U.S. Feeds One Quarter of its Grain to Cars While Hunger is on the Rise
Consumerism, Economics, Food Shortages, Peak Oil — by Earth Policy Institute
by the Earth Policy Institute
The 107 million tons of grain that went to U.S. ethanol distilleries in 2009 was enough to feed 330 million people for one year at average world consumption levels. More than a quarter of the total U.S. grain crop was turned into ethanol to fuel cars last year. With 200 ethanol distilleries in the country set up to transform food into fuel, the amount of grain processed has tripled since 2004.
The United States looms large in the world food economy: it is far and away the world’s leading grain exporter, exporting more than Argentina, Australia, Canada, and Russia combined. In a globalized food economy, increased demand for food to fuel American vehicles puts additional pressure on world food supplies.
Comments (0)Posted on: January 21, 2010
Jeff Rubin – $225 p/barrel Oil in 18 Months and the End of Globalisation
Consumerism, Economics, Food Shortages, Peak Oil — by Craig Mackintosh
Jeff Rubin, former chief economist at CIBC World Markets and author of the book Why Your World Is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller: Oil and the End of Globalization, was the keynote speaker at the Business of Climate Change conference in Toronto a few months ago. The clip below is the excellent presentation he gave, one that bleats the same message I’ve been sharing for a few years (see some of the links in ‘Further Reading’ section below, for example). Mr. Rubin predicts $225 p/barrel oil within months, and with it a forced relocalisation as long distance globalised trade becomes an economic impossibility. In it he talks about the insignificant scale of new oil finds in comparison with increasing demand from developing countries in tandem with the annual declines we see with our older fields. He talks about the absurdity of saddling our grandchildren with debts they can never afford to repay, just to bail out automotive industries that have no future in a world without oil anyway. He goes on to talk about the failures of Kyoto and the need for financial mechanisms that could speed a transition to a low carbon, relocalised platform.
Have a watch, and let us know your thoughts.
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Posted on: January 18, 2010
The Looming Food Crisis and the ‘Food 2030′ Report
Biodiversity, Consumerism, Deforestation, Economics, Food Shortages, GMOs, Global Warming/Climate Change, Health & Disease, Peak Oil, Population, Society, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Water Contamination — by Craig Mackintosh
It can’t go on like this….
Not long ago I was standing in a bookshop, minding my own business, when a book title leapt out in front of me. The book was "History’s Worst Decisions and the People Who Made Them". It documents the sorry tales of dozens of people throughout history who, with the best of intentions, made some fascinatingly terrible choices.
Comments (1)Posted on: January 6, 2010
In Transition – the Movie
Alternatives to Political Systems, Bio-regional Organizations, Community Projects, Consumerism, DVDs/Books, Eco-Villages, Economics, Food Shortages, Global Warming/Climate Change, Peak Oil, People Systems, Society, Urban Projects, Village Development — by Craig Mackintosh
In Transition 1.0: from oil dependence to local resilience, available now!
The title says it all. Sit back and enjoy the latest work from the Transition Towns movement. You can watch in parts via YouTube below, or if you prefer, catch the whole thing in one hit on Vimeo.
‘In Transition’ is the first detailed film about the Transition movement filmed by those that know it best, those who are making it happen on the ground. The Transition movement is about communities around the world responding to peak oil and climate change with creativity, imagination and humour, and setting about rebuilding their local economies and communities. It is positive, solutions focused, viral and fun. – TransitionCulture.org
Part I
Comments (0)Posted on: December 14, 2009
If Nothing Else, Save Farming
Economics, Food Shortages, Peak Oil — by George Monbiot
It’s probably too late to prepare for peak oil, but we can at least try to salvage food production.
by George Monbiot: journalist, author, academic and environmental and political activist, United Kingdom
I don’t know when global oil supplies will start to decline. I do know that another resource has already peaked and gone into freefall: the credibility of the body that’s meant to assess them. Last week two whistleblowers from the International Energy Agency alleged that it has deliberately upgraded its estimate of the world’s oil supplies in order not to frighten the markets(1). Three days later, a paper published by researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden showed that the IEA’s forecasts must be wrong, because it assumes a rate of extraction that appears to be impossible(2). The agency’s assessment of the state of global oil supplies is beginning to look as reliable as Mr Greenspan’s blandishments about the health of the financial markets.
Posted on: November 17, 2009
World Energy Outlook 2009 Report Released, as Senior IEA Employees Blow Whistle
Economics, Peak Oil, Society — by Craig Mackintosh
The IEA’s latest report is released, just as two whistleblowers from amongst their own senior staff rail against their oil production projections
The International Energy Agency, who annually produce their World Energy Outlook (WEO) report, have just done so yet again – you can read their executive summary of the 2009 edition here (PDF).
