They may be in favour at the White House, but a new report attacks the concept of biofuels being the panacea for either climate change or energy security.

Written by the British-based think tank Science in Society (ISIS), it says that Biofuels have gained prominence from politicians and environmentalists because they are “carbon neutral”, in that they do not add any greenhouse gas into the atmosphere; burning them simply returns to the atmosphere the carbon dioxide that the plants take out when they were growing in the field.

The UK had nearly three times as many as its nearest rival: Poland has seven, the Czech Republic six, Spain five and Germany four.
So much for Britain's green and pleasant land.
The UK had nearly three times as many as its nearest rival: Poland has seven, the Czech Republic six, Spain five and Germany four.
So much for Britain's green and pleasant land.
A new report has concluded that Britain is still the "dirty man of Europe", with the worst number of polluting power stations. Eighteen of Europe's 50 filthiest power stations are in the UK, killing

Two contrasting views of Africa this week in the British press.

On Wednesday The Financial Times published a "Special Report" on Africa's oil and gas, giving it an upbeat assessment. Under the headline: "Continent all set to balance power" the paper reported how: "West Africa, with its copious reserves of natural gas, its sweet light oil and its favourable location between Europe and the US is one of the regions already helping balance the power among the world's oil producers."

A new study in the journal Science has found that the Antarctic ice sheet is melting so fast it is contributing to the rise in global sea levels. 

The first ever satellite study of the continent's ice inventory has revealed that Antarctica is releasing around 35 cubic miles of water into the sea each year, which equates to an increase in sea levels of 0.4mm a year. "This is the first study to indicate the total mass balance of the Antarctic ice sheet is in significant decline," argues Isabella Velicogna of the University of Colorado at Boulder.

I always thought the one problem with carbon markets or pollution credits is that they allow companies to carry on polluting. They don't actually fix the problem. Now the UK policy group, the Cornerhouse has published a briefing attacking carbon trading. It was also published by the think think, Foreign Policy in Focus.

According to the Larry Lohmann, from the Cornerhouse: "In their efforts to deal with climate change, most governments are pinning their hopes largely on the carbon markets that, under US influence, have been enshrined in both the Kyoto Protocol and the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.
"This is a mistake"

So the spiral of violence in Nigeria continues. Although six hostages being held by militant youths in the Delta region of Nigeria have been released, a further three are still being held.

On the day that Tony Blair hosts a crisis Downing Street summit to address what he calls "the major long-term threat facing our planet", there is more bad news for the climate.

The Guardian reports how "the Earth's temperature could rise under the impact of global warming to levels far higher than previously predicted, according to the United Nations' team of climate experts".

According to a draft of the influential UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, scientists are now unable to place a reliable upper limit on how quickly the atmosphere will warm as carbon dioxide levels increase. The Guardian

The George Clooney movie, Syriana opens in cinemas across Europe this week. Some oil campaigners believe that any film that tries to portray the deep-rooted web of connections between oil companies and politicians is a worthwhile exercise. Others think that it is conspiratorial nonsense.

So what did the Financial Times energy correspondent, Carola Hoyos think of the film? Not much it seems. She called it “unbelievably confusing and, well, crude”.

She seems to think that governments and oil companies are NOT that bright to be involved in a conspiracy. “I am not saying that oil companies are responsible, transparent, generous organisations, and

More grim news from the American Advancement of Science annual meeting. According to scientists, the world's glaciers are in crisis, from Greeenland, Patagonia, Tibet to Africa and Antarctica. They are all melting rapidly.

The amount of ice the Greenland ice sheet is loosing has doubled over the last five years.
"Fifteen years ago, we thought Greenland [glaciers] were not doing anything," says Eric Rignot from NASA. Now, ice sheets below an elevation of 2 kilometers show "major melting," he said. "We're going over the edge," he argues. Temperatures along Antartica's peninsula are rising six times faster than the global average.

Mark Dyurgerov, a

Shell’s operations in the Niger Delta have suffered yet another significant legal setback. The oil company has been ordered by a Nigerian Court to pay $1.5 billion in damages to communities in Ijaw in Baylesa State for polluting their creeks and despoiling their crops.

The court decision is seen as a significant setback for Shell, already reeling from recent attacks on its installations and a spate of hostage-taking. Shell is also refusing to abide by another court ruling that has ordered the company to stop gas flaring.

It is now forty years since the first communities in the Delta started complaining of