Sacred corn

[freddau]

The tortilla victim of the ethanol boom

In the United States, corn is used more and more to make biofuel. Result, the prices increase. A disaster for countries, like Mexico, where corn is a staple food.

The growing success of ethanol in the United States is likely to reduce the amount of corn available for human consumption and for animal and poultry feed, and push the price of this grain to unprecedented levels within two to three years. Under these conditions, some fear that corn will become unaffordable for poor consumers, while pushing up all food prices.

http://www.courrierinternational.com/ar ... j_id=70323
In Mexico, increasing prices for this product has become a hot political issue, as it is used in the production of tortillas, the staple food of the population. According to the Central Bank, the price of tortillas rose 14% last year. Legislators are calling for price controls, while the new Minister of the Economy, Eduardo Sojo, wants to encourage farmers to increase their production. He recently attributed the higher cost of corn to the diversion of American production to the production of ethanol.
Soaring food prices threaten to cause urban riots in many low-income countries dependent on grain imports, such as Indonesia, Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria and Mexico, warns Lester Brown , founder of the Earth Policy Institute and author of a recently published report on the potential demand for corn from the ethanol industry. According to this report, the ethanol distilleries under construction in the United States will need 139 million tonnes of corn by the 2008 harvest, much more than the estimates of the United States Department of Agriculture, which are d 'around 60 million tonnes. "If the Earth Policy Institute estimate holds true, the emerging competition between cars and men is likely to push grain prices to new heights," said Lester Brown.
The world's leading producer of corn, the United States is also the leading exporter. Since China in 2006 reduced exports to meet the needs of its own ethanol industry and to prevent shortages, importing countries have become more dependent on US exports. Average price of corn is expected to jump 61% in 2007, according to a recent report by JP Morgan.
According to this report, the growth of the ethanol sector requires an additional 12,5 billion to 25 billion tonnes of corn each year. On its own, such a rapid rise in demand will be enough to keep prices high. Suffice to say that the slightest climatic hazard would therefore risk “bringing prices to record levels”. China is already taking steps to secure its own domestic supply. In December, Beijing froze the construction of new corn-based ethanol plants.

Transforming biomass into viable biofuel

Arthur Ragauskas, lecturer at the Georgia Institute of Technology, who recently co-authored an article on biofuels in the journal Science, believes that a sustainable biofuels sector must necessarily rely on cheaper raw materials and little corn expensive. The debate between food and fuel, he says, can become productive if universities, authorities and the private sector strengthen their collaboration in order to transform non-food biomass like switchgrass (switch grass, a natural herb). rapid growth of the Great Plains), recycled waste and corn residues (dried leaves and stalks) into viable biofuels.
For its part, the lobby of corn producers in the United States says that in the long term there will always be enough grain to meet the needs. “Farmers have always responded to price signals from the market. We have always encountered more overproduction than scarcity issues, ”says Rick Tolman, president of the National Association of Corn Producers. “There is no conflict between the two [uses of corn, for food and fuel], nor a crisis in sight.”

Prasenjit Bhattacharya, Tom Barkley and Ken Parks
The Wall Street Journal

[freddau]

Japanese high-tech leaders are seeking to eliminate materials made from hydrocarbons in order to limit greenhouse gas emissions. A good selling point.

The world's first eco-friendly mobile phone, launched in March 2006 by NTT DoCoMo [the leading mobile operator in Japan], has aroused great interest. The Japanese operator has even been contacted by several foreign manufacturers. The hull of this device manufactured by NEC is made of 90% of a material from plants. Its main component is polylactic acid (PLA) [biodegradable polymer already used as suture material or as a coating for medicines], produced from cornstarch. To improve the qualities of this material, which is difficult to market due to its rigidity, fragility and low thermal resistance, the group has added vegetable fibers of kenaf (a variety of hemp), providing the portable with the necessary resistance to shocks. and heat. The novelty of the product lies only in the hull change of the existing models, which did not prevent NTT DoCoMo from selling them for around 10 yen [000 euros] more expensive than the classic models. Nevertheless, according to Tsutomu Horinouchi, director in charge of ecological studies in the group, "they were particularly successful with Japanese women, who were concerned about environmental problems".
The advantage for the manufacturer to use plants as a raw material is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, during their growth, plants absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) during photosynthesis. This is why, by using these materials, the industrialist can subtract from the total volume of gas emitted during manufacturing this quantity of absorbed CO2. In the case of the material used by NEC, the emission of carbon dioxide would be approximately 50% lower than that produced by petroleum derivatives.
This trend is also observed in other industrial groups. Since the spring of 2005, Fujitsu has released six models of laptop computers, the plastic case of which already has PLA as its main component. According to the group, this would reduce CO15 emissions by 2% compared to the other models. Since March 2006, Sharp has used a vegetable-based coating for the base of liquid crystal televisions. For its part, Ricoh has developed a copier toner comprising 40% polyester resin produced from corn. The manufacturer claims to be able to reduce CO40 emissions by around 2% and aims to market it by the end of 2008. Last July, Dai Nippon Printing replaced all the ink used in its commercial printing division with an ink based on soybean oil and low solvent solvent derived from petroleum. The use of this ink is more and more frequent, to the point that today it reaches 60% of the inks used for printing newspapers and magazines in the country.

