Yeah John that the problem We adore them Maybe it's because we don't want to change Sustainability will not come thru technology But thru cultural change Leo
John Beale <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Oh, Monsanto: how we adore thee. On Jan 19, 2007, at 11:24 AM, Marylynn Schmidt wrote: > Yes, but does Monsanto own the patient on sugar beets??? > > Mary Lynn > > Mary Lynn Schmidt, distributor Psionic Energy Software > http://miracle6bizland.com/softwaresolutions/ > > Rev. Mary Lynn Schmidt, Ordained Minister > ONE SPIRIT ONE HEART: Facilitator/Consultant for Alternative Healing > Modalities and Practitioner utilizing various modalities which can > include TTouch . Reiki . Pet Loss Grief Counseling . Animal Behavior > Modification . Shamanic Spiritual Travel . Behavior Problems . Psionic > Energy Practitioner . Radionics . Herbs . Dowsing . Nutrition . > Homeopathy . Polarity . > THE ANIMAL CONNECTION HEALING MODALITIES > http://members.tripod.com/~MLSchmidt/ > > >> From: Joe Street >> Reply-To: biofuel@sustainablelists.org >> To: biofuel@sustainablelists.org >> Subject: Re: [Biofuel] DISTILLERY DEMAND FOR GRAIN TO FUEL >> CARSVASTLY UNDERSTATED >> Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2007 10:57:29 -0500 >> >> I think sugar beets are a better bet for use in ethanol production >> than corn. >> >> Joe >> >> Zeke Yewdall wrote: >> >>> Now, using corn for fueling cars does sound like a lousy idea, but >>> not because it might increase corn prices. Considering that corn now >>> sells for only about two thirds of what it costs to grow it, I don't >>> see this is such a bad thing. Maybe farmers around the world could >>> support themselves again? And perhaps if economics had any effect >>> on farms they'd be tempted to shift to better crops, instead of >>> monocropping corn as a subsidized chemical plant input. The corn >>> economy in the US is so messed up and bizzare, I don't know that I >>> can support using corn for anything anymore, let alone ethanol. >>> >>> >>> >>> On 1/18/07, *Frantz DESPREZ* >>> > wrote: >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> January 4, 2007 - 1 >>> >>> >>> >>> Copyright © 2007 Earth Policy Institute >>> >>> >>> >>> DISTILLERY DEMAND FOR GRAIN TO FUEL CARS VASTLY UNDERSTATED World >>> May Be Facing Highest Grain Prices in History >>> >>> >>> >>> Lester R. Brown >>> >>> >>> >>> Investment in fuel ethanol distilleries has soared since the >>> late-2005 oil price hikes, but data collection in this >>> fast-changing sector has fallen behind. Because of inadequate >>> data >>> collection on the number of new plants under construction, the >>> quantity of grain that will be needed for fuel ethanol >>> distilleries has been vastly understated. Farmers, feeders, food >>> processors, ethanol investors, and grain-importing countries are >>> basing decisions on incomplete data. >>> >>> >>> >>> The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) projects that >>> distilleries will require only 60 million tons of corn from the >>> 2008 harvest. But here at the Earth Policy Institute (EPI), we >>> estimate that distilleries will need 139 million tonsmore than >>> twice as much. If the EPI estimate is at all close to the mark, >>> the emerging competition between cars and people for grain will >>> likely drive world grain prices to levels never seen before. The >>> key questions are: How high will grain prices rise? When will the >>> crunch come? And what will be the worldwide effect of rising food >>> prices? >>> >>> >>> >>> One reason for the low USDA projection is that it was released in >>> February 2006, well before the effect of surging oil prices on >>> investment in fuel ethanol distilleries was fully apparent. >>> Beyond >>> this, USDA relies heavily on the Renewable Fuels Association >>> (RFA), a trade group, for data on ethanol distilleries under >>> construction, but the RFA data have lagged behind movement in the >>> industry. >>> >>> >>> >>> We drew on four firms that collect and publish data on U.S. >>> ethanol distilleries under construction. RFA is the one most >>> frequently cited. The other three firms are Europe-based F.O. >>> Licht, the publisher of World Ethanol and Biofuels Report; BBI >>> International, which publishes Ethanol Producer Magazine; and the >>> American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE), publisher of Ethanol Today. >>> >>> >>> >>> Unfortunately, the lists of plants under construction maintained >>> by RFA, BBI, and ACE are not complete. Each contains some plants >>> that are