What is Digg?462 Comments
- BigManOnCampus, on 04/16/2008, -7/+85So, wait a minute here... isn't this article in effect saying that I should buy oil from the Arabs so poor people don't starve?
- knucklebusted, on 04/16/2008, -4/+80Now, if we can just get the price of a bushel of corn up to the same price as a barrel of oil and call it an even trade. I wonder if the Saudis and Iranians can eat their oil?
- spyd3rweb, on 04/16/2008, -15/+62Maybe people should grow their own food instead of importing it from other countries.
- MadOgre, on 04/16/2008, -11/+55STOP MAKING FUEL OUT OF FOOD, DUMBASSES!
Grass, Used Tires, even the corn stalks... ANYTHING but the food. Sheeesh. - xptoast, on 04/16/2008, -0/+37Why do we use corn instead of switchgrass that yeilds better as well as not taking up food sources?
- inactive, on 04/16/2008, -15/+48who the ***** cares. i havent been able to masterbate in 3 days. i got other ***** on my mind.
- YodaJones, on 04/16/2008, -2/+34People in here are scratching their heads on this, but they won't think it's funny when Bread costs $10 a loaf in the United States because the grain is going into Ethanol.
Ethanol is not the answer to the oil problem. - hurt911gen, on 04/16/2008, -2/+33It's tough being a single mom.
- gnuyen, on 04/16/2008, -2/+32Corn ethanol isn't particularly green. It releases almost as much carbon dioxide as gas (offset a bit by the CO2 used for growth). The push for corn ethanol is mainly by corn farmers.
- RFKirb, on 04/16/2008, -12/+38If I could fill up my full-size SUV with the bodies of third world children, I would...
- coyoteblue, on 04/16/2008, -15/+41Uhh, actually most environmentalists know the adverse effects of biofuels, and shy away from them. Not only does it increase the demand for food, but they also can be as pollutant as oil-based fuels.
That being said, if biofuels are to be used, then I should say that hemp is the most efficient and not many people rely on hemp for food.
http://www.alternet.org/environment/38540?comments ... - delmar14, on 04/16/2008, -1/+25Because the corn farmers lobby is a lot more powerful than the switchgrass lobby.
- TheSkinsFactory, on 04/16/2008, -1/+23It pisses me off to no end that our politicians are quite all right with corn ethanol. It is a crime to divert food crops to fuel when you get so little out of them and when you can use other biomass to make it. Maybe if our country would let Brazil export some sugar to us that could change. Wait, the sugar lobby won't allow. I'm so sick of our government.
- thekingofthank, on 04/16/2008, -5/+26I hate to burst the bubble on the pitty party but it's not the farmers fault. Most farmers have sold their crops years in advance. Have you every flown over kansas and Colorado in the summer ? You look out your window and see the square's and circles of farmers fields..MORE THAN HALF OF THEM BROWN.. because they can't afford to farm it or are told not to farm it. There is plenty of land to farm. More than enough to feed this world and others like it. ALL PRICES ARE CONTROLED BY THE ELITE ! Don't be stupid, put the blame where the blame belongs
- madfrogurt, on 04/16/2008, -2/+21Weren't we just complaining that local food producers in Africa couldn't compete with subsidized American produce? I'm not saying that biofuel is a good thing (its horrifically inefficient), but it seems like everything America does becomes the root of why an entire continent cannot feed itself.
- cowsgonemadd3, on 04/16/2008, -0/+17Corn ethanol is almost nothing in net energy gain and when you add in the rising costs of corn products it probably goes into the negative. They are starving because of a stupid government. Corn ethanol is NOT the way to go.
- CraigMac, on 04/16/2008, -8/+25Most environmentalists are wholly against biofuels. I've personally been writing against them since I started the Celsias blog:
http://www.celsias.com/category/bio-fuels/
It's annoying when people confuse environmentalists with media hype from big agribusiness.
As I've said before, we need to stop using oil and coal, but if I have to choose between biofuels and oil, then keep drilling. - sennister, on 04/16/2008, -2/+18I'm not sure how much I agree all of these articles. I live in the Midwest and know many farmers. Based on what I have been told the vast majority of the corn that is used for ethanol was destined for livestock not starving children. One thing I have never read about in any news article is what happens to the corn when it is done being processed for ethanol? I have made beer and the process is the same except they distill the alcohol off and then mix it with gas. So do the news agencies think that the corn just evaporate or do they think we bury it into the landfills? I'll tell you what happens to it. The vast majority of it goes to feed Cows and Pigs. Hmmm that sure sounds like the same place the corn was going anyhow. But I'll bet that the truth doesn't make as good of a news article and sell many papers.