The report, for the uninitiated, looks at expected supplies in oil, coal and natural gas, as well as demand for the same – making projections up to 2030. It is, or should be, significant in that it paints a picture of what life might be like in the next few years – either steady flows of fossil fuel energy to maintain the industrial/consumer status quo (and increase CO2 levels in tandem), or, alternatively, a potentially society-upturning peaking of energy supplies; oil in particular.
Comments (0)Posted on: November 11, 2009
The Demise of the Dollar
Economics, Peak Oil — by Craig Mackintosh
This is significant:
In a graphic illustration of the new world order, Arab states have launched secret moves with China, Russia and France to stop using the US currency for oil trading
In the most profound financial change in recent Middle East history, Gulf Arabs are planning – along with China, Russia, Japan and France – to end dollar dealings for oil, moving instead to a basket of currencies including the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, the euro, gold and a new, unified currency planned for nations in the Gulf Co-operation Council, including Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar.
Secret meetings have already been held by finance ministers and central bank governors in Russia, China, Japan and Brazil to work on the scheme, which will mean that oil will no longer be priced in dollars. – Independent
If the significance of this is lost on you, please read Peak Oil, Petrodollars and Climate Change Apathy. The faster the speed of transition to non-dollar oil trading, the faster the U.S. dollar will implode. Days of hyper-inflation may soon be upon us.
Further Reading:
- Heading into a Perpetual Recession
- Rich Nations Buying Up Land in Poor Countries at Escalating Rate
- The Crash Course
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Posted on: October 19, 2009
Heading into a Perpetual Recession
Economics, Food Shortages, Peak Oil, Society — by Craig Mackintosh
Last year I drew a stark charcoal outline around what I saw would be our future over the next few years. I predicted then that we’ll soon see oil prices surge upwards again, as they did in 2008. Since that time I’ve read, here and there, many quiet little voices of reason telling the same story, and, encouragingly, they’ve often been transmitting via mainstream media channels.
Here’s an example from a few days ago:
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Posted on: September 30, 2009
Should We Seek to Save Industrial Civilisation?
Consumerism, Economics, Food Shortages, Global Warming/Climate Change, Peak Oil, Population, Society — by George Monbiot
A debate with Paul Kingsnorth
Dear George,
Sitting on the desk in front of me are a set of graphs. The horizontal axis of each graph is identical: it represents time, from the years 1750 to 2000. The graphs show, variously, human population levels, CO2 concentration in the atmosphere, exploitation of fisheries, destruction of tropical forests, paper consumption, number of motor vehicles, water use, the rate of species extinction and the totality of the gross domestic product of the human economy.
What grips me about these graphs (and graphs don’t usually grip me) is that though they all show very different things, they have an almost identical shape. A line begins on the left of the page, rising gradually as it moves to the right. Then, in the last inch or so – around the year 1950 – it suddenly veers steeply upwards, like a pilot banking after a cliff has suddenly appeared from what he thought was an empty bank of cloud.
The root cause of all these trends is the same: a rapacious human economy which is bringing the world very swiftly to the brink of chaos. We know this; some of us even attempt to stop it happening. Yet all of these trends continue to get rapidly worse, and there is no sign of that changing soon. What these graphs make clear better than anything else is the cold reality: there is a serious crash on the way.
Comments (0)Posted on: August 26, 2009
Can We Feed Ourselves in a Post Peak Oil World?
Consumerism, Food Shortages, Peak Oil — by Craig Mackintosh
At the end of 2007, the UK’s Simon Fairlie released what is essentially an update to figures produced back in 1975 in Kenneth Mellanby’s book Can Britain Feed Itself? Fairlie’s work, with the same title, concluded that, yes, it could – if the population consumed less meat (see clip at bottom for more details on this aspect).
There was a time when Britain was forced to feed itself – that being during World War II when German planes, ships and U-boats did everything they could to stop supplies arriving. Mass animal cullings to free up land for crops was one of the many steps taken, and actually also resulted in improved health for the populace, as shared in this post. With Peak Oil now less of a theory and more of a present reality, Britain, along with the rest of the world, is facing this situation yet again – but with a far larger, and more demanding, population. And, while Britain was importing a lot of goods prior to World War II, it can’t be compared to the level of global trade witnessed today. For every acre of land farmed in Britain today, there is another acre in another country producing goods for it as well.
Now, Transition Town Totnes has just put out a very interesting document – Can Totnes Feed Itself? I’d invite you to take a look and let us know what you think (I haven’t finished reading it myself, and with a busy month ahead of me I want to get this up for you while I can). It’s a 19-page document that seeks to address a question that is more than expedient for cities and towns around the world – can we feed ourselves while in a Peak Oil energy descent? Click here to download and read the document (PDF).
Comments (0)Posted on: July 31, 2009
Travelling Light
Peak Oil — by George Monbiot
Editor’s Note: With a solar powered blimp on the cards, I thought we’d visit the whole airship potential….
