“Fat vs Fuel”, part II: Biofuels Digest special report on Indirect Land Use Change, biofuels emissions, and American overeating

27 Mar 09

Are biofuels really a major, major driver of land use at all? Actually, no. Energy crops are a marginal use of land, compared to meat.  About 70 percent of US corn and soy production is devoted to feed, not food, and not fuel.  Feed for animals to provide meat, dairy and other livestock by-products.According to the FAO and the USDA , US meat consumption has increased 137 pounds per person since the 1950s, with a resulting increase in grain usage of 375 pounds per person (the grain fed to cattle and poultry). In short, dietary change in the US has resulted in an additional 438 pounds of grains per capita, or 8 bushels of corn. That’s 2.4 billion bushels of corn, and since the 1950s are not remembered as a time of national starvation, let’s characterize that 2.4 billion bushels of grain as national overeating. To put it another way, 15 percent of the nation’s cropland is devoted to overfeeding Americans.
http://biofuelsdigest.com/blog2/2009/03/27/fat-vs-fuel-part-ii-biofuels-digest-special-report-on-indirect-land-use-change-biofuels-emissions-and-american-overeating/

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