state passes a bill which would impose a $.25 fee for each plastic bag.

Environmental Finance, 3 July 2008 - Caisse d'Epargne has launched a labelling system to rate financial products, based on their financial risk and sustainability. The French bank has been applying the labels to its savings products since the beginning of June, and has made the methodology freely available for other institutions to adopt. Caisse d'Epargne plans to extend labelling to insurance and loan products by the end of 2008.

Cascades Tissue Group in Waterford has offset its carbon dioxide emissions by buying 11 million kilowatt hours of wind power. The commercial tissue manufacturer, a subsidiary of Montreal-based Cascades Inc., will use the credits to offset the emissions from its plants in Waterford and Mechanicville, which produce the North River line of paper products.

OVER the past 14 years, a tiny insect no bigger than a grain of rice has laid waste a swathe of British Columbia’s forests so vast that the rust-red wasteland is visible from space. The mountain pine beetle has infested and killed over half the lodgepole pine forest in the centre of the province—an area larger than England.

California firefighters made a desperate stand as darkness fell on Thursday to save more than 4,000 homes and other structures from a pair of out-of-control wildfires burning about 170 miles apart along the California coast. The most imminent danger was to homes around Goleta, near Santa Barbara, where flames were fast approaching 2,600 homes and transmission lines supplying power to 100,000 people on the central coast.

Australia's leading climate guru on Friday laid out a draft carbon trading scheme to rein in rising emissions in the world's top per-capita greenhouse gas polluter. Economist Ross Garnaut, appointed by the government to design what will be the world's most extensive emissions regime from 2010, said Australia was critically at risk from climate change and urged deep cuts in emissions from the world's top coal exporter.

A business student at the University of Alabama in Huntsville has found that the city of Birmingham could save as much as $1.8 million over 10 years if it could boost its recycling participation rate to 25 percent, reports the Associated Press.

Egypt has established a US$30 million centre for renewable energy for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

G8 leaders could well cobble together some agreement next week on goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions, but bolder progress in climate change talks will probably have to wait until a new U.S president takes office.

A porous rock layer filled with saltwater that underlies much of the Midwest could permanently store half of the greenhouse gases released in the next century by industries in Ohio and neighboring states.

In five years' time, we could be living in a world where millions are dying in famines with no food aid to hand, regular storms and droughts wipe out acres of crops, and skyrocketing food prices have created global political panic, food experts say.

North America's first comprehensive carbon tax is now in effect in the Canadian West Coast province of British Columbia, greeted with complaints that some gasoline stations have used the tax as cover to raise prices more than necessary.

A new engine from Revetec is half the size and weight of a traditional engine, and has 50 percent fewer emissions.

Young recruits from the People's Liberation Army threw off their shoes and stood knee-deep in the thick green algae that has overwhelmed the Qingdao coastline. Locals say the algae has never been so thick here - agricultural and industrial pollution are thought to be responsible.

The Bureau of Land Management on Wednesday said it reversed an earlier decision freezing solar project applications in six Western states and would accept new applications.

A Nepal wildlife reserve that boasted the highest density of tigers in the world is just half a decade later struggling to hold a few remaining tigers.

Utah this summer will become what experts say is the first state to institute a mandatory four-day work week for most state employees, joining local governments across the nation that are altering schedules to save money, energy and resources. Gov. Jon Huntsman, a first-term Republican, says he's making the change to reduce the state's carbon footprint, increase energy efficiency, improve customer service and provide workers more flexibility.

All tuatara could be born male — and thus doomed to extinction — within decades.