Biofuels and biomass – Dec 16
-Using Waste, Swedish City Cuts Its Fossil Fuel Use
-Africa mulls biofuels as land grab fears grow
-Biomass – a burning issue
-EU plans to tackle unwanted impacts of biofuels
-Cornell to develop algal biofuels
Food & Water
Why you should read The Biochar Solution
Intelligently and broadly applied and ethically managed, the production of biochar and its incorporation in the soil has the potential to lower carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, not on a millennial time line, but within a few decades. We have the possibility of reversing climate change.
An agriculture that stands a chance: perennial polyculture & the hard limits of post-carbon farming
An alternative agricultural model based on polycultures of perennial crops will likely be more than just a ‘good idea’ in the coming post-carbon era – it’ll be a damn NECESSITY. So grab your shovels, America — it’s time to begin the transition to an agriculture that stands a chance.
Potpourri – Dec 12
– End of consumerism
– Peak oil novel: “Player One: What is to Become of Us”
– Carbon-Neutral Sail-Powered Cargo Ships Scheduled to Return to European Waters in 2012
– Leaked document shows EPA allowed bee-toxic pesticide despite own scientists’ red flags
Transition and solutions – Dec 10
– Glenn Beck embraces simplicity (for real!)
– 21 Holiday Gift Ideas for the Permaculture and Guerrilla Gardening Activists in Your Life
– NYT: The Beekeeper Next Door
– The UK Crash Course… now online and available free to all UK Transition initiatives…
– Why not eat insects? (video) – new!
Feeding a larger population on a warmer planet
There is growing evidence that prices of staple foods, like maize, rice, and wheat will rise steadily due to increased population and income growth. And climate change adds more pressure to these already big challenges.
Climate change and regime longevity in the DPRK (North Korea)
In the short to medium term, climate-driven food insecurity is likely to pull Pyongyang into increasing reliance on its nuclear weapons program as leverage to bargain for international largesse in the form of food, energy and fertiliser supplies. The increased importance of the nuclear bargaining chip in the context of climate change, in conjunction with the numerous other justifications for its nuclear proliferation (domestic politics, security, ideology), makes it even more unlikely that the regime will relinquish its nuclear weapons capability.
Plenty of local food, few local food products
“Most of the food people eat is processed,” says Left Coast Naturals president Ian Walker. This simple truth sums up what may be the biggest hurdle for our local food system in feeding the masses.
Who can go the longest without feeding hay?
Chickens, which would love to graze that grass, are once again taking their rightful place in the backyards of America, and it is only a matter of time before sheep will join them.
Transition to local food
Five years after the “100 Mile Diet”, authors Mackinnon and Smith tour us through their top ten local food projects. From the Napa Valley to New York. Winter farming in Michigan. In Canada, Toronto out-pacing Vancouver. Great talk, inspiring ideas for your food security.
Climate – Dec 3
– Japan Turns Its Back on Kyoto Protocol
– GOP Moves Quickly to Kill House Climate-Change Panel
– Albert Bates: The Cancún Climate Summit – Opening Day Coverage
– Monbiot: Cancún climate change summit: Is God determined to prevent a deal?
– Vía Campesina: Statement on the Climate Summit in Cancun
– Food Security Wanes as World Warms
New threat to global food security as phosphate supplies become increasingly scarce
A new report from the Soil Association reveals that supplies of phosphate rock are running out faster than previously thought and that declining supplies and higher prices of phosphate are a new threat to global food security….
Intensive agriculture is totally dependent on phosphate for the fertility needed to grow crops and grass. …. Recent analysis suggests that we may hit ‘peak’ phosphate as early as 2033, after which supplies will become increasingly scarce and more expensive.
