Biofuels: How "green" are these crops?

The International Herald Tribute has an article titled Studies conclude that biofuels are not so green. This study, along with many other recent criticisms have brought a strong attack against the claim that biofuels are cleaner and will be able to replace a substantial portion of the United States transportation energy needs.

Land-Use
The study by Princeton University includes a factor that is frequently ignored or assumed to be insignificant: land use. The study states:

The clearance of grassland releases 93 times the amount of greenhouse gas that would be saved by the fuel made annually on that land, said Joseph Fargione, the lead author of the other study and a scientist at the Nature Conservancy. "So for the next 93 years, you're making climate change worse, just at the time when we need to be bringing down carbon emissions."

According to this study, land use is an important factor. Once it is taken into account, it is apparent that at least from a greenhouse gas emission perspective biofuels are not better than conventional fuels, but in fact worse.

Life-Cycle Analysis
The problem with any environmental studies is that they have to make assumptions. This is necessary in sciences where it is simply not possible to measure everything. Most scientists or engineers have to make assumptions at some point but the validity of the assumption can often be questionable. Previous studies did not include land use into the study and apparently missed a large portion of the emissions.

My Thoughts
My primary reason for studying Chemical Engineering was alternative and renewable energy such as hydrogen fuel cells and biofuels. However I quickly realized that these will not be able to replace conventional fuel.

When you look at the economics and the engineering behind it there are many reasons why alternative fuels will not be able to quickly (if ever) displace a significant portion of conventional fuels. The most important factor in determining whether or not a fuel is viable, or in the case of transportation critical, is it's energy density. Simply put, it is how much energy per unit mass or unit volume. See the Wikipedia article on Energy Density.

Conventional fuels such as coal or petroleum products have been used because they have a high energy density and can be transported efficiently. If fuel is grown, it is in extremely low density and must be changed into higher quality fuel. Some studies even show that ethanol is a net energy loser, meaning that it needs more energy to produce than energy in the end.

Growing crops for fuel has only been profitable because of the subsidies given to the corn industry and the subsidies for ethanol. Take those away and there is little economic viability. The government needs to stop given subsidies to fuel "sources" that are not viable and start focusing on conservation efforts and investing in infrastructure for lower energy intensity lifestyles.

There isn't one technology that is going to save us for the upcoming energy crisis and we should be skeptical of anyone promising us a miracle fuel. Let's focus on the principals of sustainability and consuming less to get us through peak oil.

Related Blogs:

• Energyville Part I: How will you Power it?
• Energyville Part II: The Discussion
  
• Shell CEO Virtually Admits to Peak Oil
  
• The Party's Over - Richard Heinberg: Book Review
• Fuel of War: Article Review

Recommended Books:

• The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of Oil, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century - James Howard Kunstler
• Resource Wars - Michael Klare
  
• The Party's Over: Oil, War And The Fate Of Industrial Societies - Richard Heinberg
  
• PowerDown - Richard Heinberg
  

Recommended Movies:

• The End of Suburbia
• The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil
• A Crude Awakening - The Oil Crash

Explaining the Ron Paul Phenomenon - East Bay Express

The East Bay Express, a local weekly newspaper in the East Bay near San Francisco published an article in their January 30th edition titled "Explaining the Ron Paul Phenomenon". It looks at how Ron Paul has been able to so effectively gather grassroots support of not only Republican voters, but those traditionally from the Democratic and Green parties. The author Matthew Green writes:

Their "Ron Paul Revolution" banners and T-shirts, which compete in visibility with the paraphernalia of the major Democratic contenders, conjure the image of a left-wing messiah, not a 72-year-old pro-life libertarian congressman from South Texas.

Sarah Trafican is a 24 year old graduate student from Berkeley who leads a meet-up group. According to her:

...most people in the Berkeley group are either political independents or former Democrats and Greens, but few republicans...Having a liberal base switch over doesn't surprise me because even though it sounds like the opposite [politically], we really do believe in the same thing - the Constitution

Another co-organizer Ralph Crowder says:

It's amazing how freedom unites people. We can all go back to disagreeing about social issues once the Constitution is taken care of.

My Thoughts
I think this article is a great overview of why liberals have been willing to cross party lines to support Ron Paul. He is the "Champion of the Constitution" and appeals to people who cherish the values protected under the Constitution and oppose unconstitutional military intervention. However, like any other candidate is not without flaws. As I argued in Would a gay Asian-American dare vote Republican?,we have focused too strongly on individual group's issues as opposed to looking at the overall picture.