They (the news agencies) have reported that the cost increases have also been a result of more farmers shift away from soy beans and growing more corn. So this has created a shortage and higher prices in soy beans. There was also a drought in Australia that reduced the crops from that area. In addition to that a growing middle class in China that can afford more food and have been consuming more meat that is raised from feed corn. These are the reasons that make sense and is more likely the causes. But it seems like we always have to be blamed as the bad Americans and that we are the cause of everything bad in this world so the incomplete story that blames everything on Ethanol will fit in better with the image that the news agencies want to project on us. - mstrebe, on 04/16/2008, -0/+15So glad I don't live with the moral conundrum of driving an E85 car. Mine only burns otherwise worthless oil.
- cambob76, on 04/16/2008, -1/+15America gets most of its oil from Canada. Surprise!
- Wacer, on 04/16/2008, -0/+14The person was being sarcastic. A person that knows when the government touches things, it usually goes to *****.
- ch4os1337, on 04/16/2008, -1/+15Or hell, buy it from Canada. Theres Oil up there too you know?
- inactive, on 04/16/2008, -1/+14No it is an article with a *GASP* confusing message. OMG we live in a confusing world
- if you buy oil you contribute to terrorism
- if you burn oil you contribute to global warming
- if you go and replace oil with biofuel you make poor brown people starve
Yes that's the ***** you get with politicians that just pushed economic growth regardless of any longterm planning. Just push the gas pedal harder and harder.
Maybe solar is a better idea? Yes solar will not put gas in your tank. Wow do I pity you. - KMye, on 04/16/2008, -2/+15When did this become the "environmentalist" line? Not until very recently, and while I'm very happy it's happened much sooner than I personally thought it would, please don't try to ***** like "most environmentalists" knew this was coming the whole time...
- JettaMan, on 04/16/2008, -1/+14I know! Let's get the government to screw around with free markets even more. They do such a wonderful job fixing things that aren't broken.
- cambob76, on 04/16/2008, -1/+13If you create more demand for oil, then the price of oil will go up. If the price of oil goes up, the price of food goes up. If you use food to replace oil, the price of food goes up. Catch-22. Happy motoring!
- petska, on 04/16/2008, -5/+17as long as the caribou in Alaska are okay, all is well
- micro506, on 04/16/2008, -0/+12Screw the global market, we've got bootstraps!
- mcquitty, on 04/16/2008, -1/+13[citation needed]
- kirralin23, on 04/16/2008, -0/+11Are we still paying farmers not to plant? I know we used to, but I haven't heard anything about it recently? People do need to learn to grow their own food. Also, it takes a lot of vegetation to feed an animal for meat. If these people are having to switch to eating much more meat I don't get it. Why not just grow more human food and less cow food? Am I missing something here?
- pitlord, on 04/16/2008, -3/+13Why be sarcastic? I think that is a GREAT idea. Why are we providing cheap commodities to our enemies?
>.>
Careful, if you keep thinking straight, someone might think you are a Conservative.
X^P - tweedius, on 04/16/2008, -1/+11Starving for a green cause? Whatever happened to feed the hungry? Isn't it more important to make sure people aren't dieing then to make us "green?" I'm all for alternative energies, and don't think that we do nearly as much as we can to develop new energy sources. However, ethanol production not only requires millions of tons of corn for fractions of that in actual output, the corn also has to be delivered to the ethanol production plants in diesel guzzling semis that produce lots of pollution. And then it takes ridiculous amounts of energy input to convert corn into ethanol. AND THEN, it gets shipped AGAIN in tankers that are driven by those same pollution producing diesel consuming semis to a refinery where it is then blended into gasoline.
Not only are we completely and utterly short sighted for using a source of food for energy, the amount of land it takes to grow this corn proportionally to how much energy can be extracted from it once you subtract all of the energy inputs required to produce it (at the refinery and the shipping costs), Ethanol from corn is just about the worst policy decision we've ever made. Not to even mention the amount of ethanol liter by liter in comparison to gasoline does not even contain the same amount of chemical energy, less in fact.
Choices have consequences, and I'm glad that people have finally started to wake up to this. - xptoast, on 04/16/2008, -1/+113rded. I wish I had an area to use for growing my own food.
