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energy-efficiency
I am curious whether anyone has done analysis of the relative energy
cost of production of emerging sustainable agriculture approaches.
The petroleum-based agricultural system typical of North America and
Europe could prove to be inferior to the so-called "backward" or
"primitive" agricultural systems in 3rd world countries if/when another
runup of oil prices occurs. If the Chinese economy (for example)
continues its current pace of expansion for a few more years, the
increased per-capita Chinese energy consumption will cut into the life
expectancy of world oil reserves significantly. This also would result in
a serious shock to energy-intensive, 1st world agriculture.
In this light, the innovators who are striving for less input-intensive
means of production may be positioning themselves quite well for a
future of dramatically more-expensive inputs. Unfortunately, this is not
true of systems which substitute mechanical energy for chemicals (eg in
weed control).
R. Macgregor
rdmacgregor@gov.pe.ca
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