Green schemes to fight climate change by producing more bio-fuels could actually worsen a little-known type of air pollution and cause almost 1,400 premature deaths a year in Europe by 2020, a study showed on Sunday.
Meanwhile, can I get some wings with those fries?
h/t johnbrooks
Burning food to drive, while billions of barrels of oil sit in the ground.
idiocy.
http://www.ethanolrfa.org/exchange/entry/tar-and-feathers-coalition-fumbles-again/
This site refutes the claim that ethanol production has caused a chicken wing shortage.
If I hear one more effing idiot say that CO2 is a pollutant,well,idjit,meet baseball bat. One gallon of biofuel produces less power and energy than one gallon of gasoline. AND….it cost 4 to 6 times as much to refine then crude.Oh. And what produces the power to refine these plants into fuel??? Uhuh….fossil fuels.How can so called sapient people be so stupid??
And north of 60 will be here in 3..2..1…defending using food as fuel. Another useful idiot.
According to population statistics, 5.1 million people die each year in the EU. Who would notice an extra 1500 beacuse of tree pollution? THe number maybe be scientifically significant, but it is culturally insignificant. Maybe all of the willow trees should be cut down, you know, if it could save just one life….
We don’t need air or food to live. That’s a load of rich creamery butter.
Some more information about isoprene:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1247611/
If the well being of people was part of the enviro-fascist’s agenda, they wouldn’t be sacrificing them for fuel and money.
– not to mention all the food this takes out of production, raising profits for corporate food producers gouging on the short supply curve – and of course the shortage will be disaterous for the nations who rely on the west’s food surplus – of course a few million starving Africans are justifiable collateral damage to smug urban greenies who buy into this green utopian farce.
soooooo, could some one tell me, is or isn’t the science settled???????
“According to population statistics, 5.1 million people die each year in the EU.”
Got a link there,Fred??? Otherwise,my 6 billion dead mice wiped out by cats and dogs,plus the 100 trillion,billion,million poor virus wiped out,beats you hands down. (do I really need a /sarc tag?)
And please remember,Fred….There are statistics,damn statistics,and out right lies.
There’s lots of ironies here, Occam. One of them is that Africa actually produces a significant food surplus, at least in principle. Problem is that it has very high spoliage thanks to shortfalls in transportation and storage. And why can’t they get the capital for these things? Insane, corrupt and unstable governments.
Another irony is that Africa would be producing a lot more food surplus for European markets, except that it’s largely blocked by the Common Agricultural Policy.
A third irony is that Gaza was producing a large crop of strawberries for export to Europe. Then along came Hamas and wiped out whatever export industry Gaza had.
Environmentalism, agricultural protectionism and Middle Eastern politics are all insane for sensible agricultural policy. Bio-fuels are simply the latest government insanity over the systematic mismanagement of agricultural policy over the last half-century.
You can bet the American Government knows the real story of using food for fuel.
As well as how many Will starve because of it in other Countries. Thing is though it fits obamas plans to de-Industrialize the USA so much the better with Inflation added. So no matter what if its wrecks America its good in his mind.
Besides their killing each other like crazy in Africa anyway, so who will notice starvation deaths, from food for fuel?
What you said.
I don’t understand how a continent that produces coffee, chocolate and petroleum is a poor one. Politics- and in this case, “green” politics- have been a huge hindrance to the African economy.
You actually consider that to be a reliable source?
CGH _ good points. I understand that one of the attractions of western surplus in the form of grain crops is attractive to Africa precisely because it keeps well without refrigeration until use. The irony is it is grain crops bio fuel is taking off the market.
Biomass fuel is nothing short of idiotic. Wind and solar might currently be more costly to the consumer than hydrocarbon-sourced power, but their increasing competitiveness makes biofuels look like a wasteful boondoggle. You might remember that the Navy recently signed a fuel contract with Dynamic Fuels, a joint venture of Tyson and Syntroleum (NAS: SYNM) , which subcontracted a large amount of the production out to Solazyme (NAS: SZYM) .
The contract was worth $12 million for 450,000 gallons worth of biofuel. Basic math tells you how lousy the Navy is at basic math: Every gallon will cost it $26.67, or $1,120 per barrel’s worth. Even if costs are ever reduced to reasonable levels, which is doubtful, biofuel production demands vast swaths of arable land to produce any meaningful quantities.
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/01/04/the-real-costs-of-alternative-energy/
Neither of the articles related to biodiesel made from recycled fryer oil. Recycled VO or substandard VO is the ONLY viable source for biodiesel additive for diesel fuel. That’s not taking food from anyone’s mouth. Adding integer percents of biodiesel to diesel fuel reduces toxic exhaust pollution.
Ethanol fuel is a scam in North America. It takes as much energy or more to make a liter of ethanol than is in the liter of ethanol. The main feedstock for ethanol is corn sugar from feed corn grown for the industrial meat feed industry and the junk food industry. None of that corn was grown to feed the starving millions in the 3rd world mega slums.
You have choices for how to use the corn you grow:
junk food/beverages, fuel ethanol or animal feed
It takes more water to make a liter of ethanol than to make a liter of oilsand oil fuel.
A present 15% mandate of bio fuel on gasoline as well as diesel, with escalation demanded by the EPA is taking a lot of food out of mouths as well as driving up prices on basic groceries. The whole idea is stupid as well as illogical. It’s only a matter of time before stupid and the EPA share the same header in the dictionary.
http://www.epa.gov/otaq/fuels/renewablefuels/index.htm
Osumashi, so true. It’s a testament to how thoroughly government corruption can chase away the capital development needed for development of these industries. Particularly coffee and chocolate, for which the prices have been rising over the past five years faster than gold.
Occam, and just wait until the Greenies get their way and get switchgrass used for combustion for power generation. Huge swathes of land will be taken out of food production to feed that monster.
N60, have you heard of knock-on effects? The ethanol demand has driven up the price of corn. That in turn encourages more farmers to grow corn rather than other crops. That means lower harvests of other crops which are exports such as wheat, particularly when farmers start substituting other things for animal feed. Also, since all of these crops have global market prices, this drives up the cost of animal feed everywhere.
Also, corn starch is used in far more than junk food, animal feed and bio-fuel. It’s nearly a universal component of just about every processed food product.
No,I just posted an opposing opinion.
Ethanol motor fuel is a scam. I thought that was clear.
CGH, why address your comments to me?
Ethanol is not made from vegetable oil. It’s foolish to consider all bio-fuels as equal, it shows ignorance.
N60, you just don’t get it, do you? There isn’t enough used fryer oil in the world for more than a trivial fraction of the world’s energy needs. If it’s not scalable, it’s not a solution. And you were the one who made silly remarks about ethanol not having effects on other grain crops, not me.