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Time to kill crop-derived biofuels
http://www.adamsmith.org/blog/environment/time-to-kill-crop%11derived-biofuels-200803291126/ ^

Posted on 03/29/2008 3:33:03 AM PDT by stickman20089

Yet another prominent scientist has joined the chorus against crop-derived biofuels, as Lewis Page reports.

Dr Richard Pike, chief of the Royal Society of Chemistry, has said that biofuels are a "dead end" and "extremely inefficient", and that the government was wrong to impose a requirement for 5 per cent biofuel content in motor fuel by 2010.

Dr Pike points out that "the 80 tonnes of kerosene used for a one-way commercial flight to New York is equivalent to the annual biofuel yield from an area of approximately 30 football pitches." At this rate it would take the whole of Britain's farmland just to run Heathrow.

It really is time to stop this nonsense. To produce these crops people are farming intensively, using more fertilizers and pesticides. In poorer countries people are cutting down virgin rainforest to plant biofuel crops. Poor people are finding corn and wheat priced out of their market, and the tanks of 4x4s are taking the food from the plates of poor families.

(Excerpt) Read more at adamsmith.org ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: biofuels; energy
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To: iopscusa

Did you forget your sarcasm tag?


21 posted on 03/29/2008 5:17:16 AM PDT by reaganator
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To: stickman20089

The USDA was notified yesterday that US exporters are set to ship nearly 400,000 metric tons of corn to foreign buyers, so obviously no one is worried about the price of our food here.

Argentina is suspending the export of their wheat, and other countries are banning grain exports, but the good old USA is shipping our grain out even when the crop forecasts for this year point to shortages here. Free traitors don’t care about your food bill.


22 posted on 03/29/2008 5:24:45 AM PDT by kittymyrib
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To: kittymyrib

Sounds like foreign farmers are getting their jobs outsourced.


23 posted on 03/29/2008 5:27:45 AM PDT by reaganator
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To: reaganator; Joe Boucher

Why would Mr. Boucher need a sarcasm tag?
In centuries past, it was common to deny food, water and medical relief to your enemies. Why would this be any different? The oil cartel is our enemy, make our enemy suffer. I don’t believe in sending humanitarian help of any kind to people who hate us.


24 posted on 03/29/2008 5:29:56 AM PDT by BuffaloJack
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To: stickman20089

only lib/dem tree huggers prefer to put foodstuffs into energy supplies instead of drilling for the massive oil reserves lying under the US!!!!

eventually the US will be the consumate turd world nation...not enough fuel...not enough food....but plenty of turd world illegal invaders that are in the process of destroying the social/economic fabric of the US in the name of diversity, etc.!!!!


25 posted on 03/29/2008 5:33:16 AM PDT by nyyankeefan
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To: BuffaloJack

Our enemy? The leading foreign exporters of oil to the United States are Canada and Mexico. And of course STILL a large percentage of oil is produced domestically. All oil and oil producers are NOT the enemy. That attitude will ruin us, we should be encouraging the oil industry to increase oil production and rifing capabilities. Not villifying them.


26 posted on 03/29/2008 5:34:36 AM PDT by reaganator
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To: reaganator

> Our enemy? The leading foreign exporters of oil to the United States are Canada and Mexico. And of course STILL a large percentage of oil is produced domestically. All oil and oil producers are NOT the enemy. That attitude will ruin us, we should be encouraging the oil industry to increase oil production and rifing capabilities. Not villifying them.
Canada is OK, but Mexico is our enemy. They would and do screw us over every chance they get.


27 posted on 03/29/2008 5:41:54 AM PDT by BuffaloJack
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To: dalight
Ultimately the step up to E85 as a significant player in the auto fuel market will bring down the cost of Oil and Ethanol both.

Why?

And, in the pipeline are newer technologies that will replace grain based ethanol in the next 5 years.

Where will these new ethanol plants be located?

28 posted on 03/29/2008 5:45:18 AM PDT by Conservativegreatgrandma
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To: BuffaloJack
" The oil cartel is our enemy, make our enemy suffer. I don’t believe in sending humanitarian help of any kind to people who hate us. "

The oil cartel is an enemy who has us by the family jewels, thanks to our refusal to drill for oil and build nukes in this country.

We cut off their food & medicine (which most of their people never see anyway) and a few more people die, but nothing really changes.

They cut off our oil supply and trigger an economic collapse in this country.

29 posted on 03/29/2008 5:47:41 AM PDT by HangThemHigh (Entropy's not what it used to be.)
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To: reaganator
"For instance; to produce one gallon of ethanol, from to seed to “fuel”, more than one gallon of fossil fuel is used."

ArabLaughing

30 posted on 03/29/2008 5:49:24 AM PDT by preacher (A government which robs from Peter to pay Paul will always have the support of Paul.)
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To: BuffaloJack

The proper way to be detrimental to oil producing nations that are our enemies would be to INCREASE domestic oil production, not villifying the whole industry and ruining the American economy.


31 posted on 03/29/2008 5:49:47 AM PDT by reaganator
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To: stickman20089

I would like to know these scientists agendas. Are they simply environmentalists who want to shut down all human activity?


32 posted on 03/29/2008 5:50:37 AM PDT by Brilliant
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To: Brilliant

No, these scientists are getting paid to forsake their country.


33 posted on 03/29/2008 5:56:49 AM PDT by reaganator
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To: reaganator

Oh, negate that last comment! These scientists are practical scientists who are speaking out against the divorce of common sense..

I was thinking of scientists receiving grants to study the affect of “man-made climate change.


34 posted on 03/29/2008 5:59:40 AM PDT by reaganator
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To: Brilliant

“I would like to know these scientists agendas. Are they simply environmentalists who want to shut down all human activity?”

The short answer is: They are de facto Gramscian communists. Therefore, they wish to shut down all capitalist countries, especially America.


35 posted on 03/29/2008 6:06:22 AM PDT by GladesGuru (In a society predicated upon freedom, it is essential to examine principle)
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To: TexasMatty
I’m glad more people are coming around on this. Now maybe the price of beef will come back down.

NOT GOING TO HAPPEN

Too much $$$$$ involved and too much power and influence from the albeit small farmer/ethanol lobby.

We could have been okay, except W (who could have vetoed, much less supported this madness) has gone off the deep end and gravitated over to the "dark side."

36 posted on 03/29/2008 6:07:48 AM PDT by Conservative Vermont Vet ((One of ONLY 37 Conservatives in the People's Republic of Vermont. Socialists and Progressives All))
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To: TexasMatty
Right. Switchgrass as biofuel-- I read it about not long ago in Scientific American. Here's more for anyone interested: Grass Makes Better Ethanol than Corn Does
37 posted on 03/29/2008 6:13:10 AM PDT by Dysart
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To: reaganator

Sarc...I just wanted to rant before the coffee kicks in. lols.


38 posted on 03/29/2008 6:13:50 AM PDT by iopscusa (El Vaquero. (SC Lowcountry Cowboy))
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To: dalight

“These folks bashing on BioFuels based on the current moment are just stupid.”

Some folks are so stupid, they don’t know how stupid they are.


39 posted on 03/29/2008 6:17:44 AM PDT by RFEngineer
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To: stickman20089
"...It really is time to stop this nonsense."

Sure, if this whole thing really is about alternatives to oil...which it's not.

40 posted on 03/29/2008 6:24:39 AM PDT by yankeedame ("Oh, I can take it but I'd much rather dish it out.")
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