tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19508699.post4255968441499651391..comments2024-03-29T06:38:18.116+00:00Comments on Energy Balance: Can we Feed the World?Professor Chris Rhodeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060542089215379056noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19508699.post-61319367188980072692008-11-11T17:15:00.000+00:002008-11-11T17:15:00.000+00:00A very interesting thought. In principle we could ...A very interesting thought. In principle we could use "seaweed" - microalgae and macroalgae (i.e. what turns up on the beach), to generate both food and fuel. It has to be worth considering but so does population limitation.<BR/>But in order to secure the latter, we need a security so that you don't have to have 10 kids because half of them will die and you won't be able to run the farm.<BR/><BR/>The world lacks this assurance at the moment and yet it would be so easy to provide.<BR/><BR/>Regards,<BR/><BR/>Chris Rhodes.Professor Chris Rhodeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12060542089215379056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19508699.post-18940477175228066082008-11-11T17:03:00.000+00:002008-11-11T17:03:00.000+00:00The Chinese, Japanese and probably many other peop...The Chinese, Japanese and probably many other people have been eating seaweed for thousands of years - why not grow and harvest more - not to mention the edible animals within the seaweed using it as a habitat...<BR/><BR/>Dried seaweed tastes good, too.<BR/>AshAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19508699.post-22162435998402105512008-10-28T14:27:00.000+00:002008-10-28T14:27:00.000+00:00Hello Ash,interesting what you say, and a valid po...Hello Ash,<BR/><BR/>interesting what you say, and a valid point. I am just reading about growing seaweed offshore and maybe harvesting that for food?<BR/><BR/>Regards,<BR/><BR/>Chris.Professor Chris Rhodeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12060542089215379056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19508699.post-66661861518772375922008-10-28T14:06:00.000+00:002008-10-28T14:06:00.000+00:00Further to my last point I will also say that if o...Further to my last point I will also say that if one subscribes to the theory that ice caps and melting and thus land area is decreasing and, consequently, water area is increasing, then the importance of food resources from the sea will become evermore valuable. Solar powered water farms are the one solution I can think of at the moment. Feel free to quote me. AshAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19508699.post-60608563172493440242008-10-16T11:28:00.000+01:002008-10-16T11:28:00.000+01:00Food from the oceans? I like this idea! Do you mea...Food from the oceans? I like this idea! Do you mean plankton/microalgae as well as fish etc.?<BR/><BR/>Do yo have any sums for what might be got?<BR/><BR/>The only problem that strikes me immediately is that relatively local regions might have to be harvested (eventually anyway) as fuel for transport, processing, fishing and plankton harvesting runs short.<BR/><BR/>There is work being done on microalgae for food and indeed such is commercially incorporated into foods in various ways.<BR/><BR/>My point overall is that we will be pushed to use conventional land-based agriculture to feed us all.<BR/><BR/>A worthy comment to make and thanks - keep them coming! In terms of food and energy I think we will need all sources we can lay our hands on.<BR/><BR/>Regards,<BR/><BR/>Chris.Professor Chris Rhodeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12060542089215379056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19508699.post-52390363658762951582008-10-16T10:57:00.000+01:002008-10-16T10:57:00.000+01:00An interesting article but you seem to have comple...An interesting article but you seem to have completely overlooked the natural or otherwise food resources from the world's oceans...<BR/><BR/>Propaganda is dangerous because it invariably only shows one side of the coin.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19508699.post-36884483063599538842007-11-16T07:38:00.000+00:002007-11-16T07:38:00.000+00:00So what do we put into tractors etc.? Diesel from ...So what do we put into tractors etc.? Diesel from oil. I see where you are coming from re. manufacture of ammonia from H2 from natural gas (coal? Not so much as yet, surely?, though we could make it that way, and in the US you probably will given the huge resource there is there of coal).<BR/><BR/>The oil-crunch will hit all forms of transportation and machinery (including farm-machinery) driven by oil.<BR/><BR/>Food will get increasingly expensive, e.g. on tar-sand oil or that from CTL.<BR/><BR/>I give it 5 years max. before the poorest begin to starve.Professor Chris Rhodeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12060542089215379056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19508699.post-75705269592939324932007-11-15T20:28:00.000+00:002007-11-15T20:28:00.000+00:00This 'modern agriculture relies on oil' meme is ju...This 'modern agriculture relies on oil' meme is just plain false. It relies on hydrogen for ammonia production which is produced from natural gas and coal, and can easily be produced from nuclear and solar power.