Afghanistan
Articles and publications are written by Wayne
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November 2, 2021, Afghanistan — What Seeds of Hope Exist For The Future?, Opinion
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December 7, 2014, Replacing Afghan Poppies with Pomegranates, Wall Street Journal Opinion
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June 10, 2010, Changing How Energy is Sourced and Produced in Afghanistan, Arden-Fox Press Release
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June 10, 2010, Producing and Using Biodiesel in Afghanistan, June 10, 2010, Wayne Arden and John Fox
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The paper argues that the U.S. military should partially replace the use of imported petroleum diesel in Afghanistan with locally produced biodiesel. Five benefits could potentially be realized: a reduction in U.S. casualties, savings of millions or billions of dollars a year, freeing up troops dedicated to the management of fuel convoys for other assignments, a reduction in poppy cultivation, and thus the opium trade of up to 50%, and finally the creation of a new renewable industry in Afghanistan based on agriculture, Afghanistan’s most important economic sector.
The paper also makes a complementary recommendation that the U.S. should fund the creation of an Afghanistan commodity exchange. A commodity exchange could both support Afghanistan’s critical agricultural sector (including biodiesel crops) and create a new financial industry for Afghanistan.
The paper (118 pages) or an executive summary of the paper (five pages) can be downloaded here:
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In the press
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October 21, 2010, Syracuse University Partners with Arden-Fox to Support the Advancement of Defense’s Net Zero Energy Initiative, Biofuels Digest
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October 19, 2010, Supporting the Advancement of DoD’s Net Zero Energy Initiative, Biofuel Daily
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October 19, 2010, Syracuse University partners with Arden-Fox on Net-Zero-Energy Initiative Oct 18, 2010, Syracuse University press release.
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September 20, 2010, Can biofuels beat drug crops and save lives in Afghanistan?, CNN
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July 13, 2010, Significant role for biodiesel in Afghanistan, Biodiesel Magazine
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