Re: OT - Re: Program templates as Object Classes

From: Robert Wagner (spamblocker-robert_at_wagner.net)
Date: 12/08/04 

Date: Wed, 08 Dec 2004 05:02:07 GMT

On 7 Dec 2004 18:58:12 -0800, "Richard" <riplin@Azonic.co.nz> wrote:

>>>> One third of energy consumed in the US is used to produce meat.
>>> That seems to be another of your tin-foil hat theories.
>
>>>all of 'industrial' is around one third (a bit more), all of
>>>transportation is around 'one third' (a bit less).
>
>> Agriculture is the major component in industrial.
>
>Here is an actual figure for agriculture:
>
>"""Few people realize that an enormous amount of energy is required to
>produce our food. In fact, 17% of all fossil fuel used in the U.S. is
>consumed by the food production system.4
>...
>Large amounts of fossil fuel are required to power heavy farming
>machinery, to process foods, to refrigerate foods during
>transportation, to produce packaging materials, and to manufacture and
>transport chemical inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides."""
>
>So actual statistics report that 17% is used for _ALL_ food production,
>including transport and packaging, versus your claim that _twice_ that
>amount is used to produce a part of that food.

It is questionable how much transportation is included. This is what
the review source says :

"Large amounts of fossil fuel are required to power heavy farming
machinery, to process foods, to refrigerate foods during
transportation, to produce packaging materials, and to manufacture and
transport chemical inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides."

It doesn't say the 17% includes transportation of food nor irrigation
water nor manufacture of fertilizer. The same source says:

"According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, food and
agricultural products (not including imported or exported foods) are
transported 566 billion ton-miles within U.S. borders each year,
constituting more than 20% of total U.S. commodity transport.7"

That adds .20 * .33 = 7% of total energy consumption, a higher
percentage of fossil fuel. The total might now be 25-27% of fossil
fuel.

A source for energy consumed by irrigation says:

"Only about 3 percent of the nation's energy is used in agriculture
and only 23 percent of this quantity (or less than 0.7 percent of the
nation's energy use) powers the irrigation pumping plants."
http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oiaf/1605/cdrom/pdf/gg-vol2.pdf

How did we get from 17% down to 3%? They are counting on-farm
consimption, not total consumption. Does "irrigation pumping plant"
include local wells on the farm?

" Wells are the main source of irrigation water. Half of all the
irrigation water comes from wells and is used on over 60 percent of
all irrigated land"
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb95-203a.html

The biggest users of irrigation are citrus, cotton, rice and
vegetables. Irrigated corn and soybeans, the main animal foods, are
uncommon.

I give up. Fossil fuel consumed by agriculture appears to be 20-30%. I
know from land use statistics that about half of US farmland produces
animal food. So roughly 10% of fossil energy consumption goes to meat
.. down from one third.

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