Yesterday on the NPR news program I heard a story about how the production of ethanol biofuel in China is driving up the price of corn. The high price of corn has led to an increase in the price of pork, which is the staple meat in most Chinese diets.
Today some one forwarded me this email:
The Dark Side of Green
Environmentally friendly fuels may make drivers in the U.S. feel greener, but a report out of the United Nations reveals one dark side to going green. According to the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the demand for biofuel--particularly ethanol--is creating a crop shortage that's resulting in a deadly famine for many of the world's less fortunate. The U.N. estimates that the amount of corn it takes to fill a 50-liter car tank with ethanol is enough to feed a child for an entire year. America is already devoting 18 percent of its grain to ethanol production, and other countries are following our lead. Food prices are up, and the number of Third-World families that can afford to eat is down.For more details read this article from the International Herald Tribune.
1 comment:
It also takes 1.3 gallons of gas to create just 1 gallon of corn based-ethanol, and 450 pounds of corn to fill an average sized SUV gasoline tank. Cite: Glenn Beck and Popular Mechanics Magazine article "The Ethanol Fallacy". When you have the facts, corn-ethanol isn't exactly what it appears. Just trying to get the message out there to everyone trying to "go green"- is oil really that bad?
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