While fossil fuels still account for more than 95 percent of the global transportation fuel market, biofuel production is growing roughly 15 percent per year, a rate over ten times that of oil. Under mounting pressure to improve domestic energy security and combat global climate change, countries are now turning to ethanol and biodiesel to meet rising transportation fuel demands. In 2005, the U.S. pledged to nearly double ethanol production by 2012, and the European Community recently announced that biofuels will meet 10 percent of their transportation fuel needs by 2020.

However, not everyone is enthusiastic about the biofuel "boom." Critics are highlighting the potential environmental and social costs of biofuels, including the consequences of increased food prices on the global poor. The development of cellulosic ethanol could dispel some of these concerns, but additional research and investment are needed to make this technology commercially viable and environmentally sustainable. The following discussion will highlight the potential benefits and drawbacks of biofuels as a renewable energy source in the transportation sector.

At EarthTrends, we focus on international environmental statistics and analyses, frequently writing about daunting global challenges such as poverty, climate change, and biodiversity loss. However, many of our site's visitors--particularly those in developed countries--have asked us for more information on how individual efforts can contribute to positive change in these areas of concern.

In response, we've taken a break from our quantitative data to compile a summary of simple actions that one can take in four areas--water, waste, energy, and biodiversity--to live a more environmentally-friendly and sustainable lifestyle.

Water scarcity--defined as the annual availability of less than 1,000 cubic meters of water per person--already affects 40 percent of the world population. By 2025, this figure could rise to 66 percent as a result of population growth, climate change and water pollution. What if we could turn seawater, which accounts for 97 percent of the earth's water resources, into drinkable water? We can. Desalination technologies have existed for hundreds of years, although the cost of desalination remains prohibitively high for most countries.

The consequences of climate change are already being felt around the world. As global leaders consider how to best mitigate and adapt to a warmer earth, climate science will provide a fundamental backbone for policy decisions. A recent World Resources Institute (WRI) issue brief, Climate Science 2006: Major new discoveries, reviews some of the important climate change science research and innovations from the past year.

The global tuberculosis epidemic has leveled off for the first time since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a public health emergency in 1993. According to the latest WHO report, Global Tuberculosis Control: Surveillance, Planning, Financing, roughly 60 percent of new TB cases are now detected and almost 85 percent of these cases are cured. However, over 14 million people were living with TB in 2005 and nearly 1.6 million died, indicating that significant challenges remain.

Amid global struggles to reduce poverty, protect the environment, and increase overall human welfare in developing countries, the concept of good governance has played a central role in the development dialogue. Theories on how to promote and maintain governance systems that are democratic, transparent and accountable are at the core of this conversation and have shifted substantially over recent decades. An event hosted yesterday by the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and the Brookings Institution gathered a diverse panel of development experts and practitioners to discuss the evolution of thinking and practice in the governance realm.

A new report released today by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) has measured for the first time the size and structure of markets at the "base of the pyramid" (BOP): the four billion people worldwide earning less than $3,000 per year. Drawing on income data from 110 countries and expenditure data from 36 countries, The Next 4 Billion: Market Size and Business Strategy at the Base of the Pyramid provides an analytic foundation for assessing business and development opportunities within BOP markets in a manner that is comparable across countries. View the official press release.

On average in low income countries, the agricultural sector accounts for over 20 percent of gross domestic product and 60 percent of the total workforce, making it a vital aspect of economic growth and poverty reduction in the developing world. In many developing countries, however, agricultural statistics--requisite for management and policy formation--are often unreliable, incomplete, or difficult to access. Contributing to the improvement and dissemination of subnational-level agricultural statistics, the Syrian National Agricultural Policy Centre (NAPC) has created a free, on-line database that provides a detailed and up-to-date statistical picture of Syria's agricultural sector.

In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the most water scarce region in the world, it is predicted that per capita water availability will fall by half by 2050. And scarcity is only one of the water-related challenges that MENA countries are currently facing--altered rainfall patterns due to climate change, shifting demand structures, and rising industrial and urban pollution all complicate efforts to efficiently manage water resources. However, a recent report by the World Bank argues that water scarcity need not constrain economic and social progress in the region if a multi-sectoral approach to water sector reform is adopted.

According to a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, roughly 23,000 African elephants were killed for their tusks in 2006. As a consequence of illegal ivory poaching, elephant numbers are dwindling in many west, central and east African countries. However, in southern Africa, where 58 percent of the elephant population resides, numbers are rising to problematic levels. Scientists are now beginning to explore alternatives to culling in order to sustainably manage expanding elephant populations.