not on the other lists. Drawing on these three lists and >>> on biweekly reports from F.O. Licht, EPI has compiled a more >>> complete master list. For example, while we show 79 plants under >>> construction, RFA lists 62 plants. (We welcome any information >>> that will improve this list, which can be viewed at >>> www.earthpolicy.org/Updates/2007/Update63_data.htm >>> .) >>> >>> >>> >>> According to the EPI compilation, the 116 plants in production on >>> December 31, 2006, were using 53 million tons of grain per year, >>> while the 79 plants under constructionmostly larger >>> facilitieswill use 51 million tons of grain when they come >>> online. Expansions of 11 existing plants will use another 8 >>> million tons of grain (1 ton of corn = 39.4 bushels = 110 gallons >>> of ethanol). >>> >>> >>> >>> In addition, easily 200 ethanol plants were in the planning stage >>> at the end of 2006. If these translate into construction starts >>> between January 1 and June 30, 2007, at the same rate that plants >>> did during the final six months of 2006, then an additional 3 >>> billion gallons of capacity requiring 27 million more tons of >>> grain will likely come online by September 1, 2008, the start of >>> the 2008 harvest year. This raises the corn needed for >>> distilleries to 139 million tons, half the 2008 harvest projected >>> by USDA. This would yield nearly 15 billion gallons of ethanol, >>> satisfying 6 percent of U.S. auto fuel needs. (And this estimate >>> does not include any plants started after June 30, 2007, that >>> would be finished in time to draw on the 2008 harvest.) >>> >>> >>> >>> This unprecedented diversion of the world's leading grain crop to >>> the production of fuel will affect food prices everywhere. As the >>> world corn price rises, so too do those of wheat and rice, both >>> because of consumer substitution among grains and because the >>> crops compete for land. Both corn and wheat futures were already >>> trading at 10-year highs in late 2006. >>> >>> >>> >>> The U.S. corn crop, accounting for 40 percent of the global >>> harvest and supplying 70 percent of the world's corn exports, >>> looms large in the world food economy. Annual U.S. corn exports >>> of >>> some 55 million tons account for nearly one fourth of world grain >>> exports. The corn harvest of Iowa alone, which edges out Illinois >>> as the leading producer, exceeds the entire grain harvest of >>> Canada. Substantially reducing this export flow would send shock >>> waves throughout the world economy. >>> >>> >>> >>> Robert Wisner, Iowa State University economist, reports that >>> Iowa's demand for corn from processing plants that were on line, >>> expanding, under construction, or being planned as of late 2006 >>> totaled 2.7 billion bushels. Yet even in a good year the state >>> harvests only 2.2 billion bushels. As distilleries compete with >>> feeders for grain, Iowa could become a corn importer. >>> >>> >>> >>> With corn supplies tightening fast, rising prices will affect not >>> only products made directly from corn, such as breakfast cereals, >>> but also those produced using corn, including milk, eggs, cheese, >>> butter, poultry, pork, beef, yogurt, and ice cream. The risk is >>> that soaring food prices could generate a consumer backlash >>> against the fuel ethanol industry. >>> >>> >>> >>> Fuel ethanol proponents point out, and rightly so, that the use >>> of >>> corn to produce ethanol is not a total loss to the food economy >>> because 30 percent of the corn is recovered in distillers dried >>> grains that can be fed to beef and dairy cattle, pigs, and >>> chickens, though only in limited amounts. They also argue that >>> the >>> U.S. distillery demand for corn can be met by expanding land in >>> corn, mostly at the expense of soybeans, and by raising yields. >>> While it is true that the corn crop can be expanded, there is no >>> precedent for growth on the scale needed. And this soaring demand >>> for corn comes when world grain production has fallen below >>> consumption in six of the last seven years, dropping grain stocks >>> to their lowest level in 34 years. >>> >>> >>> >>> From an agricultural vantage point, the automotive demand for >>> fuel >>> is insatiable. The grain it takes to fill a 25-gallon tank with >>> ethanol just once will feed one person for a whole year. >>> Converting the entire U.S. grain harvest to ethanol would satisfy >>> only 16 percent of U.S. auto fuel needs. >>> >>> >>> >>> The competition for grain between the world's 800 million >>> motorists who want to