Posted on 05/20/2008 8:15:36 PM PDT by neverdem
ROME — In the past year, as the diversion of food crops like corn and palm to make biofuels has helped to drive up food prices, investors and politicians have begun promoting newer, so-called second-generation biofuels as the next wave of green energy. These, made from non-food crops like reeds and wild grasses, would offer fuel without the risk of taking food off the table, they said.
But now, biologists and botanists are warning that they, too, may bring serious unintended consequences. Most of these newer crops are what scientists label invasive species — that is, weeds — that have an extraordinarily high potential to escape biofuel plantations, overrun adjacent farms and natural land, and create economic and ecological havoc in the process, they now say.
At a United Nations meeting in Bonn, Germany, on Tuesday, scientists from the Global Invasive Species Program, the Nature Conservancy and the International Union for Conservation of Nature, as well as other groups, presented a paper with a warning about invasive species.
“Some of the most commonly recommended species for biofuels production are also major invasive alien species,” the paper says, adding that these crops should be studied more thoroughly before being cultivated in new areas.
Controlling the spread of such plants could prove difficult, the experts said, producing “greater financial losses than gains.” The International Union for Conservation of Nature encapsulated the message like this: “Don’t let invasive biofuel crops attack your country.”
To reach their conclusions, the scientists compared the list of the most popular second-generation biofuels with the list of invasive species and found an alarming degree of overlap. They said little evaluation of risk had occurred before planting.
“With biofuels, there’s always a hurry,” said Geoffrey Howard, an invasive species expert with the International Union for Conservation of Nature...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
These fuel crops should only be grown in ANWR.
Got some good news in the mail about the Oregon ethanol fraud mandate. Oregon State Marine Board publication stated a new law would exempt aircraft, boats, ATVs and power tools from having to use the ethanol blend. You probably have to go to a marina to get the unlead/uneth.
From Wikipedia:
"Kudzu was introduced from Japan into the United States in 1876 at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, where it was promoted as a forage crop and an ornamental plant. From 1935 to the early 1950s the Soil Conservation Service encouraged farmers in the southeastern United States to plant kudzu to reduce soil erosion as above, and the Civilian Conservation Corps planted it widely for many years. However, it would soon be discovered that the southeastern US has near-perfect conditions for kudzu to grow out of control — hot, humid summers, frequent rainfall, temperate winters with few hard freezes (kudzu cannot tolerate low freezing temperatures that bring the frost line down through its entire root system, a rare occurrence in this region), and no natural predators. As such, the once-promoted plant was named a pest weed by the United States Department of Agriculture in 1953.
Use KUDZU!
Great minds...
The precautionary principle is touted by liberals as the appropriate regulatory stance for anyone planning to introduce a new product.
Apparently the same principle has no application when it comes to government regulations and subsidies themselves.
Simply label the fuel crops as “GM” and the greenies will ballistic trying to stop their introduction. GM trumps every other liberal mantra.
MY.
GAWD!!!!
It's
Beautiful! Love it. Heard here first on FR!
SUGAR CANE! SUGAR BEETS! SUGAR CANE! SUGAR BEETS!
Sugar has no nutritive value, period. It is a chemical additive to sweeten foods that adds empty calories. It is so worthless of value as a food, it isn’t fed to livestock.
Sugar beets and sugar cane can both be used to produce ethanol. The best part of these crops is the diverse environments they grow in successfully.
Beets can be grown in northern latitudes and sugar cane in the tropics. This would provide many continents and nations around the world with the wonderful opportunity to become energy independent, as in Brazil, and tell the Arabs, “Go pound sand!”
Save the South, burn Kudzu!
“But, as was recently reported, this anti-ethanol campaign is not a coincidence. It has been well thought out, well programmed, and that program is going on. It turns out that a $300,000, 6-month retainer of a beltway public relations firm is behind the smear campaign against ethanol. And they have been hired by a trade association referred to as the Grocery Manufacturers Association. They have outlined their strategy of using environmental, hunger, and food aid groups to demonstrate their contrived crisis. And it is right here in a 26-page document put out by the Glover Park Group, called ``The Food and Fuel Campaign.’’ They enlist the support of these other nonprofit groups that are involved with environment and hunger.”
Amen, brother. It’s precisely the lack of precaution about regulation and subsidies that is causing so many ills and positioning us for far worse times as the interventions pile on themselves.
ping
OPEC is a monopoly.
Breaking up monopolies, is one of the few valid uses for regulation and mandates.
Let’s do it. Now.
That's not really true. Sugar is a carbohydrate. It is converted by your body into energy.
Look it up, buddy!
Sugar has no nutritional value, period. It is a chemical that adds calories, thus energy, but your body has to pull out mineral and vitamins to digest it. There is a difference between carbohydrates and nutrition.
Sugar equals empty calories.
Would you die faster if you were stranded on a desert island with: (1) only water to drink, nothing else; or (2) water to drink and a big pile of sugar?
Depends on whether you’re a diabetic.
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