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VK2AAB > FOOD 05.07.09 05:50l 30 Lines 1340 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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The Oil Intensity of Food
Lester R. Brown, The Oil Drum
This is a guest post by Lester R. Brown, founder and President of the Earth
Policy Institute. His principal research areas include food, population,
water, climate change, and renewable energy; see his list of publications by
clicking here.
Today we are an oil-based civilization, one that is totally dependent on a
resource whose production will soon be falling. Since 1981, the quantity of
oil extracted has exceeded new discoveries by an ever-widening margin. In
2008, the world pumped 31 billion barrels of oil but discovered fewer than 9
billion barrels of new oil. World reserves of conventional oil are in a free
fall, dropping every year.
... The most energy-intensive segment of the food chain is the kitchen. Much
more energy is used to refrigerate and prepare food in the home than is used
to produce it in the first place. The big energy user in the food system is
the kitchen refrigerator, not the farm tractor. While oil dominates the
production end of the food system, electricity dominates the consumption end.
In short, with higher energy prices and a limited supply of fossil fuels, the
modern food system that evolved when oil was cheap will not survive as it is
now structured.
(29 June 2009)
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