h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Years ago I heard a statistic that a field of soybeans produces X number of pounds of protein but then it's fed to cattle which produce a quarter of that amount. My first thought was *They feed cattle soybeans??*

I tried a Google to find out what modern cattle ranches feed their beasties but it seems to get stuck on cattle feed. I assume they don't stay in their stalls all year so I too am confused by the grain consumption statistics.

I've heard the figure before, always assumed its based on the land usage and energy transfer ratios.

But of course, some land which is poorly suited for growing crops is fine for livestock, so that would be a poor measure. Back In The Day, Gerald of Wales called the Irish lazy because they didn't cultivate the land for agriculture for exactly these reasons. Finally, a use for my history degree .

I also always assumed that the energy inefficiency would be much greater than 10x. Respiration is quite efficient, converts say about half of the energy, and then you've got digestion inefficiencies, plus energy used for the whole lifecycle of the cattle, absolutely everything its doing that isn't converted directly into edible flesh, milk, or offspring is wastage from this perspective.

But since its actually less than 10x, well, that's not such a big deal. We've made bigger gains before and we'll make them again. Reassuringly, people eating meat is not going to kill civilization.

"Respiration is quite efficient, converts say about half of the energy"

By that I mean that respiration converts about half of the energy, not that converts to the Glorious Sevenfold Path of Respiration think its efficient.

We could always eat each other. Two birds with one stone

http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=168

Swift would laugh the loudest, perhaps. Followed by Charlton Heston. Alas they are both deceased (but I assume delicious with fava beans and a nice cold Chianti!)

btw, what are fava beans? Are they broad beans?

Oh, and the *Glorious Sevenfold Path of Respiration*.
What are the other five after:
1. Breath In
2. Breath Out

?

>The two reasons plant protein is considered more practical is (...) and that cellulosic ethanol would need GMO enzymes to break down the cell structure more efficiently.

a) what's the problem with that? I can *maybe* understand the reluctance to accept produce that has been genetically engineered - but this one? By all means, full speed ahead, imho. Using the 'left overs' from crops rather than the parts useful for food or feed is the only right thing to do.

b) not necessarily. GMM-produced (GMO: Genetically Modified Organism, GMM: Genetically Modified Microorganism) surely, but the enzyme itself could well be native, just produced by fermentation. In that case, not even enzymes used in the production of foods needs any GM labelling under current EU rules.

c) politicians, ministers & economical organisations (was it OECD?) all recently have started discussing the need for debate (Bob, it's cumbersome when you want to step carefully) on the GMO reluctance, mentioning that it may well be one of the things very needed in the near future to solve scarcity problems.

[disclaimer: Yes, I am a chemical engineer with my MSc thesis in molecular biology so I might be positive to te technolody through my education. And yes, I do work with enzymes (natural, albeit produced by way of GMMs) in the food industry]

This referring to grain and animal feed -

Europe will not run out of cereals, despite dire predictions by some commentators. The latest report from the European Commission on the prospects for agricultural markets and incomes suggests an increase in returns to growers in the medium term and rising production. Last year cereal production in the EU was estimated at 256 million tonnes. However, in 2007 consumption exceeded production by ten million tonnes, with the gap being filled by imports. Exports from the EU were relatively modest at 16.9 million tonnes while of the 265.6 million tonnes consumed 165.2 million tonnes were utilised as animal feed. In 2010 production is projected to reach 293.6 million tonnes, rising to 305,000 million tonnes by 2014. Consumption will also grow, but at a more modest rate, and is expected to hit 272.9 million tonnes in 2010 and over 285 million tonnes in 2014. On current trends the EU will actually have end stocks in 2014 of 56 million tonnes, compared with the 40.4 million tonnes last year. (Scotsman)

Hoping nobody yikes it.

*what's the problem with that*

I don't have a problem, but the literature I used when I researched the sawdust entry seemed nervous about a cellulose eating *bug* getting out into the wild. It seemed like a reasonable worry.


McKay- Why would someone yikes that? Personally I'm going to invest in the potash mines in Saskatchewan.