If we continue to only look out for our own group's special interests, we WILL NOT have have a chance to improve the United States as a whole.

Previous administrations have slowly taken away rights like habeas corpus and intend to continue policies that support the Patriot Act and National ID measures. We, as free citizens of the United States, cannot allow our Constitutional rights to be chipped away. Ron Paul has continually been an advocate for protecting our fundamental rights by voting against the Patriot Act and National ID. This fact, combined with his stance on strong monetary reform is the reason why I have chosen to support Ron Paul.

If you are a Democrat and tired of the rhetoric that the "mainstream" candidates are spouting, you should take a look at Ron Paul. I can tell you from personal experience, that I was hesitant to even consider a Republican candidate, but I am now proud to support him. As the East Bay article shows, I am not alone when it comes to crossing party lines to support a deserving candidate.

Related Blogs:
Would a gay Asian-American dare vote Republican?
The IRS, Tax Protesters, and the Federal Reserve
Ron Paul on Tax Credits and Federal Reserve

Related Links:
Ron Paul Campaign Website
On The Issues: Ron Paul's Profile

Videos on YouTube
Ron Paul and Bernanke Part 1
Ron Paul and Bernanke Part 2

Related Links
The Money Masters
The Federal Reserve Bunk
Pay No Income Tax
Liberty Dollar

Recommended Books
The Federal Mafia

Recommended Movies:
All of these movies are free to watch on Google Video.
Money As Debt
The Money Masters
America: Freedom to Fascism

Ron Paul on Tax Credits and Federal Reserve

Lanka Business Online recently posted an article on Ron Paul speaking against the $600-$1200 tax credit to be given to the American tax payer through the economic stimulus package and the Federal Reserve drastically cutting interest rates. Ron Paul is a congressman from Texas and is also on the House Financial Services Committee and the Joint Economic Committee.

Tax Credits
His criticism of the tax credit is that we are creating the money out of nothing. He is quoted below:

"We have consumed everything we have gotten. So, we either have to borrow it from China or we print the money, which is inflationary. So, I'm opposed to that."

In essence, is that the government is borrowing money it doesn't have to "help" the tax payers. Later the tax payers will have to pay taxes to pay off the principle AND interest on the money that was borrowed which will devalue the dollar. What kind of relief is that? Paul is correct and this tax credit is not sound monetary policy.

It is only a temporary solution that makes the tax payers happy because they will see a $600 check in the mail. In the end though, the dollar will be weakened because of the reasons that he stated above. There are fundamental monetary problems that need fixing before the United States can drag itself out of this economic mess. A "shot in the arm" will not be sufficient when the whole arm is decaying.

Interest Rates
On 01/22 the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 0.75% down to 3.5% from 4.25%. In the January 29-30 meeting, it is expected that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates again perhaps another 0.50-0.75%. Although many investors and politicians are embracing the Federal Reserve interest rate cuts, Paul says Federal Reserve moves to cut rates would further hurt the US dollar.

"And we can't solve the problems of a weak dollar by printing more dollars."

"So, I think the dollar is still going to remain under attack, because you can't solve the problem of too much credit stimulus by more credit stimulus, because it will just lead to a weaker dollar. And I think they [Fed] are between a rock and a hard place."

Paul is right on the money (pun intended) related to the Federal Reserve manipulating interest rates. He also states that the current economic crisis that we are in is a direct result of the Federal Reserve lowering interest rates to 1.0% which "stimulated" the housing market.

My Thoughts
I am of course going to take the $600 tax credit because if I don't I will be at an economic disadvantage. But unlike most Americans, this is going straight to savings. However, I agree with Ron Paul on all accounts related to economics and monetary policy.

Not much change can be done unless real monetary reform is put through. I believe that monetary reform is the most important political issue today (See related blog and movies below for more information) and Paul stands out as the only candidate willing to make changes, much less address the issue.

Unfortunately the media has completely ignored him because of his upfront stance on monetary policy (see America: Freedom to Fascism) even though he has made a tremendous grassroots campaign. Although he is not 100% ideal on his social issues, he is a candidate that is worth investigating.

