Like the illusion of Wall Street, with its vast and powerful investment banks, now shuttered, China too is an illusion perpetuated by the Globalists that gave us the 15,000 mile Caesar salad, poisoned cat food and lead based paint on babies' pacifiers. Like the illusion that money would come from thin air to always push housing prices higher, China has spent a generation pursuing its illusion. Pursuing an unattainable dream to be like the West, while 6000 years of its carefully shepherded top soil blows into the sea.
Joined: Feb 20, 2005 Posts: 2886 Location: Uppsala, Sweden
Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 9:57 am Post subject: Re: Ethanol consumes almost a quarter of US corn production
Well, it's good for some people. I have relatives who are farmers and they will plant more this year than they have ever planted before, and they love the fact that they will make money from farming, not from EU subsidies and grants (which fall as prices rise).
When I mentioned that the price of fertilizer and fuel has gone up a lot they just laughed at me. Seems like those are only small fractions of the cost of farming, and with grain prices going up so much those other costs don't really matter. _________________ Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.
And more better is this guy who knows a thing or two about ag, small towns and the implications of PO and all the rest - and is way smarter than me:
http://web.missouri.edu/~ikerdj/papers/ _________________ Make a plan and work it:
edit: Took them 18 minutes to plant their 31000 seeds (1 acre) (with tractor).
edit: Highly recommend watching this. I learned a few things, although Ethanol wasn't really covered much. The price of corn during this filming was $1.65 (CHEAP). Cheap oil also was never mentioned. _________________ Clothing should be optional.
Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 2:19 pm Post subject: Re: Ethanol consumes almost a quarter of US corn production
Quote:
Next year, the use of US corn for ethanol is forecast to rise to 114 million tonnes - nearly a third of the whole projected US crop. American cars now burn enough corn to cover all the import needs of the 82 nations classed by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) as "low-income food-deficit countries". There could scarcely be a better way to starve the poor.
The threat posed by biofuels affects all of us. Global grain stockpiles - on which all of humanity depends - are now perilously depleted. Cereal stocks are at their lowest level for 25 years, according to the FAO. The world has consumed more grain than it has produced for seven of the past eight years, and supplies, at roughly only 54 days of consumption, are the lowest on record.
Joined: Nov 18, 2004 Posts: 1136 Location: Central Texas
Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 5:21 pm Post subject: Re: Ethanol consumes almost a quarter of US corn production
Pops wrote:
And more better is this guy who knows a thing or two about ag, small towns and the implications of PO and all the rest - and is way smarter than me:
http://web.missouri.edu/~ikerdj/papers/
In 2006, Ikerd gave the keynote address at the Renewable Energy Roundup & Green Living Fair in Fredericksburg, TX.
He definitely knows his stuff. He talked briefly about PO, but didn't get too deep into all it's implications with regard to farming. His time was limited to only one hour at the Roundup. _________________ About my avatar: Guess.
Joined: Apr 03, 2004 Posts: 7017 Location: My Grandkids' Farm
Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 6:19 pm Post subject: Re: Ethanol consumes almost a quarter of US corn production
I have conversed with him briefly via e-mail regarding PO and he is quite gracious - but of course circumspect.
I think his best stuff is about big farming vs small farming and the future of small towns and rural areas - that writing goes back a while.
I recommend a thorough reading of his papers for anyone interested in the future of small agriculture, small towns and such. _________________ Make a plan and work it:
Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 6:54 pm Post subject: Re: Ethanol consumes almost a quarter of US corn production
Quote:
Colin Carter, Ph.D., UC-Davis: “Achieving the American goal to replace 15% of gasoline demand with ethanol in ten years would require the entire current U.S. corn crop, which represents a whopping 40% of the world's corn supply.”
The American farmer used to grow food. They are now in the topsoil mining business!
Joined: Apr 03, 2004 Posts: 7017 Location: My Grandkids' Farm
Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 8:55 pm Post subject: Re: Ethanol consumes almost a quarter of US corn production
shortonoil wrote:
Quote:
Colin Carter, Ph.D., UC-Davis: “Achieving the American goal to replace 15% of gasoline demand with ethanol in ten years would require the entire current U.S. corn crop, which represents a whopping 40% of the world's corn supply.”
The American farmer used to grow food. They are now in the topsoil mining business!
Joined: Dec 18, 2004 Posts: 4963 Location: One Mile From the Columbia River
Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 9:20 pm Post subject: Re: Ethanol consumes almost a quarter of US corn production
shortonoil wrote:
Quote:
Colin Carter, Ph.D., UC-Davis: “Achieving the American goal to replace 15% of gasoline demand with ethanol in ten years would require the entire current U.S. corn crop, which represents a whopping 40% of the world's corn supply.”
The American farmer used to grow food. They are now in the topsoil mining business!
There are exceptions, of course, but for the majority of the acres farmed across North America you're probably right. Topsoil depletion is a serious issue, as we all know.
I wonder how much the grain harvest would be if there were no more fossil fuel based fertilizers and insecticides. It's something worth pondering because at some point it will happen. _________________ Got Dharma?
Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 10:28 pm Post subject: Re: Ethanol consumes almost a quarter of US corn production
eastbay wrote:
...
I wonder how much the grain harvest would be if there were no more fossil fuel based fertilizers and insecticides. It's something worth pondering because at some point it will happen.
I'm a hard core doomer but I have a theory that I will never live to see the day when fossil fuel based farming is given up.
As oil gets more expensive the "un-necessities" will be the first thing given up on. There's a couple good post about airline bankruptcies right now! If things get bad enough we can even give up on suburbia aka (the non-negotiable American way of life)......but we will never "voluntarily" give up on fossil fuel based farming. People need to eat. By the time society reaches that low of a point where farmers don't have diesel fuel to run their tractors we'd hit the Mad Max scenario and I won't be around then.
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