Eating Fossil Fuels
Subtitle: Oil, Food And the Coming Crisis in Agriculture
Publisher: New Society Publishers
Published: October 2006
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 128
ISBN-13: 9780865715653
Subjects: Agriculture & related industries; Sustainability; Technology: General Issues; Technology & Industrial Arts; History - General History; History; History: American; USA; United States - 20th Century; Agriculture - Sustainable Agriculture; Development - Sustainable Development; Science / General
Description: The miracle of the Green Revolution was made possible by cheap fossil fuels to supply crops with artificial fertilizer, pesticides, and irrigation. Estimates of the net energy balance of agriculture in the United States show that ten calories of hydrocarbon energy are required to produce one calorie of food. Such an imbalance cannot continue in a world of diminishing hydrocarbon resources. This book examines the interlinked crises of energy and agriculture and highlights some startling findings: The worldwide expansion of agriculture has appropriated fully 40 percent of the photosynthetic capability of this planet. The Green Revolution provided abundant food sources for many, resulting in a population explosion well in excess of the planet's carrying capacity. Studies suggest that without fossil fuel-based agriculture, the United States could only sustain about two-thirds of its present population. For the planet as a whole, the sustainable number is estimated to be about two billion. Concluding that the effect of energy depletion will be disastrous without a transition to a sustainable, re-localized agriculture, the book draws on the experiences of North Korea and Cuba to demonstrate stories of failure and success in the transition to non-hydrocarbon-based agriculture. It urges strong grassroots activism for sustainable, localized agriculture and a natural shrinking of the world's population.