maintain their mobility and its 2 billion >>> poorest people who are simply trying to survive is emerging as an >>> epic issue. Soaring food prices could lead to urban food riots in >>> scores of lower-income countries that rely on grain imports, such >>> as Indonesia, Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria, and Mexico. The resulting >>> political instability could in turn disrupt global economic >>> progress, directly affecting all countries. It is not only food >>> prices that are at stake, but trends in the Nikkei Index and the >>> Dow Jones Industrials as well. >>> >>> >>> >>> There are alternatives to creating a crop-based automotive fuel >>> economy. The equivalent of the 2 percent of U.S. automotive fuel >>> supplies now coming from ethanol could be achieved several times >>> over, and at a fraction of the cost, by raising auto fuel >>> efficiency standards by 20 percent. >>> >>> >>> >>> If we shift to gas-electric hybrid plug-in cars over the next >>> decade, we could be doing short-distance driving, such as the >>> daily commute or grocery shopping, with electricity. If we then >>> invested in thousands of wind farms to feed cheap electricity >>> into >>> the grid, U.S. cars could run primarily on wind energy and at >>> the >>> gasoline equivalent of less than $1 a gallon. The stage is set >>> for >>> a crash program to help Detroit switch to gas-electric hybrid >>> plug-in cars. >>> >>> >>> >>> It is time for a moratorium on the licensing of new distilleries, >>> a time-out, while we catch our breath and decide how much corn >>> can >>> be used for ethanol without dramatically raising food prices. The >>> policy goal should be to use just enough fuel ethanol to support >>> corn prices and farm incomes but not so much that it disrupts the >>> world food economy. Meanwhile, a much greater effort is needed to >>> produce ethanol from cellulosic sources such as switchgrass, a >>> feedstock that is not used for food. >>> >>> >>> >>> The world desperately needs a strategy to deal with the emerging >>> food-fuel battle. As the leading grain producer, grain exporter, >>> and ethanol producer, the United States is in the driver's seat. >>> We need to make sure that in trying to solve one problemour >>> dependence on imported oil we do not create a far more serious >>> one: chaos in the world food economy. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Copyright © 2007 Earth Policy Institute >>> >>> >>> >>> frantz >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Biofuel mailing list >>> Biofuel@sustainablelists.org >>> >>> >>> http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/ >>> biofuel_sustainablelists.org >>> >>> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: >>> http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html >>> >>> Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives >>> (50,000 >>> messages): >>> http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> --------------------------------------------------------------------- >>> --- >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Biofuel mailing list >>> Biofuel@sustainablelists.org >>> http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/ >>> biofuel_sustainablelists.org >>> >>> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: >>> http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html >>> >>> Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 >>> messages): >>> http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ >>> >>> >>> > > >> _______________________________________________ >> Biofuel mailing list >> Biofuel@sustainablelists.org >> http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/ >> biofuel_sustainablelists.org >> >> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: >> http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html >> >> Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 >> messages): >> http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ >> > > > > _______________________________________________ > Biofuel mailing list > Biofuel@sustainablelists.org > http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/ > biofuel_sustainablelists.org > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > > Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 > messages): > http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ > _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ Send instant messages to your online friends http://au.messenger.yahoo.com
_______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
