Category: David Pimentel

Biofuels ignite food crisis debate

January 28, 2009

Taking up valuable land and growing edible crops for biofuels poses a dilemma: Is it ethical to produce inefficient renewable energies at the expense of an already malnourished population?

U.S. farmers draining world's fresh water supply

October 21, 2004

In a world plagued by shortages of water, three facts stand out in an analysis by Cornell University ecologists: Less than 1 percent of water on the planet is fresh water; agriculture in the United States consumes 80 percent of the available fresh water each year; and 60 percent of U.S. water intended for crop irrigation never reaches the crops. Their report names farmers as ''the prime target for incentives to conserve water.'' The report is particularly critical of irrigation practices in the United States, where subsidized ''cheap water'' offers scant incentive for conservation.

Cutting hydrocarbons would trim U.S. consumer fuel costs by $438 billion

May 25, 2004

Just as low-carbohydrate diets are trimming the American waistline, more judicious use of hydrocarbon-based fossil fuels would reduce U.S. energy consumption by 33 percent and save consumers $438 billion a year by 2014, according to a new analysis by ecologists. They found the most fat for trimming -- with the best potential for major energy savings -- in the transportation, residential heating and cooling, industrial and food-production sectors. Energy conservation and implementation of energy-efficient technologies also would allow significant savings in the production and use of chemicals, paper and lumber, household appliances, lighting and metals, the analysis showed.