session 7

Brief Overview/Summary

Prof mentioned in class this quote, that “when we are able to grow the resources we need, we will finally be on the road to sustainability”. Is this true? Well, currently, if everyone on this globe lives and consumes like an American, we will need 3-5 earths to fulfill the wants of 6.5 billion people. This is because of the finite resources such as oil and iron ore. However, if we are able to synthesize oil or create iron ores in the lab, there will no longer be a constraint of resources in the world. Sustainability is defined as the ability to consume resources at a particular rate such that future generations will too be able to enjoy the same resources at the same rate, if not more, than current levels. When we are able to grow our own resources, we may well be on our way to sustainable living, but we will have to consider the amount of waste products that will be generated as we grow more and more resources.

Interesting Observations and Ideas

We discussed about the urbanization rates in Latin America is higher than that in Europe, with a 76% urbanization rate as compared to 74% in Europe. The trend in the future will be higher urbanization rates in all continents and nations, as more people give up agricultural lifestyles and move to the cities to look for jobs. Bangladesh, with one of the highest population density in the world, is overcrowded in the rural areas. For example, each family has only 0.2 acres of land to grow crops, which is approximately the size of 2 seminar rooms, which is then used to support a large family. With passing generations, less and less land is available for each family as the land is repeatedly divided among the males in the family. This practice is clearly unsustainable because with the same quantity of land and a rapidly growing population, unless yields increase as fast as population growth, there will be insufficient food for Bangladeshis.

Also, biotechnology consists of only $100bn, or a miniscule percentage of the world economy, but governments around the world are beginning to have interest in the field and are developing cluster industries and supporting research in this field.

Key Takeaways

Will the use of biofuels contribute to a sustainable future? The class had a lively discussion on whether priority should be given to food production or fuel production, though the whole class was unanimous in deciding that food security should indeed supersede energy needs. My personal take on this issue is based on two fundamental reasons. Firstly, the production of biofuels is itself energy intensive. For example, the carbon savings for using biofuels is negligible in the case of using corn ethanol. With negligible savings, it is irrational to continue diverting food supplies to the manufacturing of biofuels at the expense of food security. Secondly, with food supplies used for biofuels, there is a lower supply of food ready for consumption. This was one of the reasons for the phenomenon of fast-rising prices of cereal crops such as wheat and corn. Henceforth, the arguments supporting the continued use of biofuels cannot be valid in the face of continued hunger in many parts of the world.

Issues for Further Discussion

In class, Prof mentioned about the fact that approximately 1billion acres of dormant arable land can be put into use for biofuel harvests/ feed livestock/ growing more crops. This unlocks many possibilities, since we can continue to increase total yield of crops without sacrificing any existing structures or resources. Moreover, by developing such land that is not utilized for purposes such as biofuel development, there can be more biofuels extracted without hurting food security since all the biofuels that will be extracted will not be from current food crops.

Ratings
Overall, I will rate the lesson a 9/10 because of the lively discussion on agriculture and biofuels.