I disagree with your position. In the context of a discussion of
sustainability, which implies perpetuity, we cannot afford to dismiss the
person who wants to live within a sustainable energy budget.
----------
Ignacio, you are arguing from a positon that I can not diagree with and
have made no such bold statement regarding not living within a sustainable
energy budget- your statement is a non dequitur to my response on the
viability of small scale ethanol porduction.
First, I am open to any person on this list or any where who can prove,
via a working model that small scale, on farm ethanol production is
sustainable at any level- from an energy balance from a human resource
balance from an ecological balance- i am willing to start with a
tehoretical model and go from there- choose your feedstock and use of by
products
The ethonol industry got its kick in Brazil when oil prices went through
the roof and Brazil could not afford the balance of payments. On farm
lacohol production in the US got its kick when corn hit the bottom in
prices- but in both cases, the energy balance in the positive sense was
and is dependent on large commercial scale facilities- remember that
appropriate technology does not necessarily mean small farm systems.
The same holds for "organic farming"- there is nothing which says, from a
technical perspective that organic farming has to be limited to small farm
operations. The "organic" movement in the US has shown that even in
organic operations, there is much to be said for an economy of scale
Let us not confuse the socio/political issues with the larger ecosystems
issues- politics is rarely a rational beast Politics is Lamarkian, no
matter how much you wish it technology can not be legislated as the
Russians found out with Lysenko. The Laws of thermo dynamics are not made
by fiat Technology can not cure socially created problems
Right now the socio/economic plying field is not level. Technology can not
level this field nor can it raise all ships equally
So, ignacio, I am in agreement with you I just don't beleive in technology
miriacles that are going to provide the simple solutions to what is really
a social issue
We have to stop dreaming about a past that never was and a a fture that
never will be
cheers
tom abeles
tabeles@tmn.com