China's corn rush to redraw global food landscape - Business LIVE

The world's most populous nation is expected to triple corn purchases next crop year and, by its own admission, become a significant importer by 2015, putting more strain on global food supplies at a time when inflation is gnawing away at economic growth and the population nears seven billion.
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Going beyond its borders, China's large corn imports could also threaten feed grain supplies for the US ethanol industry, which consumes 40% of the country's corn output.

Record-breaking low temperature cools Melbourne this morning | FLORIDA TODAY

A record-breaking low temperature of 58 degrees was measured this morning at Melbourne International Airport.

Low on carbon, high on hyperbole? The SLCI conference reviewed | Caledonian Mercury - Business and Technology

Hyperbole there was aplenty. Mr Salmond spoke of renewables as “a fundamental one-off leap in human history” and a “turning point – like the discovery of the New World”, and other such emotive nonsense. There is no doubting the first minister’s enthusiasm for the topic, and his address was lapped up by the faithful in the audience.

But the mood from the business speakers who followed was a bit more sombre. We learnt that globally over the last 18 months the renewables sector had underperformed, and that there had been some notable corporate casualties in the US. So far, we were told, only 5.4 per cent of the world’s energy comes from renewables, and there were worries over falling prices and falling subsidies, with the example given of the Italian tariffs which have reduced dramatically.

Book Review: Powering the Future - WSJ.com

Many environmentalists believe that carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels will cause a climate crisis toward the end of this century. Environmentalists also raise the alarm that we have reached "peak oil" and that fossil fuels will run out by the middle of the century. That both views cannot be true rarely seems to bother those who hold them.