The Lubin Files

Plethora of full-text documents on major FAO topics

A library patron requested electronically-available FAO documents on the topics of climate change and food security; bioenergy and climate change, and climate adaptation.

Here is our list:

CLIMATE CHANGE AND FOOD SECURITY:

The State of Food Insecurity in the World (SOFI) High food prices and Food Security, threats and opportunities. http://www.fao.org/docrep/011/i0291e/i0291e00.htm

Climate Change & Food Security: a Framework Document.
http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/k2595e/k2595e00.htm

Climate change and biodiversity for food and agriculture. High Level Conference on World Food Security - Background Paper HLC/08/BAK/3. FAO.
ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/meeting/013/ai784e.pdf

FAO. 2008. Climate change, water and food security. High Level Conference on World Food Security - Background Paper HLC/08/BAK/2.
ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/meeting/013/ai783e.pdf

BIOENERGY:

The State of Food and Agriculture 2008. Biofuels: prospects, risks and opportunities: http://www.fao.org/docrep/011/i0100e/i0100e00.htm

High Level Conference on World Food Security:the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy. 
List of documents: http://www.fao.org/foodclimate/conference/doclist/en/?no_cache=1

FAO/IFPRI. 2008. Impact of Climate Change and Bioenergy on Nutrition. http://www.fao.org/ag/AGN/agns/files/HLC2_Food_Safety_Bioenergy_Climate_Change.pdf

The market and food security implications of the development of biofuel production. Background document for the FAO Committee on Commodity Problems 67th session. Rome, 20-22 April 2009.
ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/meeting/016/k4477e.pdf

Bioenergy, food security and sustainability - towards an international framework. Background document for the High-level Conference on World Food Security: the challenges of climate change and bionergy. Rome, 3-5 June 2008. http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/foodclimate/HLCdocs/HLC08-inf-3-E.pdf

Climate change, bioenergy and food security: options for decision-makers identified by expert meetings Background document for the High-level Conference on World Food Security: the challenges of climate change and bionergy. Rome, 3-5 June 2008.
http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/foodclimate/HLCdocs/HLC08-inf-5-E.pdf

CLIMATE ADAPTATION:

Low Greenhouse Gas Agriculture. Mitigation and adaptation potential of sustainable farming systems.
ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/010/ai781e/ai781e00.pdf

Climate change adaptation and mitigation in the food and agriculture sector. High Level Conference on World Food Security - Background Paper HLC/08/BAK/1. FAO.
ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/meeting/013/ai782e.pdf

Climate change adaptation and mitigation: challenges and opportunities in the food sector. High Level Conference on World Food Security - Information Paper HLC/08/INF/2.
ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/meeting/013/k2545e.pdf

Dryland Pastoral Systems and Climate Change: Implications and Opportunities for Mitigation and Adaptation.
http://www.fao.org/climatechange/media/15537/0/0/

Terrestrial essential climatic variables for climate change monitoring, mitigation and adaptation. Rome, FAO.
ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/010/a1430e/a1430e.pdf

Climate change and disaster risk management. High Level Conference on World Food Security - Background Paper HLC/08/BAK/5. FAO.
ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/meeting/013/ai786e.pdf

Biofuel from algae

The Economist reports that Exxon is investing $300m into an effort to create biofuels from genetically engineered algae.  The company working on this project is Synthetic Genomics.  They are not alone in targeting algae as an energy source, as previously blogged in the Lubin Files.

State of Food and Agriculture 2008

The State of Food and Agriculture 2008 was released today, October 7. This year's SOFA is dedicated to Biofuels. It explores the impact of biofuels on global agricultural markets, the environment, and on world food security.

SOFA 2008 examines the underlying causes of the global food crisis and provides forecasts for future commodity market developments. It also analyses principal sources of uncertainty in world agricultural markets and the implications of alternative strategies to counteract the surge in the price of agricultural commodities.

You can download it here.

Bill Gates and biofuel

Bill Gates, along with the Rockefeller Foundation and Wellcome Trust, invest in a California start-up company that will investigate using algae for the production of biofuel.

Article from Scientific American.

Biofuel from crop residue? Maybe not...

Using crop residues to produce biofuel sounds a lot better for the environment than using crops otherwise meant for consumption, doesn't it?  But according to USDA soil scientist Ann Kennedy, crop residues play an important role in the soil nutrient balance, and we might be better off just leaving them where they are.

This post is from the Grist blog.

Biofuel policies in OECD countries are costly and ineffective

Government support of  biofuel production in OECD countries is "costly, has a limited impact on reducing greenhouse gases and improving energy security, and has a significant impact on world crop prices,"

This, according to the OECD report: Economic Assessment of Biofuel Support Policies

In search of the perfect cash crop

This article from the BBC News recalls the boom in coffee production that made many penniless Kenyan farmers rich in the 1970s.

Could biofuel crops be the next golden opportunity?

More unintended risks from biofuels

I have read a lot about the argument of crops for food vs crops for fuel. But I had never considered the possibility that plants grown for biofuel might also act as invasive species.

Read more at the Dot Earth blog.

Small-scale bio power plants have higher emissions

Small-scale community based bio-power plants produce higher levels of emissions per unit of electrical output than large facilities, according to new research presented at the United Kingdom Energy Research Centre’s Sustainable Energy UK conference in Oxford...

Read more here.

Make your own petrol

Are you tired of paying high prices for auto fuel?  Why don't you make your own?  Just don't go around thinking that you're doing the planet any favors...

Article from Scientific American.