I am worried about popcorn. If I go to the US next year will I still be able
to buy a family bucket of this crunchy food for a reasonable price?
I
mean, look at the Mexicans. Thousands of union members, farmers and left
oriented political groups protested against the price increase of corn, the
basic ingredient for Mexico’s national food the tortilla.
When Mexico
joined the North American Free Trade Agreement NAFTA in 1994 American farmers started to dump their
subsidised corn on the Mexican market. Many small farmers could not survive this
market power and the corn fields became the playground of a few large companies.
The current high corn prices, due to the subsidised shift in demand for
food and feed corn to corn for ethanol production, forces poor Mexicans to
tighten their belts because they cannot afford the more expensive tortillas
anymore.
Energy balance
But there are more worries. People in the ethanol business want us to believe that turning corn into ethanol is a profitable business from an energy point of view. Proof is weak and scientists arguing for the opposite are finding it difficult to be heard. Or am I too negative now and influenced by outdated information?
But there are more worries. People in the ethanol business want us to believe that turning corn into ethanol is a profitable business from an energy point of view. Proof is weak and scientists arguing for the opposite are finding it difficult to be heard. Or am I too negative now and influenced by outdated information?
Students at Berkely university examined
a few studies on energy pathways in ethanol production and came to the
conclusion that it is already clear that large-scale use of ethanol for fuel
will almost certainly require cellulosic technology.
Cellulose magic
Cellulose is the magical word for future energy production. There is a slight problem though; plant cell wall material is composed of three important constituents: cellulose, lignin, and hemicellulose. Lignin is particularly difficult to biodegrade, and reduces the bioavailability of the other cell wall constituents.
Cellulose is the magical word for future energy production. There is a slight problem though; plant cell wall material is composed of three important constituents: cellulose, lignin, and hemicellulose. Lignin is particularly difficult to biodegrade, and reduces the bioavailability of the other cell wall constituents.
But science is moving forward and on a laboratory scale
BTX
Holdings managed to strip starch from wheat straw from a 2.82% content
in the basic material to more than 45% after processing, using relatively very
low levels of energy.
Hopefully this development continues so that I don’t have to line up with food coupons to get a supersized extra large bucket of popcorn next year.
Author: Dick Ziggers
