No mention of the net energy calculations or references to data--if there are any! "Cost" data, in particular, should include direct and indirect industry subsidies in addition to the direct and indirect energy cycle effects. I smell fifth columns and a "giant sucking sound." One "research group" representative declared that some number in the billions of "gallons" (no BTU's or other equivalent measure was mentioned) of ethanol could be produced from "switchgrass" and other "cellulosic" materials--but no mention of the effects of such production on ecosystems and not even the simple arithmetic of how much acreage would be required. And, of course, no mention of the energy and resources required to produce, distribute, and put such energy to "useful" work. What kind of taxpayer-supported subsidies are going to Archer-Daniels Midland (ADM) an other corporate entities now, and what kind are in the works or will be in the works when this shell-game finally shakes out? (Can you spell "overruns?")
Of the 6,000-plus ECOLOG subscribers, how many think ethanol production, particularly as an end product rather than a by-product, is a significant "solution" to "the energy crisis" and how many think it is a juicy pork-barrel (or something else) AND upon what scientific or evidentiary basis? WT At 07:26 PM 3/22/2007, stan moore wrote: >In the article linked to below, note that automobile drivers and their >demand for sustainable fuels are "driving" the market towards distilled >grains as fuels. Many of the world's poorest humans rely on grains as >staples in their food supply, and the pressure on world grain supplies will >impact poor humans disproportionately, but the cost of grain-fed meats will >rise, too. > >How much additional wildland will be put into grain production, at the cost >of habitat for wild flora and fauna? How many forests will be cut down? >How sustainable can this transition be? What is the relationship between >saving greenhouse gases by switching fuels to the ecological cost of >deforestation and thus removing natural systems for carbon dioxide removal? > >An interesting article by Lester Brown of the Earth Policy Institute can be >linked to at: > >http://www.peopleandplanet.net/doc.php?id=2981 > > > >Stan Moore San Geronimo, CA [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >_________________________________________________________________ >Exercise your brain! Try Flexicon. >http://games.msn.com/en/flexicon/default.htm?icid=flexicon_hmemailtaglinemarch07
