Biofuels – Are they a Valid Alternative?

Many great things are being said about Biofuels – where they are depicted as ‘the solution’ to traditional carbon polluting oil. When hearing the word ‘biofuels’ – picturesque images pop up in one’s mind of beautiful corn, soya and sugar cane fields.

It’s plants, it’s green, and generates anywhere between 50 to 90% less carbon dioxide when being used than gasoline – so it must be good, right?

Let us investigate what goes on ‘behind the scenes’ – meaning – ‘how are these biofuels produced’ – to get an idea of the implications of replacing our current oil consumption with new ‘green fuel’.

Corn

First, we’ll have a look at the manner in which corn is processed to become a usable fuel:

-          First, the corn is ground and mixed with water
-          This mixture gets heated
-          Added enzymes convert the starch into sugars
-          Then, the mix gets transferred into a fermentation tank
-          In the fermentation tank the sugars gradually transform into alcohol
-          The alcohol gets separated from the water by a process of distillation
-          The leftover which are known as “distillers’ grain” are fed o the cows
-          Some of the wastewater being high in nitrogen are applied to fields as fertilizers

This whole process gives off large amount of carbon dioxide. Most ethanol plants (=biofuel) make use of natural gas and coal to create the heat and steam which is necessary for the process of distillation.

The growing of corn also uses up a lot of natural gas and diesel. This is because in the planting and growing process of corn nitrogen fertilizers and farm machineries are used – which run on diesel. Some studies even reveal that the amount of carbon dioxides released during the process of creating ethanol pretty much cancel out the later ‘carbon dioxide reduction’ through replacing oil with ethanol as an energy source.

If this isn’t already bad enough, considering the rising prices of corn crops which give incentive to farmers to expand their production -- there’s as much as 35 million acres of marginal farmland which was actually set aside for soil and wildlife conservation which will be used for corn production for farmers. This may potentially cause an increase in the release of more carbon in fallow fields. Corn is also a highly erosive crop which means a lot of time and energy will have to be placed in rehabilitating the soil.

Furthermore, we are directing food crops towards an energy consuming industry and society while everyday 25 000 people die (of which most are under 5!) of hunger – which is completely unacceptable. In addition, we cannot simply shift our dependence from oil to ethanol as current and future climate changes may very well undermine this type of agricultural activity. The soya story goes much the same way, although is maybe a bit less disastrous.

Sugar Cane

Brazil seems to have had some success in using sugar cane as medium for biofuels.

Unlike corn, sugar cane already contains 20% of sugar in an entire sugarcane stalk, and it already start to ferment the moment it has been cut. Sugar cane fields also yield much higher rates of ethanol per acre compared to corn: 600 – 800 gallons an acre, which is almost twice as much as corn. In general sugar care seems to have much higher and better benefits than corn – though again, it is not without its implications and side-effects.

Most Brazilian cane is cut by hand. Although this type of labour is well paid, the conditions are hot and extremely strenuous to the back. To facilitate the cutting by hand of the cane fields, the fields are mostly burned before harvesting to kill any looming snakes and to make the canes easier to cut. This process fills the air up with soot while releasing methane as well as nitrous dioxide – which are both potent greenhouse gases.

Similarly as with corn, as biofuels will boom and thus the prices as well – this will push farmers to take up more land. This in turn will drive cattlemen deeper into territory such as the Amazon and the ‘cerrado’ (biologically diverse savannahs). So even though all these biofuels are deemed as ‘clean’ and ‘environmental friendly’ – the process behind their creation tells us quite a different story.

Replacing oil with any other ‘alternative energy source’ is always going to end up in a disaster at this point. We simply cannot replace oil with any other fuel at the rate that we are producing and consuming things. The rate at which we are producing, consuming and creating waste, is so disproportionate in relation to the resources available on Earth – that we’re always going to end up with some undesirable consequence that we want to ‘fix’ – but won’t be able to fix. The problem is not the fuel/energy source itself – it’s us humans and our ridiculous obsession with consumption and greed. As long as we do not fix the core problem – which is us – we’re not going to get anywhere (except maybe our own annihilation as a race and the destruction of our home planet).

Times is running out and we must decide NOW, act NOW. We must consider an alternative socio-political and economical system within which we live our lives. We must design and implement a system that is in total balance and equilibrium with planet Earth, nature and all its living beings. The Equal Money System is this new system. It is the only way through which we are going to be able to sort out this mess and ensure a safe and secure future for the children to come.

It’s time to let go of our greed, it’s time to let go of our self-interested obsessions and start considering Life as a whole. You can play a part in this transformation for a better life and future. Investigate Equal Money and let your voice be heard!

Sources:
National Geographic Magazine, October 2007, “Green Dreams”, pp 38-59

Our Economic System, a Recipe for Disaster & The Real Bad Effects of ‘Good Intention’ Government Interventions

Profit and Self-Interest is that which lies at the very core of our Current Economic System.
It is the very baseline of any equation from which economical mechanisms are derived from.
It is the venom that seeps through every inch of our society of which no-one remains unaffected.

It’s a venom that kills.

*Beep*                                   * Beep*              uuuugh..................

