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• Biofuels, food crops straining world water reserves: experts

  - 2008-08-23

  STOCKHOLM AFP — Burgeoning demand for food to feed the world's swelling population, coupled with increased use of biomass as fuel is putting a serious strain on global water reserves, experts said "If we look at how much more water we will need for food and how much more...

  Tags: Agence France-Presse, biofuel, food, Manufacturing, reserve

• Brazil's biofuel plane fleet grows

  - 2008-08-20

  BOTUCATU, Brazil AFP — Brazilian biofuel, already available for nine out of 10 cars on the roads, is also keeping a small but growing fleet of aircraft aloft, the company making them says. Some 200 single-engine, single-seat Ipanema planes made by Neiva, a subsidiary of Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer,...

  Tags: Agence France-Presse, aircraft, biofuel, Brazil, Embraer, Manufacturing

• Medvedev blames the West for global economic woes

  - 2008-06-06

  SAINT PETERSBURG AFP — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Saturday blamed Western countries for the world's current economic woes and said Russia's vast energy reserves could be part of the solution. Speaking at a meeting of high-powered business executives in Saint Petersburg, Medvedev said the United States was behind...

  Tags: Agence France-Presse, biofuel, Manufacturing, Russia, U.S.

• World leaders struggle to agree food crisis plan

  - 2008-06-04

  ROME AFP — World leaders battled Wednesday to agree on how to tackle the global food crisis, making multi-billion dollar aid pledges but struggling to agree notably on biofuels, sources said. In a draft of the final declaration to be agreed Thursday, obtained by AFP, they vowed to use...

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• Brazilian president defends biofuels at UN food summit

  - 2008-06-03

  ROME AFP — Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Tuesday defended biofuels, saying they could be an "important tool" against food insecurity, at the start of the UN food summit on spiralling prices. "Biofuels are not bandits," he said. "To the contrary, if they are produced in...

  Tags: Agence France-Presse, biofuel, food, Manufacturing

• Brazil's landless farmworkers launch 'Red April' offensive

  - 2008-04-14

  BRASILIA AFP — The Landless Workers Movement MST on Monday announced it will occupy more farmland and raise a huge camping site in Brasilia, in its new "Red April" protest drive for urgent agricultural reform. MST leaders, who habitually launch protest movements in the month they call "Red April,"...

  Tags: Agence France-Presse, biofuel, food, Manufacturing

• German auto industry says ready for biofuel ramp-up

  - 2008-04-03

  FRANKFURT AFP — Germany's automakers association played down concerns Thursday that large numbers of cars would be incompatible with a new biofuel mix that the government wants to introduce to cut emissions. Chancellor Angela Merkel's government wants to double the proportion of biofuel in petrol to 10 percent by...

  Tags: Agence France-Presse, biofuel, car, Government, Manufacturing

• US energy policies leading to 'holocaust': Castro

  - 2007-04-04

  HAVANA AFP — Fidel Castro on Wednesday warned that US energy policies could reap a global "holocaust", in his second newspaper article in a week, suggesting the convalescing Cuban leader is back to his combative self. Writing in Granma newspaper, Castro said promoting the use of biofuels would divert...

  Tags: Agence France-Presse, biofuel, food, Globalization, Manufacturing, Strategy

• US automakers press Bush on ethanol

  - 2007-03-26

  WASHINGTON AFP — The chiefs of the Big Three US automakers pressed President George W. Bush Monday to create more government incentives for the development of ethanol and other biofuels. Notably absent from the discussion however was much talk on improving fuel economy standards and little time was devoted...

  Tags: Agence France-Presse, biofuel, General Motors Corp., Manufacturing, president

• Green technology, Chinese cars the highlights at Paris Motor Show

  - 2006-09-23

  PARIS AFP — The Paris Motor Show will roar into life next Saturday when international car makers converge on the French capital hoping to wow crowds with prototype models and woo critics with green technologies. This year, the mix of exhibits is expected to underscore two key developments for the...

  Tags: Agence France-Presse, biofuel, California, car, manufacturer, Manufacturing, Paris