Related Blogs:
The IRS, Tax Protesters, and the Federal Reserve

Related Links:
Ron Paul Campaign Website

Videos on YouTube
Ron Paul and Bernanke Part 1
Ron Paul and Bernanke Part 2

Related Links
The Money Masters
The Federal Reserve Bunk
Pay No Income Tax
Liberty Dollar

Recommended Books
The Federal Mafia

Recommended Movies:
All of these movies are free to watch on Google Video.
Money As Debt
The Money Masters
America: Freedom to Fascism

The IRS, Tax Protestors, and The Federal Reserve

W2's, 1099's, and 1040's oh my!
The dreaded tax season is coming up. Most people will be getting their W-2's and hoping for a refund. Virtually everyone automatically signs up to have their income taxes withheld and then mail in any remainders after they have filed their tax return. This is typically done without even questioning the system because it is "right" to support the government. But what happens to those who don't file their returns? Wesley Snipes, an actor made famous in the Blade movies has chosen to do exactly that: not pay his taxes.

Tax Protesters
CNN recently posted an article on the Wesley Snipe's Tax Trial which outlines the case and the defense that Wesley Snipes plans to use. The attorney Robert Bernhoft is representing him and has previously represented Joe Banister a former IRS agent (More information on Banister here).

These topics have more or less gone unnoticed and the media has demonized the "tax evaders". But no attention has been focused on why they are avoiding the income tax and why the income tax even exists. If the general public actually knew what the income tax pays for, there would be an uproar...

Income Tax and The Federal Debt
Here's a question for all of the readers out there: What would you do if you were told there was no law for paying income tax? Would you pay it? I'm guessing not.

Even those of you who may be thinking "Well what about public education and highways that are necessary? Shouldn't we pay taxes to support those things?". Schools are mostly funded through property taxes and highways are funded through the gas tax. Where does most of your federal income tax go you might ask? To pay the interest on the federal debt. (For more information why we don't need an income tax, see the movies I listed below and this article.)

The Federal Reserve: It's not who you think they are
Who then is the federal debt owed to? The Federal Reserve creates money and is lent at interest to the United States government. The interest on this debt is paid with YOUR income tax. Having taxpayer money going towards interest seems ridiculous when the government could create its own money interest free. Instead the government uses your income tax to pay off the interest owed to the Federal Reserve. But here's the fact that most taxpayers do not know: The Federal Reserve is NOT a government agency. It is actually a PRIVATELY OWNED, FOR PROFIT, bank! The private shareholders of the Federal Reserve are the ones making money from your income tax!

Crazy you say? There are many free movies on Google Video which go through these topics in depth. The Money Masters is a thorough 3.5 hour history of international banking and the Federal Reserve system. Money as Debt is a 45 minute animated video which goes into detail about money, debt, banking, and the fractional reserve system. Lastly, Aaron Russo's America: Freedom to Fascism discusses the federal income tax and IRS enforcement.

My Thoughts
I only became aware of this issue within the last month and it has completely changed my view on everything. The Federal Reserve has always been put on a pedestal and given credit for bringing economic stability to our country. However, if you watch The Money Masters, you will see that the Fed does not smooth out the economic cycle, but actually artificially creates the economic cycle for their own profit.

There is a reason why Alan Greenspan was considered "the most powerful man in america" or perhaps even the world. By reducing the interest rates to 1.0% after 2001, the Fed fueled the sub-prime mortgage crisis by allowing a tremendous influx of money and spending. When interest rates were raised, those who took out Adjustable Rate Mortgages were then unable to make their payments.

But now the Fed is trying to "correct" the problem after raising interest rates to over 5% in June 2006 by taking a drastic measure and cut interest rates today by 0.75% to 3.5% with more cuts in the immediate future. Regardless of the effect on the U.S. or world economy, the international bankers will profit.

If you are having skepticism on this issue, I completely understand. If someone would have told me this, I would have labeled him/her as a total nut-job and a conspiracy theorist. But after watching those videos I am 100% convinced that the Federal Reserve needs to be eliminated. Although this is a very new topic for me, I plan to blog extensively about this topic because I it is of paramount importance and unlike environmentalism does not get the proper media coverage that it deserves.

I know that most of you have extremely busy lives and that 3.5 hours seems like an eternity for a documentary on banking, but I would highly recommend watching The Money Masters. It WILL change your view on money, the economy, and the banking system.

Remember that awareness is the first step and change will not happen unless we educate ourselves. Please educate yourself by watching movies or reading books and distribute those resources to whomever you can.

