Sunday, April 20, 2008
Propaganda Alert: Biofuels and Food Shortages
I notice that every article is blaming rising food prices worldwide on
rising production of biofuels based on corn and wheat. Interestingly, I
can't actually find any statistics on how much diversion of the total staple
crop the rise in biofuels production supposedly accounts for. The closest I
can come is this blurb from this article, which seems speculative at best:
"Most look at a scenario in the year 2015 where the American farmer will
produce 15 billion bushels of corn, said Renewable Fuels Association
spokesperson Matt Hartwig.

Sunday, April 20, 2008
Idiot Alert: Biofuels and Food Shortages
I notice that every article is blaming rising food prices worldwide
on
rising production of biofuels based on corn and wheat.
Interestingly, I
can't actually find any statistics on how much diversion of the
total staple

"Bob Eld" <nsmontassoc@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:be2Pj.9034$V14.2555@nlpi070.nbdc.sbc.com...
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Idiot Alert: Biofuels and Food Shortages
I notice that every article is blaming rising food prices worldwide
on
rising production of biofuels based on corn and wheat.
Interestingly, I
can't actually find any statistics on how much diversion of the
total staple


Hey Fat abd lazy Bob, Rice production rised to doubled prices. If
you don't consume rice at all then that maybe why you're so retarded.

Bob Eld wrote:

Sunday, April 20, 2008
Propaganda Alert: Biofuels and Food Shortages
I notice that every article is blaming rising food prices worldwide on
rising production of biofuels based on corn and wheat. Interestingly, I
can't actually find any statistics on how much diversion of the total
staple
crop the rise in biofuels production supposedly accounts for. The
closest I
can come is this blurb from this article, which seems speculative at
best:
"Most look at a scenario in the year 2015 where the American farmer will
produce 15 billion bushels of corn, said Renewable Fuels Association
spokesperson Matt Hartwig.

I suggest that you also look to Asia and the diversion of vegetable oil
production for European bio-diesel production.

I was stunned to see that a litre of ordinary vegetable oil had risen from
58p
IIRC in January to 88p now in my local supermarket.

Graham

Sunday, April 20, 2008
Propaganda Alert: Biofuels and Food Shortages
I notice that every article is blaming rising food prices worldwide on
rising production of biofuels based on corn and wheat. Interestingly, I
can't actually find any statistics on how much diversion of the total staple
crop the rise in biofuels production supposedly accounts for. The closest I
can come is this blurb from this article, which seems speculative at best:
"Most look at a scenario in the year 2015 where the American farmer will
produce 15 billion bushels of corn, said Renewable Fuels Association
spokesperson Matt Hartwig. If the ethanol industry can produce three gallons
of ethanol per bushel, that will mean using about one third of that crop to
make 15 billion gallons of ethanol as mandated by the Renewable Fuel
Standard in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA)."

Also, not one of the myriad articles, blog comments, and suchlike I've seen
mentioning biofuels as one of the causes of the problem (if not the primary
cause, which I find extremely hard to believe) mentions the Ug99 wheat
blight, a new, emerging strain of wheat rust to which every major wheat
strain in commercial production is vulnerable, and which has been
devastating wheat crops in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The most
populous regions in the world are losing most of their wheat crop to Ug99
(the "breadbasket" area of Africa has been especially hard-hit), and demand
is spilling over -- people have to eat, whether they're eating wheat, corn,
rice, or other staples. Given that, I'm calling bullshit on the biofuels
scare tactics.

That absolutely reeks of propaganda, for three reasons. First of all, it's
easy to enforce the petroleum status quo if you can say to people, "Oh, the
hippies with their biodiesel are the reason you're now paying two and a half
bucks for bread, and why half of the world is starving." Secondly, since
corn ethanol in particular is being heavily subsidised by the US government,
you can pretty much tell that EISA is a straight-up Bush Administration
gift-with-a-bow-on-top to Archer Daniels Midland, Monsanto, and other big
agribusiness players. Thirdly, it's easy to discredit biofuels if you make
them synonymous in most people's minds with inefficient, wasteful,
high-maintenance products like corn ethanol -- in many people's minds,
reinforcing ideas like that leaves no conceptual space for other
alternatives. So if corn ethanol = biofuels, and corn ethanol sucks, then
biofuels suck, right? After all, it wouldn't do for the energy plutocrats in
the Bush Administration to have people know that the most efficient way of
doing biofuels is using no-till, low-maintenance, fast-growing crops like
switchgrass... (Good thing the Manitoba government is a bit smarter and less
evil than the Bushies.)

What an impressive hat trick.

h/t Bark Bark Woof Woof for the idea.
posted by Interrobang at 7:47 PM

"Eeyore" <rabbitsfriendsandrelations@hotmail.com> wrote in message

I suggest that you also look to Asia and the diversion of vegetable oil
production for European bio-diesel production.

