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In one famous lecture, he said the planet has the carrying capacity to feed not 10 or 12 billion people, but... 40 billion. Thus, given the fact that world population is expected to max out and stabilize at 8.9 billion soon (by 2075), it is easy to see why the bioenergy potential is rather large and fundamentally poses no threat to food markets whatsoever.

Several thoughts:

1. The 8.9 billion figure is correct. There are well established biological-mathematical models that have predicted this number as early as the 1950s. The population has tracked very nicely in comparison to predicted values. These models are based on closed systems of lower organisms.

2. The reason that the population will be limited is because easily available resources are limited, especially food.

3. If we allocate a portion of our food for fuel, the simple economics of supply and demand would dictate that the price of food-to-eat would escalate to the point that it is competitive with food-as-fuel. Even with 200% excess capacity, the price for food would become unaffordable for more and more people.

4. Thus, if we start using food-for-fuel, the peak population will be less than 8.9 billion, possibly closer to the present 6.1 billion. When we reach the population peak, we do not simply sit at a comfortable level of people. This is the point where people die from hunger, disease and war as fast as people are born.

5. We are not prepared for peak population at the present time. It will be ugly. We do not need to bring it on any earlier than necessary.