<Daddy, will the lights be on at Christmas?The Oil DrumDrumBeat: December 21, 2007>

119 comments on The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007

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jmygann on December 21, 2007 - 1:13pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

" it is possible to grow it sustainably"

How ?

Where did this come from ? A link please

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tirwin on December 21, 2007 - 3:30pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

You might want to start by googling organic agriculture. From there a good site to start from might be journeytoforever.org/biofuels

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markincalgary on December 21, 2007 - 5:27pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Evidence that organic agriculture can sustainably produce significant amounts of biofuels is lacking and far from conclusive. (This excepts areas that can grow sugar-cane.) As someone who has spend the last few years studying and practicing organic agriculture, I strongly suspect that it can't be done.

For food crops, where complicated crop rotations can be used, organic agriculture can produce on levels comparable to conventional agriculture, but bio-fuels are a completely different beast. Bio-fuels can be produced sustainably or in significant quantities, but not both.

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WNC Observer on December 21, 2007 - 5:38pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

I've argued for some time now that it is quite feasible for farmers to grow a small amount of oilseed (maybe 5% of total cultivated acreage), and press it themselves to provide them with something to fuel their diesel equipment. This is no silver bullet, but it can work as an alternative technology approach to enable some agricultural mechanization to carry on.

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tirwin on December 22, 2007 - 10:35am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

I think an organic farmer can sustainably grow his own fuel. Perhaps a bit more can be produced for sale or barter locally. The thing plants do best is make sugars and starches. These are the base ingredients for ethanol. Bushes like jatropha can be planted as living fences and provide oilseeds for biodiesel. There are some size limits based on amount of labor and its cost. That seems to be the tradeoff. An individual can only farm so much land sustainably. It takes considerable knowledge and skill. Its being done already. We need more organic farmers.

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