Glenn, I hate to be the one to pull the plug on everyone's drain, but the crux of the problem which you present is....in a nutshell....capitalism, with all its incumbent selfishness and greed.
Mind you, there is nothing wrong with money, only how it is achieved and what is done with it. (and it's not "money" that is the root of all evil. Rather, it's the "love of money.") As long as there are broad common markets, persons with wares to sell will attempt to access the furthest reaches of them.....selling widgets manufactured in Maryland to Tibetans, with all revenues accumulating in a particular bank account, rather than multiple points of manufacture and multiple residences for the end revenues. Centralized manufacture and distribution of anything is a common and all too frequent recipe for disaster, especially when you start speaking of global distribution and all its incumbent logistical, economical and energy nightmares and costs. This doesn't mean that "economies of scale" should be abandoned. Nor does it mean that the only solution is social or communalistic "isms." It simply means that the vast majority of solutions are going to be regional, not global, when it comes to manufacturing and distribution. A feedstock or product can only travel so far before the energy and labor intensivity begins to become the fulcrum from which social, environmental and ethical values are eroded away. Not an opinion. Just a simple fact. Todd Swearingen ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <biofuels-biz@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Monday, August 12, 2002 12:15 PM Subject: [biofuels-biz] Some essential questions > > What are the specific commodities upon which we are absolutely dependent? > What are the possibilities that each of these commodities might become scarce > or (like petroleum products) controlled, and at risk to becoming > prohibitively expensive? How might one go about becoming independent of each > of these commodities by developing spedific alternatives, the production or > generation of which can be brought under individual control?. How widespread > is the intrerest in becoming independent? What would be the costs of > developing these resources? > > These essential commodities appear to be the ones at potential risk: food, > water, fuel for heating and/or transportation, and for electrical power > generation. > > Terrorism introduces a new dimension to the subject, for example the > potential for widespread virul contamination or disruption to which > civilized cultures appear to be especially vulnerable. I.e., contamination > of water supplies, and widespread airborne biological comtamination of > plant and animal life, to disrupt the food chain, if not human life directly. > Also, to some biological warfare agents there appear to be no known > antidotes and;/or vaccines, suggesting the prospect of quarantine. . . > > What are the essential design elements of a system or systems that would be > effective as possible in protecting an individual or groups of individuals > from these potential hazards? Are the design problems so significant that > they can not be addressed except on a regional basis? At the same time could > these hazards be handled while at the same time maintaining present living > standards? To what extent and how; in addressing these potential hazards, > must the present culture(s) necessarily be changed?. > . > Glenn Ellis > . > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> > 4 DVDs Free +s&p Join Now > http://us.click.yahoo.com/pt6YBB/NXiEAA/RN.GAA/9bTolB/TM > --------------------------------------------------------------- ------~-> > > Biofuels at Journey to Forever > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > Biofuel at WebConX > http://www.webconx.dns2go.com/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm > List messages are archived at the Info-Archive at NNYTech: > http://archive.nnytech.net/ > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> 4 DVDs Free +s&p Join Now http://us.click.yahoo.com/pt6YBB/NXiEAA/RN.GAA/9bTolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuels at Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel at WebConX http://www.webconx.dns2go.com/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm List messages are archived at the Info-Archive at NNYTech: http://archive.nnytech.net/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