I was stunned to see that a litre of ordinary vegetable oil had risen from
58p IIRC in January to 88p now in my local supermarket.


Yes, and that anecdotal

piece of price information proves exactly what?

Have you checked out the price of copper lately? Are you going to suggest
that there is a link there as well?

Bob Eld wrote:

"Eeyore" <rabbitsfriendsandrelations@hotmail.com> wrote in message

I suggest that you also look to Asia and the diversion of vegetable
oil
production for European bio-diesel production.

I was stunned to see that a litre of ordinary vegetable oil had risen
from
58p IIRC in January to 88p now in my local supermarket.


Yes, and that anecdotal

Factual


piece of price information proves exactly what?

It proves that price of vegetable oils is going through the roof. Yes,
it's more
expensive in other shops too.


Have you checked out the price of copper lately? Are you going to
suggest
that there is a link there as well?

Are you suggesting that people are trying to use copper as a bio-fuel ?

Graham

"Screen Ranger" <ScreenRanger1OO@aol.com> wrote in message
news:fuiire$f2g$1@aioe.org...

"Bob Eld" <nsmontassoc@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:be2Pj.9034$V14.2555@nlpi070.nbdc.sbc.com...
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Idiot Alert: Biofuels and Food Shortages
I notice that every article is blaming rising food prices
worldwide
on
rising production of biofuels based on corn and wheat.
Interestingly, I
can't actually find any statistics on how much diversion of the
total staple


Hey Fat abd lazy Bob, Rice production rised to doubled prices. If
you don't consume rice at all then that maybe why you're so
retarded.

Hey, Kemosabe,
Tell us with your rocket science knowledge how rice prices are
linked to
biofuels. Use some examples and numbers. While your at it tell us
the link
between the prices of copper, gold, aluminum, concrete, wood and a
thousand
other things that have also rapidly increased in price, none of
which have
anything to do with biofuels.

Here's a hint: Check out the price of oil, the value of the dollar,
the
amount of borrowing, drought, water supplies, You might learn
something....Naw, that's not possible.

"Screen Ranger" <ScreenRanger1OO@aol.com> wrote in message
news:fuiire$f2g$1@aioe.org...

"Bob Eld" <nsmontassoc@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:be2Pj.9034$V14.2555@nlpi070.nbdc.sbc.com...
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Idiot Alert: Biofuels and Food Shortages
I notice that every article is blaming rising food prices
worldwide
on
rising production of biofuels based on corn and wheat.
Interestingly, I
can't actually find any statistics on how much diversion of the
total staple


Hey Fat abd lazy Bob, Rice production rised to doubled prices. If
you don't consume rice at all then that maybe why you're so
retarded.

Hey, Kemosabe,
Tell us with your rocket science knowledge how rice prices are
linked to
biofuels. Use some examples and numbers. While your at it tell us
the link
between the prices of copper, gold, aluminum, concrete, wood and a
thousand
other things that have also rapidly increased in price, none of
which have
anything to do with biofuels.

Here's a hint: Check out the price of oil, the value of the dollar,
the
amount of borrowing, drought, water supplies, You might learn
something....Naw, that's not possible.

"Eeyore" <rabbitsfriendsandrelations@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:480CBDE0.C3C712D0@hotmail.com...

Bob Eld wrote:

Sunday, April 20, 2008
Propaganda Alert: Biofuels and Food Shortages
I notice that every article is blaming rising food prices worldwide on
rising production of biofuels based on corn and wheat. Interestingly, I
can't actually find any statistics on how much diversion of the total
staple
crop the rise in biofuels production supposedly accounts for. The
closest I
can come is this blurb from this article, which seems speculative at
best:
"Most look at a scenario in the year 2015 where the American farmer will
produce 15 billion bushels of corn, said Renewable Fuels Association
spokesperson Matt Hartwig.
I suggest that you also look to Asia and the diversion of vegetable oil
production for European bio-diesel production.

I was stunned to see that a litre of ordinary vegetable oil had risen from
58p
IIRC in January to 88p now in my local supermarket.

Graham

Yes, and that anecdotal piece of price information proves exactly what?
Have you checked out the price of copper lately? Are you going to suggest
that there is a link there as well?

Sunday, April 20, 2008
Propaganda Alert: Biofuels and Food Shortages
I notice that every article is blaming rising food prices worldwide on
rising production of biofuels based on corn and wheat. Interestingly, I
can't actually find any statistics on how much diversion of the total
staple
crop the rise in biofuels production supposedly accounts for. The
closest I
can come is this blurb from this article, which seems speculative at
best:
"Most look at a scenario in the year 2015 where the American farmer will
produce 15 billion bushels of corn, said Renewable Fuels Association
spokesperson Matt Hartwig. If the ethanol industry can produce three
gallons
of ethanol per bushel, that will mean using about one third of that crop
to
make 15 billion gallons of ethanol as mandated by the Renewable Fuel
Standard in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA)."

....