Feb 9, 2008

"Peak Oil" is morphing into "Peak Food"

by Dave Riley

Just when you were thinking that tomorrow was another day.

It's not!

As Macbeth would say down the pub:
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time...
We seem to be stuck in a spiral -- up up & up --
Imagine a spiral: ...
The suits at US investment banker Goldman Sachs are complaining -- into their martinis no doubt -- that rising energy costs are spilling over into a massive food crunch. (And by the way pass me those canapes).

The problem is that this "supercycle" is that it's a break with history because energy and food have "converged" in price and can increasingly be switched from one use to another.

Put another way: your car is stealing food.
"Peak Oil" is morphing into "Peak Food".
Land use for biofuels has shot up from 12million to more than 80million hectares worldwide over the last six years. Biofuel now provides 3pc of global energy needs, which will rise to an estimated 10.6pc by 2030.

Goldman Sachs is saying that:
Global oil output has been stagnant for four years, failing to keep up with rampant demand from Asia and the Middle East. China's oil imports rose 14 per cent last year. Biofuels from grain, oil seed and sugar are plugging the gap, but drawing away food supplies at a time when the world is adding more than 70 million mouths to feed a year.
So what you gonna do with your investment dollar(if you had one)? Put it into biofuels of course. That's where the money is . Just imagine the spiral.