Retrofitting the suburbs for sustainability
A permaculture response to Peak Oil. There’s hope for the suburbs yet!
Food
Higher prices, lower profits
As fuel costs skyrocket, many businesses are struggling
Study: Ethanol Production Consumes Six Units Of Energy To Produce Just One
Peer reviewed study finds that the energy consumed in corn farming and ethanol production is six times greater than what the ethanol end product provides to car engines in terms of power.
German Biofuel Firms to Become Large Grain Buyers
New plants for production of bioethanol fuel entering service in Germany will start consuming significant volumes of grain this year — but only at very low prices, market players fear.
Biodiesel Boom Raises Ethical Issues -Analyst
High crude oil prices may have galvanized bio-diesel production, but some questions are now being asked in industry circles about the ethics of using a limited edible resource to meet the world’s energy needs, said an influential edible oils industry analyst.
What will we eat as the oil runs out?
A major international conference on “Food Security in an Energy-Scarce World” is planned for June 23-25 in Dublin, Ireland. The conference will seek to answer the question: “How can the world’s population be fed without the extensive use of fossil fuels in the production, processing and distribution of food?” [updated article with full conference details]
Energy and Food Production: Beyond Organic
Imagine you’re standing in the produce section of your local grocery faced with a variety of apples. You want to make the best choice, for the good of your family, farm workers and the environment. Do you buy the organic Galas shipped from across the country or the Granny Smiths grown conventionally but locally?
Low-Energy Lifestyle: Lessons from Cuba
I gave my first talk on peak oil in this room a little over two years ago. Like many people, when I first learned about it, I was very upset. I noted in my talk then that the problem looked serious and no one had any idea what to do. An Antioch attending said, “you should go to Cuba. They’ve already solved the problem.”
The shrinking salad bowl: Houses and malls becoming the fastest-growing crop in California
…as we get hungry we will be motivated as never before to protect soil fertility and water reserves, and learn to feed ourselves without using fossil-fuel-based fertilizers and pesticides. Organic and sustainable farming will no longer be trendy. We will feed ourselves according to our ability to replicate the soil food web’s systems of nutrient and carbon cycling and nature’s biodiversity, and to learn from long-surviving species.
China replacing the United States as the worlds leading consumer
Although the United States has long consumed the lion’s share of the world’s resources, this situation is changing fast as the Chinese economy surges ahead, overtaking the United States in the consumption of one resource after another.
Feeding the World under Climate Change
The debate over sustainable agriculture has gone beyond the health and environmental benefits that it could bring in place of conventional industrial agriculture. For one thing, conventional industrial agriculture is heavily dependent on oil, which is running out. [Considers both climate change and Peak Oil]
The Food Bubble Economy
Dr. Mae-Wan Ho reviews Plan B: Rescuing a Planet under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble, by Lester Brown, Earth Policy Institute.