The goal is no longer biodegradability

In 2004, greenhouse gas emissions in Japan increased by 8% compared to 1990, and the government's target [under the Kyoto Protocol] - a reduction of 6% between 2008 and 2012 - will be difficult to achieve. So far, in terms of CO2 reduction, manufacturers have mainly focused their efforts on saving energy and improving logistics in the distribution of products. If, at the outset, they were interested in materials of plant origin, it was because of their biodegradability, and this with the aim of making them mainly trash bags or food packaging. But, lately, they have also realized that these materials only slightly increase CO2 emissions, even after incineration.
At Mitsubishi Plastics, for several years, the production of vegetable resin films used in particular for packaging has increased by 50% per year. According to Norio Yoshiga, director of the ecology department, "the number of companies using it to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is increasing very rapidly". To develop the use of these materials, a growing number of manufacturers are trying to improve their resistance even if it is to the detriment of the biodegradable aspect. "The goal is no longer biodegradability in itself, but the reduction of CO2 emissions and dependence on petroleum," admits Koichi Kimura, from Fujitsu Laboratories. The latter, who has developed an elastic material made from castor oil, intends to develop other materials of plant origin, in order to replace many conventional materials.

Another factor favors the current success of these new materials. Since 2006, companies emitting large quantities of greenhouse gases are obliged to publish quantified reports on their emissions. If the polylactic acids had the disadvantage of costing two to three times more expensive than the materials used until now, with the surge in the price of oil, the difference has faded, facilitating at the same time the use of these acids. NEC aims for the 2010 financial year to use plastic of plant origin up to 10% in its products. In the same year, it also aims to reduce CO50 emissions by more than 2% compared to 2005 by using these plastics.
Currently, the priority of the Japanese government is to encourage the use of biofuels like ethanol. But the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries intends to increase its aid for materials of plant origin. "They will limit greenhouse gases if they are used more," said Hiroyuki Suematsu, head of the department responsible for environmental policy. For his part, Masatoshi Iji, director of ecomaterials research at NEC, bet on the future: “If demand increases in the West, Japanese companies having a head start in this area have a chance to make a quick foray on the market."
However, because of the increased demand for ethanol, the price of American corn continues to climb. Toyota is looking to produce polylactic acid by substituting sugar cane and beet for corn. "The key will be to create a dynamic allowing a stable supply of these raw materials", we observe at the Green Purchasing Network (GPN), founded [in 1996] by the Ministry of the Environment and a set of organizations.


Nihon Keizai Shimbun

http://www.courrierinternational.com/ar ... j_id=70335

[freddau]

Italy
Novamont, an Italian company which manufactures plastic from vegetable starch, has signed an agreement with Coldiretti, an association of the main Italian agricultural companies, in order to massively increase the resources of adequate raw materials. Objective: to conquer the entire national market for plastic bags for mass distribution by producing 1,5 million tonnes of bioplastic per year, which would save 200 tonnes of hydrocarbons.

http://www.courrierinternational.com/ar ... j_id=70335

[Christophe]

ARGGGGGGGG DAMNATION!

Me who eats at least 1 kg of Tortila per week ... Well what? Must pass Belgian beer!

[Christine]

Eat chips!

[pollux]

graaaaah

not economical the chips.
- about as much packaging as chips (in mass)
- energy expended to cook, prepare and salt them ...
- not good for the heart

poop the chips!
eat apples!

[freddau]

THE JORNADA
In Mexico, large demonstration against famine



With cries of "without corn, there is no country", tens of thousands of Mexicans gathered for a march against famine invaded the Zócalo, the main square of the capital, yesterday to protest against the increase in corn price - between 40 and 100% depending on the region - and demand a social pact ensuring national and food sovereignty as well as a job and a salary for all. More than half of the 103 million Mexicans live in poverty and risk famine with this increase.

[Targol]

Bahh, between the standard of living of the Americans and the stomach of the Mexicans, it's been a long time that we know where the preference of dobelyou goes.

They will have to love building their great wall at the border because when, in addition to having no job, they will have nothing more to eat, the border guards will no longer be enough ...