The Biofuels Deception

There is by now no question among informed people that the Earth is undergoing severe climate change – soon to become catastrophic, if humans don’t take drastic measures to stop it. Heroically into the fray steps the biofuel industry, announcing to millions of anxious consumers that this eco-crisis can be averted if only they turn away from fossil fuels, to the saving power of synthetic bioproducts. But, although eliminating fossil fuels is essential, the manufacture of biofuels has far more to do with sating profit-hungry corporations than with saving the Earth. Combining meticulous scientific narrative with devastating economic analysis, The Biofuels Deception argues that the seemingly innovative, hopeful campaign for “green energy” is actually driven by bio-technology industries and global grain-trading corporations. These corporate players are motivated by a late-capitalist need to cope with a crisis of accumulation; they have no real interest in mitigating climate-change, alleviating poverty, or even creating “clean” energy. In fact, the manufacture of biochemical, bioplastics, and biomaterials, writes Okbazghi Yohannes, portends horrific contradictions and disastrous consequences for nature and society. Actually confronting climate change and the rampant inequality it engenders, Yohannes says, requires two steps. The first is to understand the driving socioeconomic forces behind the biofuels industry. The second is to unravel the tapestry of deceit itself. This book is a necessity for any scholar or environmental activist interested in seeing beyond corporate chimeras to actual environmental solutions.

ISBN 978-967-2145-22-6 Author : Boon Cheong Chew This book focuses mainly on the UK 1G biofuels implementation and suggested that the ubiquity of the 1G biofuels sustainability issues do not adequately explain the controversy which has created. Insted, the social-technical curtain of this 1G biofuels deployment, which could be trace from 2008 when the 1G biofuels were firstly commenced and deployed in UK under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation 2008. This book presents the evidence and implications of the 1G biofuels controversy: ‘food-fuel competition’ and ‘biodiversity threatened’ (termed as systemic risks), while further discussed the confluence social factors which have caused these systemic risks to happen during UK 1G biofuels deployment.

Why, despite all we know about the causes and harms of global heating, has so little effective action been taken to cut greenhouse gas emissions, and what we can do to change that? This book explains the mechanisms and impacts of the climate crisis, traces the history and reasons behind the lack of serious effort to combat it, describes some people's ongoing scepticism and how to shift it, and motivates an urgent program of action. It argues that the pathway to stopping dangerous global heating will require a much larger mobilization of advocacy and activism to impel decision makers to abandon fossil fuels, and transition to renewable energy and electrification embedded in a political and social framework guided by justice principles. It is an excellent resource for students and researchers on the climate crisis, the need for a renewable energy transition, and the current blocks to progress.

This book provides a nuanced picture of how diverse legal debates on the pursuit of economic development and modernization have played out in Latin America since independence. The opposing concepts of modernization theory and Dependency Theory can be seen to be playing out within the field of legal transformation, as some legal analysts define law as a closed, formal, rational system, and others see law as inseparable from economic, social and political change. Legal experiments have followed these trends, in some cases using legal instruments to guarantee classical, civil and political rights, and in others demanding radical transformation of existing legal structures. This book traces these debates across the key topics of: economic development and foreign investment; property; resource and power distribution in terms of gender and social policy. Drawing on a wide range of literature, the book adds complexity and color to our understanding of these themes in Latin America. This insightful exploration of comparative law within Latin America provides the tools needed to understand legal transformation in the region, and as such will be of interest to researchers within law, political sociology, development and Latin American studies.

This new edition of Conservation and Management of Tropical Rainforests applies the large body of knowledge, experience and tradition available to those who study tropical rainforests. Revised and updated in light of developments in science, technology, economics, politics, etc. and their effects on tropical forests, it describes the principles of integrated conservation and management that lead to sustainability, identifying the unifying phenomena that regulate the processes within the rainforest and that are fundamental to the ecosystem viability. Features of the natural forest and the socio-cultural ecosystems which can be mimicked in the design of self-sustaining forests are also discussed. A holistic approach to the management and conservation of rainforests is developed throughout the book. The focus on South-East Asian forestry will be widened to include Africa and Latin America. Recent controversial issues such as biofuels and carbon credits with respect to tropical forests and their inhabitants will be discussed. This book is a substantial contribution to the literature, it is a valuable resource for all those concerned with rainforests.