3 ms·

Too lazy to look up numbers, but in the US corn is a significant crop and much of it is more of an industrial feedstock rather than food for people. I'm guessi

Too lazy to look up numbers, but in the US corn is a significant crop and much of it is more of an industrial feedstock rather than food for people. I'm guessing that "more natural" processes could still feed us all but the game is rigged so that it's not economical for to do that (directly, as it's effectively subsidized for the "economical" side).

analog31 5y ago
My readings were more ominous, that without the Haber process, more natural processes cannot extract enough nitrogen to feed us. That situation is partially alleviated if we stop eating meat, but not completely. This is just one example of a larger realization, which is that humanity can no longer sustain itself without a complex and sophisticated technological society.
- AtlasBarfed 5y ago
  Good thing we are making that as fragile as possible by distributing resource extraction and processing 5,000 miles from where it ends up, with virtually no warehousing to absorb disruptions.
lenkite 5y ago
Corn is a very good carbon sink. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167198713000962 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016719871... https://denvergazette.com/news/environment/one-global-warming-strategy-sink-decomposing-corn-into-deep-ocean/article_6fb31ccc-5eb1-11ec-8846-8b58adb4a444.html https://denvergazette.com/news/environment/one-global-warmin...
- analog31 5y ago
  Carbon isn't nitrogen. The nitrogen needed for agriculture comes from the Haber process. What I'm saying is we can't just give up on the Haber process and go back to "natural" farming without figuring out how we're going to feed everybody.
- ramblenode 5y ago
  ... if it were used as a carbon sink. But that cellulose "waste" part of the corn is a feedstock for other industries. Keeping those inputs constant means growing more of some other crop and increasing net nitrogen usage. Producing nitrogen fertilizer takes energy, currently from fossil fuels.

analog31 5y ago

My readings were more ominous, that without the Haber process, more natural processes cannot extract enough nitrogen to feed us. That situation is partially alleviated if we stop eating meat, but not completely. This is just one example of a larger realization, which is that humanity can no longer sustain itself without a complex and sophisticated technological society.

AtlasBarfed 5y ago
Good thing we are making that as fragile as possible by distributing resource extraction and processing 5,000 miles from where it ends up, with virtually no warehousing to absorb disruptions.

lenkite 5y ago

Corn is a very good carbon sink. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167198713000962 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016719871... https://denvergazette.com/news/environment/one-global-warming-strategy-sink-decomposing-corn-into-deep-ocean/article_6fb31ccc-5eb1-11ec-8846-8b58adb4a444.html https://denvergazette.com/news/environment/one-global-warmin...

analog31 5y ago
Carbon isn't nitrogen. The nitrogen needed for agriculture comes from the Haber process. What I'm saying is we can't just give up on the Haber process and go back to "natural" farming without figuring out how we're going to feed everybody.
ramblenode 5y ago
... if it were used as a carbon sink. But that cellulose "waste" part of the corn is a feedstock for other industries. Keeping those inputs constant means growing more of some other crop and increasing net nitrogen usage. Producing nitrogen fertilizer takes energy, currently from fossil fuels.