- chrissku, on 04/16/2008, -1/+11Ethanol is more destructive to the world than the impending oil shortage. Who woulda thunk it?
- MyBacchanalia, on 04/16/2008, -1/+11My hybrid runs on half gasoline, half brown people.
- inactive, on 04/16/2008, -8/+17Why don't you chill out and crack a ***** book?
- Ma5t3r_Chi3f, on 04/16/2008, -0/+9I am not for corn for fuel because it is taken out of food circulation, but at the same time, why is the US to blame? There are plenty of countries out there with the resources to help. I don't understand why we have to always be the ones to bail a country out. I am sorry other countries need our food, but right now I am paying 4 dollars a gallon for fuel because OPEC and Big Oil says I have to. I am a heavy commuter to and from work, and the price increase for gas is messing with my bank account.
- Egoist, on 04/16/2008, -0/+9Hilarious the response of Diggers two years ago and now:
http://digg.com/general_sciences/Why_and_how_gasol ...
Just goes to show you that no matter how big a "cause" seems on Digg, it's 1% who really think that way and 99% hopping on the bandwagon. When that cause becomes a big farce, they all say, "I told you all along!" - BigBlueCarbon, on 04/16/2008, -20/+29at least they are starving for a green cause. how's that filet mignon, leonardo? cream of corn soup too cold, al?
- aukxsona, on 04/16/2008, -1/+10THANK YOU! Some body on Digg isn't drinking the purple dinosaur spiked Kool-Aid.
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- Argy, on 04/16/2008, -0/+8Dugg for great truth. It seems so obvious, yet people don't get it.
- mcquitty, on 04/16/2008, -1/+9It seems like a good business opportunity. See a need and fill it. Why not join the cause?
- solidcube, on 04/16/2008, -0/+8What burns my ass is the fact that 90% of the countries that benefit from our food aid hate the united states. Then we turn around and feed them. World population is a huge problem right now, let's act to solve that problem. Let americans eat cheaply. Let other countries worry about feeding themselves.
- MyBacchanalia, on 04/16/2008, -0/+8Exactly. There's a difference between people who understand and want to help the environment and all the silly yuppies jumping on the global warming bandwagon who don't understand that biofuel is an idiotic idea. This pisses me off soooo much...apparently they (the Economist?) are predicting a massive rice famine in Asia this summer, prices for food have gone up again in Haiti (and all over the world)......
The point is, humans should be eating corn, not burning it. The only "quick fix" solution that is viable is nuclear. - delmar14, on 04/16/2008, -0/+8haha...Diggers hate it when your facts interfere with their conspiracy theories.
- Sornos, on 04/16/2008, -0/+7Fallow: Agricultural land which is not used for crops but is left unused in order to restore its natural fertility. Summer fallow is the practice of leaving the ground uncultivated during a long, dry spell. Three-year fallow is part of the three-field system. See also bush fallowing.
Take off your tin foil hat. It's called fallowing. It allows the soil to restore itself. - aukxsona, on 04/16/2008, -0/+7This will be my first year farming. It will be a small farm. All my excess I am selling at the local farmers market. So if you really want local food, shop at the farmers market.
- tweedius, on 04/16/2008, -1/+8Ethanol production not only requires millions of tons of corn for fractions of that in actual output, the corn also has to be delivered to the ethanol production plants in diesel guzzling semis that produce lots of pollution. And then it takes ridiculous amounts of energy input to convert corn into ethanol. AND THEN, it gets shipped AGAIN in tankers that are driven by those same pollution producing diesel consuming semis to a refinery where it is then blended into gasoline.
Not only are we completely and utterly short sighted for using a source of food for energy, the amount of land it takes to grow this corn proportionally to how much energy can be extracted from it once you subtract all of the energy inputs required to produce it (at the refinery and the shipping costs), Ethanol from corn is just about the worst policy decision we've ever made. Not to even mention the amount of ethanol liter by liter in comparison to gasoline does not even contain the same amount of chemical energy, less in fact.
Choices have consequences, and I'm glad that people have finally started to wake up to this. - dhughes, on 04/16/2008, -0/+7 If you're going to get riled up over ethanol being made from crops that could be used for food maybe you should get even more mad at land being wasted on growing tobacco.
Anyway, from what I have heard there is a surplus of food; grains, corn etc. but demand from China and India is causing the shortages, purely supply and demand. -
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