Our Economy falls back on two basic ‘powers’ / ‘laws’ interacting with each other:
               
                1. I want to sell stuff expensive so I can get lots of money
                2. I want to buy stuff cheap cause I want to have lots of money

(These two are the trademark of Capitalism and Free Market)

But now – just looking at these two points together, it is obvious that you cannot have both happening at the same time. For example: You want cheap milk, but they only want to sell you expensive milk – both parties want to score.
 So even though this is not practically possible – these are the rules the Economy lives by.

Now, these two essentially self-interested laws, make up ‘Supply’ and ‘Demand’ (first one being supply [giving], second one demand [receiving]).

And even though these ‘laws’ have no practical consideration whatsoever - but the one for profit – it is accepted and enforced as status quo.

So we have established that both two ‘laws’ are drenched in self-interest  - and ‘combat’ each other.  But the combat between these forces creates a ‘vacuum’ – as both of these points are just eating up all the money – and these vacuums are then represented by manifestations such as poverty and scarcity.

Now – people start complaining and when the moaning starts getting to the Government they feel that maybe they should do something about it.

The Government will then implement some rules to try and create some sort of balance so that the poor people don’t get too angry and get it in their heads to maybe revolt against the government.

These rules can take the form of for instance protecting moaning Farmers by setting a particular minimum price for their goods. This minimum price will be above the ‘equilibrium price’ [*the equilibrium price is where supply perfectly meets demand,  there’s no excess or shortage. For example, a farmer supplies 50 000 litres of milk at the local town market – at a particular price – and at this price all of his milk is bought. There is no excess but also no shortage of milk. ]

By setting a minimum price that is above the equilibrium price (at the price that people are willing to pay) -  an excess supply is created because people don’t want to buy the expensive stuff!

So if the Farmer now for instance sells his milk at 3 euros a litre - less milk is going to be bought, and there’s going to be many litres left unsold.

 So the higher the price – the less people will buy it (can buy it) which means = less people have food. So now okay, the farmers get some extra cash but now we’ve created a new problem as more people are without food. On top of that, we’re still sitting with all this excess of supply (the unsold milk) that’s just lying around, and now the Government’s got to get rid of it. If they give the food to the poor people then they’re not gonna buy the food on the market and then the farmer’s not going to get their money and then the whole minimum price thing was useless from the beginning. And obviously the Governments Ego cannot admit to that, so then they rather buy the food with TAX MONEY (yes that’s right, they take your money so now you’re still losing) and then destroy the excess supply.

I mean – if you look at it – it’s really pretty freaking insane right? I mean, twenty first century? Evolution?  LMAO

Then there is minimum wages / basic income!

The people’s gone moaning again and the government feels it should respond to this threat (yes threat instead of common sense responsibility – in our world literally EVERYTHING is in reverse).

So now the government goes ‘Let us implement minimum wages/basic income!’ – because they see that people are complaining because they are looking rather skinny and beaten up by their slave labour.

 Because remember:  BUY CHEAP – SELL EXPENSIVE. This translates into PAY PEOPLE CHEAP (buying labour) – SELL THE STUFF THEY MAKE EXPENSIVE – KEEP MONEY IN MY BIG FAT POCKETS. That’s how we’ve designed our system.

Back to the Government – so now they implement ‘minimum wages’ – which is really the same principle as setting a minimum price for the farmers. Corporations do not want to buy expensive labour [it is seen as ‘expensive’ because this minimum wage is above the ‘equilibrium wage’ where supply & demand meet (because people will do anything to gain some money to survive, so they are willing to work for almost nothing)]. So Corporations have to now implement this minimum wage – but they don’t want to spend that amount of money.
As a result they start firing and cutting back on their staff. Which results in more people being unemployed – but heeeey at least those few people who have a job get a minimum wage, right? Yay? No?

So the very people the government is “trying to help” are the ones that end up being off worse. As you have seen from the examples, you either end up without food and/or without a job.  And the knowledge that these type of interventions are absolutely not effective – is Economy 101, it is one of the first things you learn in studying economy, imagine what else we might encounter down the road!!

And then obviously if one tries to look at other ‘solutions’ = there are none. Each move you will do that approaches ‘care’ will be catastrophically as what the System breathes in and out is Self-Interest. It is repulsed by ‘care’ and will simply spit out anything that is not serving Profit & Self-Interest.  Thus there are no possible solutions within our current system. As long as we want to create / provide solutions within the current framework of our Economic System = it is going to fail.

Because as the very Starting Point of our System is that of Self-Interest – it will only cherish and harvest that singular point. There is simply no space for anything else. It is a Formula, an Equation which is not Equal [and for an equation to be effective there must be EQUAlity, you know EQUA-TION it is implied in the word]. So no matter what you place into the formula – it will always end up in disaster as that is the way it’s been designed.

So understand that when you read or hear things in relation to Equal Money Solutions – that we are talking about a whole new system, a whole new formula – it is beyond our current system, it’s a whole new world! Because, we cannot save our current system, it is done for.

So if you can see , just like me the absolute fucked-up-ness of our current Monetary and Economic System – Investigate Equal Money! It is the only solution !!!