Transition Bloomington, Indiana
Information
Unleash your collective genius to provide for our communities' needs for food, energy, shelter, & a decent life without exploitation or pollution & from the smallest practical area of land.
Website: http://transitionbloomingtonind.ning.com/
Group Type: Transition Towns
Members: 2
Latest Activity: Dec. 18, 2008
Why Are Things Falling Apart?
Richard Heinberg explores the good and bad of our discovery of fossil fuels.
Eating Fossil Fuels: Oil, Food and the Coming Crisis in AgricultureBy Dale Allen Pfeiffer
The miracle of the Green Revolution was made possible by cheap fossil fuels to supply crops with artificial fertilizer, pesticides, and irrigation. Estimates of the net energy balance of agriculture in the United States show that ten calories of hydrocarbon energy are required to produce one calorie of food. Such an imbalance cannot continue in a world of diminishing hydrocarbon resources.Eating Fossil Fuels examines the interlinked crises of energy and agriculture and highlights some startling findings:
The worldwide expansion of agriculture has appropriated fully 40 percent of the photosynthetic capability of this planet.
The Green Revolution provided abundant food sources for many, resulting in a population explosion well in excess of the planet's carrying capacity.
Studies suggest that without fossil fuel-based agriculture, the United States could only sustain about two-thirds of its present population. For the planet as a whole, the sustainable number is estimated to be about two billion.
Concluding that the effect of energy depletion will be disastrous without a transition to a sustainable, re-localized agriculture, the book draws on the experiences of North Korea and Cuba to demonstrate stories of failure and success in the transition to non-hydrocarbon-based agriculture. It urges strong grassroots activism for sustainable, localized agriculture and a natural shrinking of the world's population.
Discussion Forum
Start a Discussion
Nobody has added any discussions yet! Add a discussion to get started.
Comment Wall
Add a Comment
Birthdays
Birthdays Tomorrow
Nominate Your Favorite Quote
"Holding each other in the highest future intention" ~ Theory U
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. ~ Margaret Mead
Be Yourself. Everyone Else Is Taken!" ~ Charles Shulz
Events
-
Working Groups Webinar
December 2, 2009 from 12:30pm to 2pm – Free Online (Registration Required)
© 2009 Created by Michael Brownlee
You need to be a member of Transition Bloomington, Indiana to add comments!