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Bio-Fuel - Oh my Gosh! I didn't realise.

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Bio-Fuel - Oh my Gosh! I didn't realise. Empty Bio-Fuel - Oh my Gosh! I didn't realise.

Post by Akindra Sun Jul 06, 2008 3:47 pm

For anyone that is or has considered being a vegetarian - you've probably read about the reasons for doing so.

One is the sustainability issue of feeding the ever growing population on earth. Well this issue is huge in regards to the biofuel debate!

I couldn't believe it when i read the following article. I always thought biofuel was a good thing - but truth be known - I never really thought about it - let alone questioned it or wondered what it was made out of (der - I will have to remember to read a bit more into things sometimes!)

Sorry - it's another long one - Ive just put the first bit on here and a link to the whole article - I decided just to put the link - well worth the read, but you'll get the gist from the first few paragraphs anyway.

Glenda

http://home.att.net/~meditation/bio-fuel-hoax.html


The biofuel hoax is causing a world food crisis!
As our politicians drill the human food supply
for energy
by Christopher Calder

On December 19th, 2007, President George
W. Bush signed into law the "Energy
Independence and Security Act" (summary
pdf 107kb), which mandates that 36 billion
gallons of biofuels be produced in the United
States every year by 2022, a nearly fivefold
increase over current production levels.
Ethanol (vodka minus H2O) and "biodiesel"
(a.k.a. cooking oil) are made from food or
inedible crops which displace normal
agricultural activity. Biofuel crops include
corn, soybeans, rapeseed (canola oil),
sugarcane, palm trees (palm oil), and cassava,
as well as experimental "second generation"
crops such as switchgrass, jatropha, giant
reed, hemp, and algae. [see picture of George
W. Bush holding bottle of ethanol]
In 2007, 54% of the world's corn was
grown in the United States, and an ever
increasing percentage of that crop ended up
in gas tanks instead of stomachs. The corn
required to fill the 18.5 gallon gas tank of a
Toyota Camry with ethanol could feed one
human being for 270 days. Ethanol
production took only about 6 to 7% of
American corn in 1998, but has grown as a
cancer on our food supply, taking somewhere
between 30 to 38% by 2008. Readers should
be warned that it is difficult to get honest
figures on how much US corn is currently
being turned into ethanol, as Secretary of
Agriculture Edward Schafer has effectively
turned the USDA into a propaganda machine
for the biofuel lobby. President Bush's
Katrina style mishandling of America's food
supply is a disgrace, as any responsible
president would appoint a Secretary of
Agriculture who was concerned with food
supply security, not with profits of ethanol
manufacturers.
The US is also diverting increasing
amounts of soybean and rapeseed oil to
biodiesel production, and world supplies of
cooking oil are getting tight. Corn, soybeans,
and rapeseed are the foundation of
America's food supply because they feed our
farm animals which give us dairy products,
eggs, and meat. When the cost of animal
feed is pushed up by biofuel production, the
price American families pay for those food
items also rise. [see corn price chart]
Biofuels require massive amounts of nitrogen
fertilizers to produce, and the price of
fertilizer rose by more than 200% in 2007
alone. Nitrogen fertilizers are largely made
from natural gas, which experienced little
overall price gain in 2007, so the main driving
force of fertilizer price hyperinflation is
undeniably biofuel production. Biofuels are
pushing up the cost of all foods that require
fertilizers, including rice, wheat, potatoes,
tomatoes, lettuce, and broccoli.
NEWS - Scientists warn of lack of vital
phosphorus as biofuels raise demand
According to the United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organization, global food prices
rose an incredible 40% in 2007, which
qualifies as hyperinflation. The World Bank
states that the cost of staple foods rose by
83% during the 3 year period from 2005 to
2008. The United Nations warns that 82
countries face food emergencies because
cereal stocks are at an all-time low.
Unfortunately, few consumers/voters
understand exactly why food prices have
risen so dramatically, and even our most
respected politicians do not comprehend the
magnitude of the global food crisis which they
themselves helped create.
WARNING - From Barack Obama's campaign
website - "Obama will require 36 billion
gallons of renewable fuels to be included in
the fuel supply by 2022 and will increase that
to at least 60 billion gallons of advanced
biofuels like cellulosic ethanol by 2030."
NEWS! - Obama links to ethanol industry
exposed by NYT - Kay Bailey Hutchison
proposes a sane energy plan
The United Nations states that its charity
programs can no longer afford to feed the
starving peoples of the world because of the
high cost of staple foods created by biofuel
production. Mr. Jean Ziegler, the former
United Nations Special Rapporteur on the
Right to Food, repeatedly denounced biofuels
as "a crime against humanity," and warned
that “This is an imminent massacre.” Ziegler
explained that families in the United States
and the European Union spend only about 10
to 20% of their budgets on food, but those in
poor countries are forced to spend 60 to
90%, so “It’s a question of survival.” The new
UN food envoy, Mr. Olivier De Schutter, has
also called for U.S. and E.U. biofuel targets
to be abandoned, and said the world food
crisis is "a silent tsunami affecting 100 million
people."
Food banks in the US are running low on
supplies, and many families who use to
contribute food are now in need of help
themselves. When farmers plant more corn in
order to cash in on high prices created by
biofuel mandates, they reduce production of
other crops such as wheat. The USDA stated
that in May, 2008, US wheat supplies were
lower than at any time since 1948, in part
because 16% of U.S. farmland formerly
planted in wheat and soybeans was planted in
corn for ethanol.
The increased cost of oil has pushed the
price of all products higher, but biofuel
production has amplified an expected food
price rise by shrinking food supplies, thus
turning a manageable cost problem into a
global humanitarian disaster. Oil price
increases have not shrunk the human food
supply, but biofuel production has! The more
biofuels we produce, the less food we have to
eat because we grow biofuel crops using the
same land, water, fertilizer, farm equipment,
and labor we use to grow food. As massive
new biofuel mandates have only recently been
signed into law, the world should be warned
that the biofuel food price spiral has only just
begun. [see Parallels - Biofuels and Mao's
"Great Leap Forward"]
The ideology of biofuel production sounds
wholesome superficially, a kind of green,
health food store way of producing energy,
and that is part of the reason why biofuels
have an almost cult-like following in our
scientifically undereducated United States
Congress. Our biofuel plans are based on
selfish political calculation and hype, without
legitimate ecological or even economic
justification.
Ten reasons to oppose the Obama-Bush
biofuel plan .....................................

To read the rest - follow the above link
Akindra
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Post by Sarveswara Mon Jul 07, 2008 3:51 am

Thank you darling for this information ... how interesting ... I also had no idea!
Sarveswara
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