<BR/><BR/>We aren't even close to the ceiling yet.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04635514928258113448noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19508699.post-59579057034038127712007-11-11T01:13:00.000+00:002007-11-11T01:13:00.000+00:00Hello! Please see below:The Vertical Farm Project ...Hello! Please see below:<BR/><BR/>The Vertical Farm Project - Agriculture for the 21st Century and Beyond... [verticalfarm.com]<BR/>From the page: "It took humans 10,000 years to learn how to grow most of the crops we now take for granted. Along the way, we despoiled most of the land we worked, often turning verdant, natural ecozones into semi-arid deserts. Within that same time frame, we evolved into an urban species, in which 60% of the human population now lives vertically in cities. This means that, for the majority, we humans are protected against the elements, yet we subject our food-bearing plants to the rigors of the great outdoors and can do no more than hope for a good weather year. However, more often than not now, due to a rapidly changing climate regime, that is not what follows. Massive floods, protracted droughts, class 4-5 hurricanes, and severe monsoons take their toll each year, destroying millions of tons of valuable crops. Don't our harvestable plants deserve the same level of comfort and protection that we now enjoy? The time is at hand for us to learn how to safely grow our food inside environmentally controlled multistory buildings within urban centers. If we do not, then in just another 50 years, the next 3 billion people will surely go hungry, and the world will become a much more unpleasant place in which to live.<BR/><BR/>Why is Urban Agriculture important? | RUAF - Resource Centres on Urban Agri [ruaf.org]<BR/>From the page: "Why is Urban Agriculture important?<BR/><BR/>Read more: Further reading<BR/><BR/>The rapid urbanization that is taking place goes together with a rapid increase in urban poverty and urban food insecurity. By 2020 the developing countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America will be home to some 75% of all urban dwellers, and to eight of the anticipated nine mega-cities with populations in excess of 20 million. It is expected that by 2020, 85% of the poor in Latin America, and about 40-45% of the poor in Africa and Asia will be concentrated in towns and cities.<BR/>Most cities in developing countries have great difficulties to cope with this development and are unable to create sufficient formal employment opportunities for the poor. They also have increasing problems with the disposal of urban wastes and waste water and maintaining air and river water quality.<BR/><BR/>Urban agriculture provides a complementary strategy to reduce urban poverty and food insecurity and enhance urban environmental management. Urban agriculture plays an important role in enhancing urban food security since the costs of supplying and distributing food to urban areas based on rural production and imports continue to increase, and do not satisfy the demand, especially of the poorer sectors of the population. Next to food security, urban agriculture contributes to local economic development, poverty alleviation and social inclusion of the urban poor and women in particular, as well as to the greening of the city and the productive reuse of urban wastes (see below for further explanations and examples).<BR/><BR/>The importance of urban agriculture is increasingly being recognised by international organisations like UNCED (Agenda 21), UNCHS (Habitat), FAO (World Food and Agriculture Organisation), and CGIAR (international agricultural research centres). "<BR/>http://www.sustainablefoodlab.org/<BR/><BR/>Just to name a few sites.<BR/>SustainAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19508699.post-45973622555508157342007-11-10T08:28:00.000+00:002007-11-10T08:28:00.000+00:00I know what you mean! I would feel happier in the ...I know what you mean! I would feel happier in the camp of "deniers" and I hope that some new resource/ technology or whatever else will come to our rescue, but I can't see one on its way.<BR/><BR/>Most of the population increase has taken place in the developing world, so the UK population is just about half as much again is it was in 1900, but in Asia and South America it is nearer three times what it was then.<BR/><BR/>Hence, I think this is where the greatest die-off will occur, but this is a world problem, and rather than everyone attaining a Western lifestyle, the West will move toward an agrarian society, eventually, at least those who survive.<BR/><BR/>It is the transition from now to then that is the truly fearful aspect.<BR/><BR/>It's not a pretty thought!<BR/><BR/>Chris.Professor Chris Rhodeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12060542089215379056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19508699.post-54139017977242013112007-11-10T00:44:00.000+00:002007-11-10T00:44:00.000+00:00My wife says I should stop reading about stuff lik...My wife says I should stop reading about stuff like this because it freaks her out when I scare her with my propaganda.<BR/><BR/>I'm beginning to think she's right.<BR/><BR/>My car is currently broken, and I feel like I should fix it in a hurry before we run out of oil. heh.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com