November 22nd, 2007 by admin
As we try to move away from the use of fossil fuels, elephant grass (miscanthus) is a perennial grass that should be a useful plant for the efficient collection of solar energy. It can produce very high yields of dry matter without heavy use of fertiliser or pesticides, so the energy balance is good. At the present time it is being used for electricity generation, sometimes co-fired with coal. It would seem ideal for local combined power and heat plants where the waste heat is utilised rather than being wasted.
Looking ahead, it will likely be a good crop to use for the production of cellulusic ethenol.
You can learn more about elephant grass at www.myelephants.co.uk, a site which educates children and families about environmental issues.
Posted in Security of Energy Supply | 1 Comment »
November 21st, 2007 by admin
The latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change shows many ways that food production will be hit as the world warms up.
One of the least known is the conclusion that carbon dioxide emissions have already increased the acidity of ocean surface water by 30 %, and could treble it by the end of the century. This is said to be the most profound change in the chemistry of the oceans for 20 million years and is expected to disrupt the entire web of life of the oceans, reducing productivity.
Fish has been a very important part of many people’s diet and a significant contributer to the total food available to humans. Wild fish is already under threat due to over fishing so that with this additional problem of acid oceans, the per capita availability of wild fish is bound to fall as populations rise. In turn this will contribute to Peak Food.
Posted in Collapse of Fisheries | 1 Comment »
The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a frightening document. The 2500 scientists involved are usually very conservative in their conclusions especially as they need the backing of some governments that have been sceptical in the past.
This latest report leaves no doubt that climate change is happening even faster than previously expected, that it is mainly caused by human activity and that the effects will be disasterous unless urgent action is taken.
The report predicts that nearly one third of the world’s species could be driven to extinction as the world warms up.
For us at Peak Food, our belief that we are headed for food shortages is confirmed by the prediction that harvests will be cut dramatically across the world. We have been saying that climate change is just one of the factors that is allready causing food prices to rise and has brought us to a very dangerous situation where we have such low reserve food stocks that any new crisis such as severe drought in North America or disruption to the oil supplies on which farming now depends, would cause chaos and hunger throughout the world.
