www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Good news about energy

Zenovia,

I do believe you are the first person I've ever encountered who took the position that pollution is a good thing, and encouraged wasted energy. LOL! I do like the Japanese glass idea! Isn't it amazing the things we can learn?

Dear Wondering you said: I say:

I thought you'd enjoy that. Frankly I'm curious to know how the problem will be solved. Global warming or pollution. We have to choose you know. :rolleyes:

Well today I heard a better idea for energy....hog manure. Well think about it! Get rid of the waste and get energy at the same time. The only problem they say is the cost. It seems to me that every lobbiest in Washington is trying to get their own product to become our next energy source.

You know I always thought that we should get our energy from our own waste products...that way we would be solving two problems at the same time.

Zenovia

I grew up in Iowa so I know a little bit about corn. The push for ethanol from corn is being driven by farmers to a small extent but the big influence is coming from corporations like ADM, ConAgra, Monsanto, etc. All they know is corn and that's where their money is.

A great option would potentially be switchgrass. Unlike corn, you can use the entire plant in the production of biofuels. Also, you only plant it once and then it's treated almost like hay where you bale it. Since it is planted once, after you harvest it, the remaining plant and roots stay in the ground to help control erosion. It also takes fewer pesticides/herbicides/fertilizer in it's growth and production. However, I fear that this may never really become a reality because of our love of corn.

Speaking about corn and what we eat, there is a book called "The Omnivore's Dilemma" that may be of some interest. I have not read it in its entirety and I'm not always able to pick up on any political messages/propoganda if they so exist. However, the people I know who have read the entire thing think it is pretty interesting. I'm not sure, but I think they state something like 40% of the products in the supermarket contain some form of corn.

The problem with ethanol is the energy needed to produce it - tractors, combines, fertilization, pesticides/herbicides - and the pollution and environmental releases that go along with that production. All of that has to be taken into consideration when looking at the final product if one is going to call it "cleaner".

It is simply not as "clean" as it was made out to be a few years ago, and some of the marketers (now that they have been called on it) have actually dropped that part of the sales line instead calling it "abundunt", "readily available" "easily producible" instead of "cleaner".
FDD

A rural Deacon with mud on his boots . It helps to have people in the forum who have many interests.

ICXC
NIKA

Dear t-bone you said:

I say:

And that's not the worse, the animal products we eat were fed corn, ('maize'), too. So all we're getting is corn, corn, corn! :rolleyes:

Well I recall reading once that the European population would not have been very high if the new world had not been discovered. It seems that the only two products that are able to grow in large quantities within a small area is corn and potatoes. Since America's discovery, animals throughout the world have thrived on corn

Well that's fine, but does everything have to contain corn? It seems these large corporation, the one's that have taken over the farms because of inheritance taxes, want to produce the most from what they have. Well corn is it...and our weight shows it.

Shame on them, and shame on us too for allowing them to get away with it.

Zenovia