Energy Crops Threatens to Bring Food Shortages and Increase Poverty, Says UN

Energy Crops Threatens to Bring Food Shortages and Increase Poverty, Says UN

www.guardian.co.uk

The global rush to switch from oil to energy derived from plants will drive deforestation, push small farmers off the land and lead to serious food shortages and increased poverty unless carefully managed, says the most comprehensive survey yet completed of energy crops.
The United Nations report, compiled by all 30 of the world organisation's agencies, points to crops like palm oil, maize, sugar cane, soya and jatropha. Rich countries want to see these extensively grown for fuel as a way to reduce their own climate changing emissions. Their production could help stabilise the price of oil, open up new markets and lead to higher commodity prices for the poor.

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
esa.un.org


Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads: As biofuels boom, will more go hungry?
Biodiesel. World catastrophe in the making

[edit on 9-5-2007 by khunmoon]

This a brand new report finally somehow adressing the biofuel bogus ...or dangers.

I've said in several threads on the subject, it is the worst idea man has ever come up with, and from first on suspected it to be part of the NWO plans for reduction of the earth's populace. When it takes the nutritions worth a year for a man to fill one tank of a SUV, famine is invitable.

Already in Mexico prices on tortillas have risen 3-4 times, it will lead to mass hunger.

BTW,I don't believe it will have much or any influence on the carbon accounting. Considering the manufactoring process -where some takes an energy input higher than the output- the transportation and the land that have to be cleared, it is defeceit business.

Worst of all it is sure to create further deforestation, erradication of species, and greater or worse, much worse powerty, than we know now. Hundreds of millions will be driven off their land.

It will mean mass famine.



www.guardian.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

This is nonsense. Americans waste huge amounts of food, as do starving nations.

Anything "GM" is automatically thrown out by the majority of ignorant people. GM corn could be a great fuel source if people won't eat it.

To top it off enormous areas of arable land are wasted for housing lots and super-highways that are impossible to simply dig up and farm on.

Japan is far ahead in this arena.

They have been experimenting, successfully with growing large seaweed gardens as a
source of bio-fuel.


Here's the thread I made about it when I first learned of it.
Japan Studies Seaweed Biofuel

[edit on 5/9/2007 by iori_komei]

Originally posted by khunmoon

Already in Mexico prices on tortillas have risen 3-4 times, it will lead to mass hunger.

For the price of tortillas to go up 3 or 4 times is nothing but BULL S**T. The price of yellow corn has only gone up less than 2 times, but tortillas are made from white corn. Somebody just saw an opportunity to make some quick money from an uninformed public.

It doesn't matter what crop you're talking about, they'll all go up due to increased competition over land caused by the demand for energy crops.

Originally posted by Columbus
To top it off enormous areas of arable land are wasted for housing lots and super-highways that are impossible to simply dig up and farm on.

Well, you I can't see how you can call land used for housing and highways wasted?

Fot other posterts seemingly buying into the biofuel bogus, please read this snippet from the newslink.



Biofuels are the most sinister of the NWO plans to reduce world population, IMO.

GROWING use of such crops as wheat and corn to make biofuels is putting world food supplies in peril, the head of Nestle, the world's biggest food and beverage company, warned today. "If as predicted we look to use biofuels to satisfy 20 per cent of the growing demand for oil products, there will be nothing left to eat," chairman and chief executive Peter Brabeck-Letmathe said. "To grant enormous subsidies for biofuel production is morally unacceptable and irresponsible," he told the Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag. While the competition is driving up the price of maize, soya and wheat, land for cultivation is becoming rare and water sources are also under threat, Mr Brabeck said. His remarks echoed concerns raised by the United Nations' independent expert on the right to food, Jean Ziegler. Speaking at the UN General Assembly last year, Mr Ziegler called for a five-year moratorium on all initiatives to develop biofuels in order to avert what he said might be "horrible" food shortages. Diplomats from countries pursuing such fuels, such as Brazil and Colombia, disagreed with his forecast.

www.news.com.au...



Hmmm. Is this a scare campaign to warn us against biofuel and back towards good old oil or is this true?
Are prices of food going to sky rocket as food supplies dry up and are people going to have to fight for food and/or risk starvation? Is this one way (as well as war, disease, retro-viruses etc) that the world's population is going to be diminished?

We all know (at least we all should get to know) that we have been denied viable aternative energy solutions for many many years so it is not as if we haven't been screwed over by our so-called leaders before.

Very interesting times ahead. Make sure you plan ahead now by looking into alternative food and energy sources....or at least raid the Nestle factory when the time is right