Why do we need to convert food into fuel?

[Subdivisions]

Why are we (or NPR, or anyone else) even having this conversation? Why are we having to take food crops and divert them to the production of fuel?

Why?

[LSK]

1. because they killed the electric car

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsJAlrYjGz8

http://www.whokilledtheelectriccar.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Killed_the_Electric_Car%3F

Also Peak Oil is near and that Global Warming thing.

[NightWatcher]

2. in order to take food away from the poor and cause global food riots?

two words: SOLAR F*ING POWER

It's free, just catch the stuff and go with it.

[cynatnite]

3. Brazil uses sugar cane to make their ethanol....

Thought it was a pretty good idea from the sounds of it. I wondered why there was a preference for grain over sugar here in the US.

[LSK]

5. the climate is different

I think sugar cane grows better in Brazil.

Also, I think they cut down some forests to grow sugar cane, so its not all good.

[cynatnite]

11. The documentary I watched on the subject said otherwise...

a small group of entrepenaurs were trying to get it going here in the states, but no one was interested at all. It wasn't about the climate either. They speculated it was partly due to political types were afraid of pissing off the grain farmer. I imagine oil companies and all that had their influence as well.

[notadmblnd]

13. I'll tell you something that will grow anywhere and will produce more

fuel than all the food stuffs combined in one word, HEMP.

[juno jones]

23. Yes!

Oil, biomass, food, fiber, medicine. It needs no fertilizers or special care. It grows like crazy on marginal land unsuited for other crops.

But Standard Oil and Georgia Pacific wouldn't be able to make obscene profits. Boo Fucking Hoo.

[NNN0LHI]

6. Because our equipment to plant and harvest is designed for grain here

Most of the planting and harvesting of sugar cane in Brazil is done with manual labor.

And let me be the first to state that I don't want to work in no sugar cane fields.

Don

[cynatnite]

12. Umm....so completely untrue....

This is in Louisiana and sugar cane is harvested by machine. I think you're safe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubSOM5CZPFM

[NNN0LHI]

15. Kind of defeats the purpose if you are burning petroleum fuel to plant and harvest it with machinery

Doesn't it?

What did I say that wasn't true. Be specific.

Don

[cynatnite]

17. Here you go...what you said word for word...

Because our equipment to plant and harvest is designed for grain here

Most of the planting and harvesting of sugar cane in Brazil is done with manual labor.

And let me be the first to state that I don't want to work in no sugar cane fields.

***********

Brazil isn't some third world country type with poor folks. Do a little research.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0409-07.htm

Here is what I found in just a few seconds of googling. Using machines to harvest is pretty common in Brazil. It's not the 19th century there.

The purpose isn't defeated when most vehicles are running on alternative fuels. There is also farm machinery that has much lower emissions than the standard. Even my redneck uncles who farm in Oklahoma do what they can to take care of their land. That means better machinery that's safe for the environment.

[NNN0LHI]

25. That link doesn't have anything to do with what I was talking about

This one does though:

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071018/BUSINESS01/710180388/1056/NEWS09

BRAZIL: Loophole hurt U.S. ethanol prices
By JERRY PERKINS • REGISTER STAFF WRITER • October 18, 2007

BRAZIL

Perennial crop.
Five cuttings in six years.
Yields 35 tons per acre.
100 lbs. makes a gallon of ethanol.
1 acre makes 650 gallons of ethanol.
15-16 million acres in production.
Two-thirds is harvested by hand.
Sugarcane is replacing soybeans.
81 cents a gallon cost of production.

[LSdemocrat]

4. Because its a multibillion dollar boondoggle for Big Oil and Big Agriculture

Big Oil gets to keep its stranglehold on the automobile fuel infrastructure by blending ethanol with conventional gas while giving the appearance of doing something about the environment, which potentially postpones a shift to a auto fuel source that Big Oil would be unable to profit off of.

Big Agriculture gets bigger subsidies to grow corn on megafarms for fuel than they would get for growing food products.

[kestrel91316]

7. Because we're addicted to our cars and personal freedom

to drive anywhere, anytime, alone.

[slackmaster]

8. We're so overweight this should not be a concern

:shrug:

[Quantess]

21. Corn isn't exactly diet food.

:rofl:
Corn dogs, tortilla chips with pump-nacho-sauce, fritos, pupusas, corn nuts... none of them are low calorie choices.

[underpants]

9. We seem to relish wasting food while people go hungry

Way back at the turn of the last century there was rampant milk waste by rural farmers who would rather dump it than it go into the cities to feed "those people"

Plenty of other examples exist

[Hannah Bell]

10. To ensure the profits of Archer Daniels Midland, super-mark-up to the world. n/t

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

14. I myself don't eat surplus feed corn.

:shrug:

[Mountainman]

18. Don't look now but there was a story that corn prices will go up at the super markets because of

biofuel production. Now I doubt that they sell feed corn at the super markets.

http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2007-06/america-headed-food-shortage

Ethanol is a renewable, homegrown fuel that can help lower U.S. dependence on foreign oil. But as more and more ethanol is made from corn, less and less corn is available for food production, and that´s causing some unforeseen problems.

Corn is a mainstay of American agriculture- it´s an important ingredient in cereals and baked goods, and corn syrup is used to make processed foods like candy, chips and soft drinks. But most importantly, corn is the major source of food for cattle, pigs, turkeys and chickens that are headed for the dinner table.

A recent study conducted by the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development at Iowa State University (which receives funding from grocery manufacturers and livestock producers) reported that U.S. ethanol production could consume more than half of U.S. corn, wheat and coarse grains by 2012, driving up food prices and causing shortages. The study estimates that booming ethanol production has already raised U.S. food prices by $47 per person annually. In Mexico, protests have already erupted over the high price of corn tortillas, a staple food in the local diet.

[Mountainman]

16. Because there is more profit to be made doing that.

Profit has to be the motive, it is the strongest reason for anything.

[Javaman]

19. Because Monsanto is making a mint off of it. nt

[madinmaryland]

20. So that we can drive down to Wal-Mart and buy cheap crap

that we don't need.

:shrug:

[spin]

22. I f Florida held the first primary we would make fuel from sugar (nt)

[Karenina]

24. Terminal stupidity?

:shrug: