Perpetual Innovation

Category: food economics

  • World Bee Day, May 20

     It’s World Bee Day, May 20th. 

    There are lots of people worried about bees, and rightly so. To mix a metaphor, bees are the canaries in the coal mine. When bee colonies get wiped out (like colony collapse), it indicates that things are not right in the environment.&nbsp (When your canary dies in the coal mine, the methane levels are high enough to cut off oxygen, and to explode with any spark.)

    Pollinators like bees are necessary for 90% of the world’s wild flowers pollination and about 75% of the world’s crops. Bees and other pollinators have a triple whammy because they are exposed to: pesticides, herbicides, and diversity (flowers) loss. Think of the monarch butterfly where the demise of milkweed (Monarch’s host plant) have devastated the Monarchs. 
    The UN has designated May 20th as a single day to contemplate, respect, and even to protect our tiny furry friends. (Well, hairs, not really fur.)
    Cool article about 5-facts about bees, and tips for helping bees and other pollinators at Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN. 
    Will all the attention that honey bees have received over the last 10-20 years many people have concentrated on growing/maintaining honey bees. (See our discussion of Colony Collapse Disorder.) However, the artificial emphasis on honey bees pushes out other, often more efficient, pollinators. When the honey bees push out other pollinators, they can jeopardize entire ecosystems associated with them.
    #Honey #Pollinators #Ag #AgricutlureEconomics #Polution #Pesticides #MonarchButterfly #Diversity #BioDiversity

  • World Water Day 2021 Quiz

    World
    Water Day 2021 (March 22) Quiz        Name/Team: ____________ 

    (See SustainZine blog post related to this quiz and World Water Day.)
    1.      Approximately
    what percentage of the adult human body is water (H2O)?

    a.       10-15%
    b.      20-30%
    c.       40-50%
    d.      55-65%

    2.      All
    of the following are primary water-related causes of death world-wide except:

    a.       Diarrhea
    b.      Malaria
    c.       Dehydration

    d.      Driving
    into bodies of water while texting

    3.      A
    gallon of DeLand city tap water costs about how many cents (vs. bottled water)?

    a.       <0.6
    cents
    b.      2
    cents
    c.       4
    cents
    d.    8
    cents


    4.      What
    percentage of the world’s water is fresh surface water (lakes, rivers, swamp,
    etc.)?

    a)     
    10.9% of the world’s water
    is fresh and surface water.
    b)     
    5.2%
    c)     
    2.5%
    d)     
    <0.1%

    5.      Of
    the ~7.8B billion world population what number (percentage) do not have safe
    drinking water; what percentage do not have clean septic/sewer?

    a)     
    0.5 Billion (~7%) without
    clean water; 1B without basic sewer/septic (~13%)

    b)     
    1 Billion (~13%) without
    clean water; 1B without basic sewer/septic (~13%)

    c)     
    780 Million (~10%)
    without clean water; 1B without basic sewer/septic (~13%)

    d)     
    780 Million (~10%)
    without clean water; 2B without sewer/septic (~25%)

    6.      About, what
    percentage of the US lakes, rivers and streams are polluted (according to US
    EPA)?  (Polluted, as in no swimming and
    you should not eat the fish, if there are any.)

    a.       5%

    b.      10%

    c.       30%

    d.      50%



    7.      How
    many gallons of water does it take to power a single light bulb for a year
    using NatGas, Coal and Nuclear (100-Watt, incandescent, 12 hours per day)?

    a.       50
    to 60 Gallons
    b.      200
    to 500 Gals.
    c.       1,000
    to 2,000 Gals.
    d.      4,000
    to 8,000 Gals.



    8.      How
    many gallons of water does it take to produce the corn necessary to produce 1
    gal of ethanol?

    a.      
    1-5 Gallons of water went
    into the corn to make up 1 gal of ethanol.
    b.     
    10-15 Gals
    c.      
    20-25 Gals
    d.      30-35
    Gals

    9.      How
    many gallons of water does it take to produce a gallon of ethanol from corn?
    (Not counting the virtual water in the corn from the prior question.)

    a.       None
    b.      0.5
    Gal
    c.       2
    Gals
    d.      3.5
    Gal



    10.  About
    how many gallons of water does it take to extract a gallon of oil?
    (Fracking drilling.)

    a.       No
    water used.
    b.      2-4
    gal of water per 42 Gal barrel of oil
    c.       5-10
    gal of water per 42 Gal barrel of oil
    d.      21
    gal of water per 42 Gal barrel of oil

    11.  About
    how many gallons of water does it take to refine a gallon of gasoline
    from crude oil? (not counting the prior question related to drilling the oil.)

    a.       No
    water used in the refining process.
    b.      0.1
    gal of water used per 1 gal of gasoline produced from crude oil.
    c.       0.3
    gal of water used per 1 gal of gasoline produced from crude oil.     
    d.       0.7
    gal of water used per 1 gal of gasoline produced from crude oil.