Is the airship a viable alternative to jet travel?
by George Monbiot: journalist, author, academic and environmental and political activist, United Kingdom
Of all the charges levelled against environmentalists, perhaps the most unfair is the accusation that we are opposed to technological change. Most of the greens I know are fascinated by gadgets (sometimes to the exclusion of better solutions), while some of the people we confront seem terrified by new technologies, and react to them – witness the campaigns against windfarms – with irrational hostility.
But because environmentalists tend to have a feeling for material constraints, we recognise that solutions cannot be conjured out of thin air. In some cases they just don’t appear to exist. There are two reasons why we make such a fuss about flying. The first is that, even as governments promise to cut emissions, everywhere airports are expanding. In the UK, the government expects the number of airline passengers to rise from 228 million in 2005 to 480 million in 2030(1). Before long, there will scarcely be a patch of sky without a jet in it. The other is that there are no alternative means of propelling people through the air which are not more destructive than burning ordinary aviation fuel. Or so we think.
Comments (0)Posted on: July 28, 2009
The Oil Intensity of Food
Consumerism, Economics, Food Shortages, Peak Oil, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Water Contamination — by Earth Policy Institute
by Lester R. Brown, Earth Policy Institute
Today we are an oil-based civilization, one that is totally dependent on a resource whose production will soon be falling. Since 1981, the quantity of oil extracted has exceeded new discoveries by an ever-widening margin. In 2008, the world pumped 31 billion barrels of oil but discovered fewer than 9 billion barrels of new oil. World reserves of conventional oil are in a free fall, dropping every year.
Discoveries of conventional oil total roughly 2 trillion barrels, of which 1 trillion have been extracted so far, with another trillion barrels to go. By themselves, however, these numbers miss a central point. As security analyst Michael Klare notes, the first trillion barrels was easy oil, “oil that’s found on shore or near to shore; oil close to the surface and concentrated in large reservoirs; oil produced in friendly, safe, and welcoming places.” The other half, Klare notes, is tough oil, “oil that’s buried far offshore or deep underground; oil scattered in small, hard-to-find reservoirs; oil that must be obtained from unfriendly, politically dangerous, or hazardous places.”
Comments (0)Posted on: June 25, 2009
Home
Consumerism, Deforestation, Food Shortages, Global Warming/Climate Change, Peak Oil, Population, Society, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Water Contamination — by Craig Mackintosh
The following documentary, ‘Home‘, is almost perfect.
As a photographer, I was totally engrossed in the imagery – mostly shot from above, and almost entirely in the magic hours of morning and evening light – as this production gives us a vision of this world we call home that is hard to forget. It also leaves one feeling like part of the human fabric – part of the larger human family that, when you come right down to it, all depends on our planet and its immense (albeit dwindling) diversity to supply our universal, basic needs.
As a writer, that has covered the many converging issues we’re now facing – water, soil, biodiversity, deforestation, peak oil, climate change, etc. – the facts shared are also on target and up-to-date. And, again, beautifully and graphically presented.
Why I say ‘almost perfect’ is because it is only the last ten or fifteen minutes where the documentary turns about in a bid to leave the viewer feeling optimistic before it’s all over. Here it truly fails. Ultimately, it graphically and beautifully tells the tale of humankind’s misguided and unsustainable attempts at finding satisfaction – but delivers only a warm, fuzzy, nebulous feeling of how we’re to retreat from the cliff edge we’re teetering over. Despite its shortcomings, however, I give kudos to all who put it together and for their willingness to freely distribute it to as many people as possible. It’s definitely a must-watch.
‘Home’ trailer
Watch the full documentary here
Also available in Arabic, French, German, Russian and Spanish.
Comments (0)Posted on: June 20, 2009
Oil and the Darfur Conflict
Consumerism, Economics, Peak Oil, Society — by Craig Mackintosh
In a bid to join the dots a little further after the previous post, here’s an additional clip. This one is shot a couple of countries east, in southern Sudan, where oil is lubricating and fueling one of the worst conflicts in modern history.
To learn more about the direct links between oil and the horrific atrocities in Sudan, head here.
Comments (0)Posted on: June 3, 2009
The Video Shell Doesn’t Want You to See
Consumerism, Peak Oil, Society — by Craig Mackintosh
Photo credit: Ed Kashi
The video below was originally displayed on wiwavshell.org – the website for the plaintiffs filing a law suit against the oil giant Royal Dutch Shell – but was removed by court order after legal motions were filed by the multinational. Thanks to YouTube, however, the video has a new lease of life and has at time of typing been viewed over 65,000 times since being uploaded two weeks ago. It’s a decent introduction to the atrocities committed by the corporation in collusion with the Nigerian government and its military, spotlighting their determined efforts to put down a peaceful and popular movement by the citizens of Nigeria against the violent, corporate control and destruction of their lives, land and resources.
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