mick silver
7th February 2011, 08:45 AM
http://www.321energy.com/editorials/moriarty/moriarty020711.html ... It should be reasonable to most people to understand that energy is an analog for food. If you look at a chart of oil production and compare it to population, it seems obvious that food and fuel are the same thing under a different cloak. Energy is food is population.
That creates a giant problem. Not for me, I'm old. But for you. Peak oil means peak food means peak population. The revolution in Tunisia first; now Egypt and soon in Serbia are not about religion or dictators or police states. We have a police state in the United States; no one cares. No one gives a hoot about dictators until they can no longer afford food. Then they care and the walls come tumbling down.
The uprising in Egypt began as a protest against the rapidly rising cost of food and fuel. Eventually, everyone with an agenda got involved from the Muslim Brotherhood to Israel to the United States. None of them understand the most basic issue because of their agenda which doesn't care about reality or solving the problem.
We passed peak oil back in 2005 or 2006 depending on whom you want to believe. Peak oil means peak food and that makes for peak people. Therein lies the issue. You can cut down on your consumption of fuel by simple driving less or living a more sane existence. For example, the average foodstuff consumed in the United States travels 2900 miles but it's only 2500 miles from San Francisco to New York.
Cutting down on food consumption creates even more problems and cutting down on population is really problematical. Unless of course you are George Bush and Dick Cheney. They were masters at population control.
Estimates say 40% of the population in Egypt survives, barely, on $2 a day. The price increase in basic foodstuff estimated at 40% over the last two years has been devastating. Therefore it's time to riot.
There really is no simple solution. Changing the head of state in Egypt will prove to be as effective as rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. We are not out of oil; we are just out of cheap oil. Energy prices will go up and with them, food prices are going up and going to stay up.
What we can do is make more efficient use of the productive land we do have. We need to squeeze out more bushels of wheat and corn from the land we already use. Potash is a perfect solution.
Back in 2008 when oil prices rocketed up to $146 a barrel and dragged food prices with it, the price of potash shot up to about $875 a metric ton, a new record. While every other commodity was plummeting, potash was strong but even potash eventually corrected. The price dropped to just above $310 a ton in early 2010 before stabilizing at about $350 in late 2010.
About 93% of the world's potash consumption is for the use of fertilizers. We need potash for agriculture because it improves yield, water retention, taste, color and the texture of food. It can be applied to almost any fruit or vegetable.
That creates a giant problem. Not for me, I'm old. But for you. Peak oil means peak food means peak population. The revolution in Tunisia first; now Egypt and soon in Serbia are not about religion or dictators or police states. We have a police state in the United States; no one cares. No one gives a hoot about dictators until they can no longer afford food. Then they care and the walls come tumbling down.
The uprising in Egypt began as a protest against the rapidly rising cost of food and fuel. Eventually, everyone with an agenda got involved from the Muslim Brotherhood to Israel to the United States. None of them understand the most basic issue because of their agenda which doesn't care about reality or solving the problem.
We passed peak oil back in 2005 or 2006 depending on whom you want to believe. Peak oil means peak food and that makes for peak people. Therein lies the issue. You can cut down on your consumption of fuel by simple driving less or living a more sane existence. For example, the average foodstuff consumed in the United States travels 2900 miles but it's only 2500 miles from San Francisco to New York.
Cutting down on food consumption creates even more problems and cutting down on population is really problematical. Unless of course you are George Bush and Dick Cheney. They were masters at population control.
Estimates say 40% of the population in Egypt survives, barely, on $2 a day. The price increase in basic foodstuff estimated at 40% over the last two years has been devastating. Therefore it's time to riot.
There really is no simple solution. Changing the head of state in Egypt will prove to be as effective as rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. We are not out of oil; we are just out of cheap oil. Energy prices will go up and with them, food prices are going up and going to stay up.
What we can do is make more efficient use of the productive land we do have. We need to squeeze out more bushels of wheat and corn from the land we already use. Potash is a perfect solution.
Back in 2008 when oil prices rocketed up to $146 a barrel and dragged food prices with it, the price of potash shot up to about $875 a metric ton, a new record. While every other commodity was plummeting, potash was strong but even potash eventually corrected. The price dropped to just above $310 a ton in early 2010 before stabilizing at about $350 in late 2010.
About 93% of the world's potash consumption is for the use of fertilizers. We need potash for agriculture because it improves yield, water retention, taste, color and the texture of food. It can be applied to almost any fruit or vegetable.