    12.  All
    things considered, how much total water does it take for a single chicken egg?
    (Virtual Water.)

    a.       12 gals

    b.      22 gals

    c.       32 gals

    d.      52 gals

    13.  All
    things considered, how much total water does it take for a pound of beef?
    (Virtual Water.)

    a.       200
    gals
    b.      500
    gals
    c.       900
    gals
    d.      1,800
    gals

    14.  All
    things considered, about how much total water does it take to make a pair of
    cotton jeans, both the cotton, milling, dying and the fabrication? (Virtual
    Water.)

    a.       50
    gallons
    b.      500
    gals
    c.       1,000
    gals
    d.      2,000
    gals

    15.  The
    average American family uses how much water per day at home directly
    (meter and/or well)? (Average household is 2.5 people.)

    a)   60 gals directly per day
    b)     
    95 gals directly per day
    c)     
    125 gals directly per day
    d)     
    300 gals directly per day

  • Corn that fertilizes itself with Nitrogen Fixing bacteria.

    This is a cool article in Science by Ed Young about a giant corn varietal in Sierra Mixe Mexico that grows in very poor soil, but actually fertilizes itself. There’s a bacteria that grows around the roots that absorbs nitrogen from the air and provides it to the corn. The team of researchers led by Alan Bennett from UC Davis referred to this a “Nitrogen Fixing” which works just like roots absorbing nitrogen from the soil.
    In this case, the soil is very poor quality, so the corn actually gathers nitrogen from the air (78% nitrogen for dry air).
    One major disadvantage of this corn is that it takes 8 months to mature.
    The benefits are many. In a linear world of farming, row crops are raise on big farms and the crop shipped off to marked (cities), which deplete the soil. So fertilizers are needed to replenish the soil to grow the next crop. The fertilizers (mainly phosphate and nitrogen) end up running off into the water ways and result in massive ecological damage such as algae blooms and red tide.
    Because fertilizers are expensive to buy, and expensive to apply, farmers continue to do a better job with fertilizers. (Other factors like urbanization, turf grass and golf course are taking over lead positions in pollution generation.)   However, linear systems in farming are non-sustainable, broken systems, compared to Regenerative Farming approaches that use non-til and corp rotations to restore the quality of the soil.
    To commercialize this “nitrogen fixing” cereal crop requires some improvements, new varietals (sexual reproduction) or genetically engineered (GMO crops). The intellectual Property (IP) of such crops will be important. Profits and the capitalist system at work, availability to the people and countries that need it, and the property rights protections that make IP work are just a few important ingredients in the dissemination of new technology — in this case, new crops.

  • Non-GMO Food Market to Hit $800 Billion by 2017 (i.e. Organic) Environmental Leader

    Non-GMO Food Market to Hit $800 Billion by 2017 · Environmental Management & Energy News · Environmental Leader:

    Notice that Non-GMO does not necessarily mean “organic”…

    Should be cool to read the full report: http://www.packagedfacts.com/Non-GMO-Foods-7822141/

    But that would cost about $3,000… So we’ll have to read the discussion on it.

    But the trends in whole foods — as in Whole Foods, Hanes, Chipoltles, etc. — has been more than impressive. The organic section of all grocery stores is growing like weeds, to offer a green mixed metaphor.

    Looking forward to more momentum on the organic front.

    ‘via Blog this’

  • Ethanol Producer Magazine

    Issuu – bbiinternational – Documents:

    Check out issues of Ethanol Producer Magazine… And other Biomass, biodiesel, biomass, biofuel rags. (Reading these online is surprising smooth once you get the swing of it.)

    Great info in this month’s edition of Ethanol Producer. Because of the trade-off between burning our food (corn) and eating it, the use of corn-ethanol as a fuel is critical. It’s especially critical during times of drought. It takes a lot of water to grow corn, and it takes a lot of water to process ethanol.

    Ethanol is down, corn-based ethanol is down, exports are down, etc.

    But what’s interesting is the field tests (pun intended) of new corn crops that are more drought tolerant.

    If you haven’t yet ventured off into this genre of magazines, you will find it very interesting and surprisingly relevant. Relevant, if you drive, if you eat food, if you have interests in the economy. . .

    Make no doubt about it, the drought is gonna impact us all in food, fuel and more, for at least the next couple years. What we have just learned this year about droughts will be useful for the rest of the world, too, in seasons to come.

    Hang on for the bumpy ride.

    ‘via Blog this’ (also blogged at IPZine)