Re: Are people outside of Peak Oil just dumb?
Posted: Sun 15 Apr 2018, 00:45:42
Ibon, It is because those 3/4ths of the population exist only because of mechanized agriculture, the application of petrochemical-based fertilizers/pesticides/herbicides, and the inexpensive transport of bulk foods by ship and train and truck.
The thing about agricultural science is that it has maximized the yields of crops and meat and dairy products. It has been estimated that without fuels and petrochemicals, using just nearby farm lands and agrarian/organic/permaculture methods, the world can feed about 1-2 billion people. Even that many assumes some fuels dervived from coal and some biofuels.
We pretty much eat petroleum is what this amounts to. Without cheap oil, many will starve. Even though we will be using farming practices that are more sound than what we have today, and depending largely on human labor, the reduced yields are going to hurt, and potentially we are farming just as much area, if not actually more.
The USA for example, may be able to feed itself, but will cease food exports. We will be better off than most countries. In Africa, Asia, and South America, many have too little to eat already. Without oil, that becomes NOTHING.
The thing about agricultural science is that it has maximized the yields of crops and meat and dairy products. It has been estimated that without fuels and petrochemicals, using just nearby farm lands and agrarian/organic/permaculture methods, the world can feed about 1-2 billion people. Even that many assumes some fuels dervived from coal and some biofuels.
We pretty much eat petroleum is what this amounts to. Without cheap oil, many will starve. Even though we will be using farming practices that are more sound than what we have today, and depending largely on human labor, the reduced yields are going to hurt, and potentially we are farming just as much area, if not actually more.
The USA for example, may be able to feed itself, but will cease food exports. We will be better off than most countries. In Africa, Asia, and South America, many have too little to eat already. Without oil, that becomes NOTHING.