Food (and fuel) for thought
Toolbox
Published: April 20, 2008
History is filled with great thinkers and doers. Philosophers, mathematicians, philanthropists, artists, and savants have all contributed to society and played a role in shaping our relationship with the world. But often it is the unknown ideologue or entrepreneur whose painstaking and sometimes anonymous work helps underpin the foundation of society. This work may be altruistic or mercenary, but for whatever reason, it "sticks."
The most profound relationships between modern humans and the environment are shaped by our sheer numbers. Human population is increasing exponentially, and we demand more from our natural world each day. More efficient food production is fueling our population growth. Agribusiness is always looking for ways to cut costs, increase output, and capture market share.
Nitrogen is a required nutrient for growing plants and in turn, animals (including humans). The abundant but inert form of nitrogen in our atmosphere must be "fixed" by bacterial processes in soil and plants to be biologically available. Human population has historically been limited by the quantity of food that could be grown with only naturally available nitrogen.
In 1909 the chemist Fritz Haber came up with a solution to the shortage of fixed nitrogen when he discovered how to manufacture vast quantities of nitrogen-rich anhydrous ammonia. The first commercial application of this new chemistry, the Haber-Bosch process, was to make explosives used in the two world wars. In 1947 the war machine was converted to an agricultural engine, producing copious amounts of fertilizer.
The Haber-Bosch process fostered the powerful and vain notion that technology could decouple us from the laws and cycles of nature. We could now dump vast quantities of fossil energy into the production of artificial fertilizer that would grow nitrogen-hungry corn as a commodity to feed the world. Today, corn is America's No. 1 cash crop, accounting for over 25 percent of our cropland.
Closely tied to global output of artificial nitrogen are the dramatic spikes in population growth, energy use, and carbon production during the last half of the 20th century. These developments are supporting the growing class of people known as "consumers." It is only because of our sheer numbers that we are faced with planetary sustainability issues. The artificial production of nitrogen is fueling this growing crisis of human consumption.
Fertilizer production is second only to petroleum refining when it comes to industrial use of natural gas in the United States: 97 percent of the fertilizer applied to crops is manufactured from natural gas. With spiking energy costs, fertilizer manufacturers are opting to close their doors and instead sell their natural gas supplies. Fertilizer prices are climbing as a result.
Taking advantage of invention involves, of course, successful marketing. We often think of effective marketing as big, bold, and flashy – like the shiny red sports car that supposedly feels your emotions as you drive. Really good marketing messages climb silently into bed with us while we sleep. Unbeknownst to the dreamer, the message occupies parts of our brain that are otherwise inactive and drives us to unconscious choices that pervade our lives.
Corn agribusiness, fueled by Haber-Bosch nitrogen, spun off a remarkable marketing coup – a clandestinely grown money-making machine that created an ever-increasing demand for a product due primarily to its very existence. Corn feeds billions of people and earns billions of dollars. The innovative commercialization of corn has even outdone U.S. automaker marketing strategies. How many people have you heard ask for high fructose corn syrup in their soft drinks? I'd guess none. How many have asked for automakers to make an energy-efficient gas or electric car? I've heard plenty. General Motors says "the market won't support it." Corn didn't ask anybody what they wanted. Corn snuck into our brains in the middle of the night and now fills our refrigerators, pantries, and fuel tanks.
Imagine if automakers had done for our mindsets and our driveways what corn did for our diet. Fuel-efficient vehicles would already be pervasive, and we wouldn't be so worried about the high cost of gasoline now. Some put hope in biofuels – but this option has offered little reprieve. Now both fuel and food prices are rising as land is displaced from production of one to the other. This is no surprise. Aside from the natural gas-derived nitrogen required to fertilize the crops used for biofuels, it takes lots of power to run a biofuels processing plant. Where are these processing plants? In the Midwest – where the corn and soybeans are. What's the cheapest, most abundant energy source in the Midwest? Coal. I'm all for biofuels, but we need to use them efficiently to minimize the growing pressures on our planet.
Most of us are just going to have to make some basic lifestyle changes. Our vehicles have not gotten any more efficient, and we still like to idle our cars while we go into the post office to get our mail and, well, chat for a while. I'm all for visiting, but let's not squander our resources.
Food and fuel. No two things have been more intertwined or had a greater impact on our environment; and their continued availability will affect our future relationship with the environment more than anything else.
Paul Scheckel is a senior energy analyst for the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation and author of "The Home Energy Diet." He lives in Calais and can be reached at scheckel@sover.net.
ON THE NET
Vermont Biofuels Association:
www.vermontbiofuels.org/
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