BBC NEWS | Europe | Biofuel use 'increasing poverty
Oxfam says so-called green policies in developed countries are contributing to the world's soaring food prices, which hit the poor hardest.
The group also says biofuels will do nothing to combat climate change.
Oxfam is not exactly conservative, right side of the line, or even middle of the road. For them to point this out, is a breathtaking bit of honesty. Perhaps their motivation is disingenuous, but they are correct.
The point is sitting in between the two sides right in the middle of the road. We want combustible fuels, whether gasoline or not, and on the other end, they say no no no sticking my fingers in my ears lets all live in huts.
Okay, so why do we want combustible fuels? We want what they give. An energy storage mechanism that is dense, relatively safe, gives fast energy release on demand, and is easy to make a delivery and distribution infrastructure for.
That's it. So, if burning stuff isn't the greatest idea, then we need something that doesn't involve oxidation, but still stores energy at comparable densities with comparable ease and speed of release to usage.
We need not live in huts. We merely need to come up with an energy storage mechanism that fits the bill. Biofuels ain't it. Gas isn't. Grease in diesel engines, nope. Solid-state fusion battery systems might be. There's others. But biofuel production is driving livestock feed prices through the roof and if that keeps up, that cripples the entire meat industry altogether and that means McDonald's and so on as well as summer BBQs which while I am in favor of meat alternatives would mean a sudden economic crash as all those workers no longer have money for any meal.
The current crisis is multiply insidious like a coal seam fire, and we see it right there, and we're busy organizing a ping-pong tournament instead.
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