Note: The information provided in this blog should NOT be considered advice to avoid paying your income tax. Although it is right to protest a system that is unjust and stand up for what is right, people are still being prosecuted for it. If you want more information about not paying your income tax, look at a free PDF of The Federal Mafia by Irwin Schiff for more information.

Related Links
The Money Masters
The Federal Reserve Bunk
Pay No Income Tax
Liberty Dollar

Recommended Books
The Federal Mafia

Recommended Movies:
All of these movies are free to watch on Google Video.
Money As Debt
The Money Masters
America: Freedom to Fascism

Fuel of War: Game or Virtual Reality?

Fuel of War: Overview
Money on CNN recently posted a new article about Frontlines: Fuel of War, a video game by Kaos Studios. The premise of the game is described by Steve Hargreaves in the quote below:

"Over the last two decades prior to 2030 oil production has peaked and is declining rapidly, renewables never panned out, plagues hit, and starvation ensued."

Hargreaves practically dismisses the issue of peak oil and doesn't get into any of the arguments at all. All he writes is the following:

"Most oil industry analysts say peak oil production is many decades, if not hundreds of years away, and a transition to other sources will likely be more orderly than the scenario depicted in Frontline.

But a small and growing number of experts -- some well-respected -- say peak oil production is close or has happened and the transition will be much more painful than mainstream analysts predict."

It's unfortunate that he doesn't explain or give evidence for either side. But in the end, it appears that this game is getting media coverage and if people buy this game they might get interested in the topic and have an awareness to the issue. Craig Anderson, a profession of psychology was concerned for the players and stated the following:

"It may well change attitudes towards the use of these tactics as a political tool," he said. Players may think "of course we have to use military tactics to go take oil"

It seems that he is unaware about many of the current conflicts in the world centered around resources including, but not limited to, minerals, timber, water, and perhaps most importantly oil (Read Resource Wars by Michael Klare for more information on resource wars or see and excerpt of his book)

Fortunately, the game's general manager is more open to the idea that resource wars are already occurring:

DeLise dismisses such concerns, saying nations go to war all the time over resources, and that the game is merely a reflection of reality.

"When it comes down to it, it's about what countries will do to survive,' he said. 'That's not going to change.'"

My Thoughts

Resource Wars
Resource wars are a reality and are occurring throughout the world today. Many times, resource wars are masked as "religious" because those are for some reason deemed as inevitable and it is acceptable to have wars over religion because they have "always happened".

However, if the wars were truly labeled for what they were, most people probably wouldn't tolerate the wars. For example, most people are unaware of the significance of the Golan Heights and West Bank in terms of water resources. During the Six-Day War, Israel seized both of these territories.

What is their significance you may ask? The West Bank contains many valuable aquifers and the Golan Heights is where the Baniyas River is located. The Baniyas is the direct tributary to Lake Tiberias which later flows into the Jordan River and is a source of water for Israel. Jordan had planned to diver water from the Baniya river, and thus, by seizing the Golan Heights, Israel secured its water supply from Jordan.

If you're interested more on this topic, I would highly recommend reading Resource Wars by Michael Klare. He focuses primarily on resource wars related to water and oil, but has one chapter dedicated to timber and minerals. Also, Water Wars by Vandana Shiva offers more specific information about resource wars over water.

Peak Oil
Peak Oil will soon become a reality for the world (whether it has occurred already or not). Peak Oil has already occurred within many countries around the world in the United States. The only reason why the United States was able to recover from this crisis was because the world oil market had not yet peaked.

But the imminent question is what will happen when oil peaks globally? Many scientists and authors believe that it will be catastrophic and result in wars and violence as described in Fuel of War. Considering that resource wars are already occurring, it is not a far fetched idea that this could happen.

Either way, peak oil will affect every person on this planet. We will not be able to maintain the high energy lifestyle that we currently take for granted. Let's hope for humanity that the world will be able to manage the decrease in oil supply and manage the available resources without having to result to wars.

Recommended Websites:

• Life After The Crash
• The Rainwater Prophecy
• Energy Intelligence Blog
  
• Peak Oil Blog
  

Recommended Books:

• Resource Wars: The New Landscape of Global Conflict - Michael Klare
• The Oil Factor: Protect Yourself and Profit from the Coming Energy Crisis - Stephen Leeb
• Water Wars: Privatization, Pollution, and Profit - Vandana Shiva

Recommended Movies:

• The End of Suburbia
• The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived the Peak Crisis
• A Crude Awakening