Friday
Apr222011
by 
Bishop Hill
Bishop Hill Sir John B on climate change and food
Apr 22, 2011 Bureaucrats Climate: other Greens Sir John Beddington says "the food system is failing". No doubt the answer is more funding.
Reader Comments (56)
Nothing new here -- been around since Malthus
And of course, there are dozens of solutions as well. My favorites are Soylent Green as well as Logan's Run
I suppose it would be out of place to suggest that Beddington should read Lomborg - his assessment of the FAO data showed conclusively that Beddington is just plain wrong. Food supply is rising faster than population - which is partly why food prices in real terms are falling. And this man is Britain's finest?
Well it was foretold in 1972 (limits to growth) that there should be a food crisis now, so there must be a food crisis now. Just like there is a "climate crisis" now.
Only, where is it ?
FergalR --
"Regarding corn to ethanol, I only believe that the problem is exaggerated, not that it is non-existent...It's far too simplistic when people say that 40% of US corn is burned as fuel."
I agree with you on those, and thank you for presenting the facts behind it. Nevertheless, I continue to believe that such efforts are misguided, and serve mainly to enrich one political constituency (in this case, corn farmers) at the expense of others (notably lower-income consumers).
As to the efficacy of such efforts, I wonder what the figures are on the energy cost of the additional lands put under tillage, and ethanol processing, vs. (say) extraction and refinement of crude oil of equivalent energy content. What is the implied cost of CO2 emissions avoided by this method, when all effects are included? Unfortunately, although I think I can lay hands on the energy cost of producing gasoline, I'm not aware of equivalent documentation for ethanol. Plus, unlike e.g. windmills & solar PV, where the additional end costs are explicit in FITs and other subsidies, it's a little trickier to isolate end costs for ethanol, which should show up as a portion of price changes in gasoline and corn-based foods. The amount attributable to ethanol, as opposed to other effects, would seem to be difficult to quantify. Is anyone aware of a paper or report which attempts this calculation?
This wet prick was elevated to the peerage?? Must have been a Blair nomination.
HarlodW;
The IEA estimates corn-ethanol production cost from $40-$135/bbl equivalent on page 4 of this .pdf. US corn yield is twice the international average so I guess that's where the $40/bbl ethanol would come from. No details are given and the IEA website isn't the easiest place to search for specifics. They're very pro-CO2 tax so I wouldn't trust them anyway.