M'kay

Post #278,470 by drewk 3/16/07 2:45:23 PM Reply	M'kay We're using so much corn for biodiesel that we're affecting the price of tortillas in Mexico, and we've got millions of acres devoted to production. Supposing you wanted to switch to cats, where the hell would you get enough food for them, and where would you put them until they were big enough to be harvested? I think this idea might have some scalability problems. === Kip Hawley is still an idiot. === Purveyor of Doc Hope's [link\|http://DocHope.com\|fresh-baked dog biscuits and pet treats]. [link\|http://DocHope.com\|http://DocHope.com]
Post #278,480 by Andrew Grygus 3/16/07 3:37:09 PM Reply	I suspect the process isn't limited to cats . . . . . so it could alleviate the disposal problems encountered by animal shelters all over the country. Still just a minor production but at least it turns a cost into income. [link\|http://www.aaxnet.com\|AAx]
Post #278,482 by admin 3/16/07 3:42:18 PM Reply	Just another non-renewable resource. Latest figure I read was something like 3M strays in Michigan. That's just about 2M gallons, or about 200K barrels of oil equivalent (42 gallons per barrel, of which about 9.5 gallons are diesel). Let's say for the sake of argument that the average stray cat population in each state is 3M as well. That gives us a generous estimate of 10M barrels of cat oil (without the gasoline and so on). Not that big a find. Regards, -scott anderson "Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson..."
Post #278,489 by drewk 3/16/07 4:00:08 PM Reply	Not to mention catching the strays Those numbers are estimates of strays in the wild. I doubt we'd catch even 10% of them easily. "Easily" meaning cheap enough to not blow the financials all to hell. === Kip Hawley is still an idiot. === Purveyor of Doc Hope's [link\|http://DocHope.com\|fresh-baked dog biscuits and pet treats]. [link\|http://DocHope.com\|http://DocHope.com]
Post #278,485 by Another Scott 3/16/07 3:46:22 PM Reply	Wait a minute. My understanding is that white corn is used for tortillas in Mexico, while yellow corn is used for animal feed and ethanol. There have apparently been lots of turmoil in the Mexican market, for various reasons, but I don't think that ethanol has much if anything to do with it. At least that's what I recall based on a story on the radio a while back. ... [link\|http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/02/19/8400170/index.htm?postversion=2007021406\|CNN reprint of a Fortune article]. FWIW. Cheers, Scott.
Post #278,488 by drewk 3/16/07 3:58:44 PM Reply	Try this one [link\|http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/26/AR2007012601896_pf.html\|Washington Post]: Mexico is in the grip of the worst tortilla crisis in its modern history. Dramatically rising international corn prices, spurred by demand for the grain-based fuel ethanol, have led to expensive tortillas. === Kip Hawley is still an idiot. === Purveyor of Doc Hope's [link\|http://DocHope.com\|fresh-baked dog biscuits and pet treats]. [link\|http://DocHope.com\|http://DocHope.com]
Post #278,513 by Another Scott 3/16/07 6:57:51 PM Reply	Thanks, Drew and Andrew. Educational! :-)
Post #278,490 by Andrew Grygus 3/16/07 4:01:41 PM Reply	According to the Wall Street Journal this week . . . Food prices will be rising sharply (and soon) due to ethanol production - and not just those dependent on corn, such as beef, pork, chicken and soft drinks. Vast soybean acres and other crops are being moved over to growing ethanol corn. There will be shortages. I wouldn't be at all surprised if white corn production is being drastically reduced in favor of planting yellow corn for ethanol production. The good part of this is that corn syrup may be priced out of the sweetener market - certainly good news for the sugar growers. [link\|http://www.aaxnet.com\|AAx]
Post #278,491 by drewk 3/16/07 4:04:37 PM Reply	Speaking of sugar growers ... I didn't know until I heard the news from Bush's trip to Latin America last week that sugar is a much better input for ethanol production. Basically you have to turn corn into sugar, then turn the sugar into ethanol. If you can start with sugar, it's significantly cheaper. So other than lobbying by ADM, why do we not grow our own sugar? Do we not have the climate for it in the U.S.? === Kip Hawley is still an idiot. === Purveyor of Doc Hope's [link\|http://DocHope.com\|fresh-baked dog biscuits and pet treats]. [link\|http://DocHope.com\|http://DocHope.com]
Post #278,495 by Andrew Grygus 3/16/07 4:12:04 PM Reply	We grow quite a bit of sugar here . . . . . and could grow a lot more if it was economical. Despite modernization the low cost of corn syrup has forced sugar production into a barely viable condition. Few companies have been able to stay in the business. And yes, sugar is a far better feed for ethanol than corn. Personally, though, I think alcohol for motor fuel should be restricted to production from agricultural waste - but that just wouldn't line the right pockets now would it? [link\|http://www.aaxnet.com\|AAx]
Post #278,499 by drewk 3/16/07 4:24:21 PM Reply	Shell should buy ADM We all know nothing is going to change unless the right people are making money. I could give a shit whether it's Big Oil or Big Agro that gets it. === Kip Hawley is still an idiot. === Purveyor of Doc Hope's [link\|http://DocHope.com\|fresh-baked dog biscuits and pet treats]. [link\|http://DocHope.com\|http://DocHope.com]
Post #278,883 by tuberculosis 3/19/07 11:15:55 PM Reply	Slaughterhouse waste too Lots of potential feeds I4 NOW! Impeach, Indict, Incarcerate, Inject Bush, Cheney, Gonzalez, Rumsfeld, Rove, Rice

Welcome to IWETHEY!