Biofuels...food prices and political unrest....

[suspectnumber961]

A Quick Fix to the Food Crisis: Scientific American

The problem is therefore one of rapidly rising demand. Conventional wisdom points to Asia as the source, but that’s not so. China has contributed somewhat to tighter markets in recent years by importing more soybeans and cutting back on grain exports to build up its stocks, which should serve as a warning to policy makers for the future. But consumption in China and India is rising no faster than it has in previous decades. In general, Asia’s higher incomes have not triggered the surge in demand for food.

That starring role belongs to biofuels. Since 2004 biofuels from crops have almost doubled the rate of growth in global demand for grain and sugar and pushed up the yearly growth in demand for vegetable oil by around 40 percent. Even cassava is edging out other crops in Thailand because China uses it to make ethanol.

So every time you drive your car...someone else goes hungry? Don't you feel guilty?

[tjts1]

So every time somebody eats...I have to pay more for gas? Don't they feel guilty?

[suspectnumber961]

Yes. And they should really just kill themselves so we can drive around more. Americans (and Europeans...etc) are really special people...after all.

[jakobnev]

And they should really just kill themselves so we can drive around more.

You're not exactly being the horses mouth nor the horses hooves here..

Nobody is asking for people to kill themselves - but a few fewer children here and there would help. Haiti for example, they had food riots, but what people always fail to mention is that their population has grown more than 40% in 20 years. Who in right mind expects food production to keep up with that?

[cleanspeed1]

Wow. So you can't make biofuel out of anything else. Man, Brazil must be starving.

[jamesqf]

You might think about food imports. If a country has to import staple food items - not luxuries or seasonal fruits & vetetables - isn't the real problem that that country is overpopulated?

Might also think of the waste of scarce fossil fuel resources used to transport these foods.

[tjts1]

Originally Posted by jakobnev

You're not exactly being the horses mouth nor the horses hooves here..

Nobody is asking for people to kill themselves - but a few fewer children here and there would help. Haiti for example, they had food riots, but what people always fail to mention is that their population has grown more than 40% in 20 years. Who in right mind expects food production to keep up with that?

Contraceptives are a beautiful thing. Maybe we should focus on making them available to more people. No matter where you look in the world there is a clear inverse correlation between number of children and quality of life. Some of the religious folks might not like it but facts is facts.

[cleanspeed1]

Originally Posted by jakobnev

You're not exactly being the horses mouth nor the horses hooves here..

Nobody is asking for people to kill themselves - but a few fewer children here and there would help. Haiti for example, they had food riots, but what people always fail to mention is that their population has grown more than 40% in 20 years. Who in right mind expects food production to keep up with that?

Is there a reason you used Haiti as an example?

[jakobnev]

Originally Posted by cleanspeed1

Is there a reason you used Haiti as an example?

It happened to be at the top of my head.

[tjts1]

There is some ACTUAL news about biofuels today.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2011/...imes&seid=auto

Senate Vote Marks Start of End for Ethanol Subsidies
The Senate voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to eliminate billions of dollars in support for the U.S. ethanol industry, sending a strong message that the era of big taxpayer support for biofuels is ending.