02 March 2007
Ethanol is becoming more problematic
Way back, when I first started reading about this stuff, I heard about biofuels, the carbon-neutral Gaia-send for our energy woes. We could continue living the way we had been by switching over to biodiesel and ethanol. Of course, when solutions like this seem too good to be true, they inevitably are. As time progressed, I read about energy in vs. energy out, and how current production methods would not be able to achieve any kind of sustainable efficiency. I read about how corn-based ethanol is monopolizing the strategy for the conversion of U.S. energy sector into renewables. The outlook becomes less rosy. I posted about this last June and referred to a calculation about the United States' ability to meet the demand using corn.
Now it appears that a troubling side effect of this focus will drive up the cost of food, increase scarcity, while creating massive profits for Big Agri-Biz and real estate speculators alike:
And here I thought that drought or topsoil degradation were greater threats. I suppose they serve to increase the value of land that still has agricultural potential. And here I thought that the business potential of green alternatives was an incentive worth promoting. I guess it depends on how you define "green".
It's time to stop pouring time and energy into ideas about how to keep cars on the road and start focusing on a new paradigm.
Credit goes to The Energy Blog for this story.
Now it appears that a troubling side effect of this focus will drive up the cost of food, increase scarcity, while creating massive profits for Big Agri-Biz and real estate speculators alike:
Farmland the new hot property
Demand for corn used in ethanol increased the value of cropland 16 per cent in Indiana and 35 per cent in Idaho in 2006, government figures show. The price of a Soho loft appreciated only 12 per cent, while a pied-a-terre in Islington near London's financial district gained 11 per cent, according to realtors.
Farmland returns "will take a quantum leap over the next 18 months," after corn prices surged to a 10-year high in February...
And here I thought that drought or topsoil degradation were greater threats. I suppose they serve to increase the value of land that still has agricultural potential. And here I thought that the business potential of green alternatives was an incentive worth promoting. I guess it depends on how you define "green".
It's time to stop pouring time and energy into ideas about how to keep cars on the road and start focusing on a new paradigm.
Credit goes to The Energy Blog for this story.
Labels: economics, empire, energy, neocon bunk
// posted by Parge @ 12:12 PM
