The January 11, NIPCC posted “A Measureable Planetary Boundary
for the Biosphere” by Steve W. Running. The article examines the
world’s population in 2050 and the ability to feed the increased
number of people at that time. The author claims increased food
production will be difficult and this is a good argument about
the ethics of growing corn for the purpose of making ethanol for
automotive use. An additional item for consideration is the
practicality of renewable energy sources that require large land
areas to produce substantial amounts of energy. These sources
include solar, wind, and other biofuels. A rough estimate of
annual energy production per acre for renewables is 0.7 billion
Btu/acre-year for solar, 0.15 billion Btu/acre-year for wind,
and 0.03 billion Btu/acre-year for corn. For the United States
annual electricity production is equivalent to 14 quadrillion
Btu and annual energy expended for transportation is 27
quadrillion Btu. Assuming some type of practical electricity
storage sytem is develo