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["Marie McHarry" <mmcharry AT gmail.com>]

On 6/7/07, Clansgian AT wmconnect.com <Clansgian AT wmconnect.com> wrote:

<<On a homestead and using less energy and chemical intensive cultivation and
processing methods, we are still faced with the prospects that an acre of
ground devoted to hemp would produce about 20 gallons of useable fuel.
... But if, for example, a person
were to commute 20 miles away to a job and got 20 mpg in their diesel, in a
couple of months the labor of cultivating an acre of fuel crop is used up.  >>

I suspect if we do manage to come up with a technical fix for our
energy requirement that doesn't require extreme deprivation it will
comprise many ways to conserve (the easiest) and generate energy.
Remember that president who everyone still dismisses who wanted us to
lower the thermostat and up the required fleet mileage? Had his
philosophy prevailed, we'd have more time.

Biofuels have some promise. I don't know about switchgrass, whatever
that is, but Brazil seems to be doing okay with sugar cane. Any
thoughts on their secret, James? It may be a flash in the pan because
as is well known (I've been reading too much Alexander McCall Smith
lately) you can't keep growing a crop on soil after it's depleted.

Marie