Graph of the Day - July 17th

Okay, it's not the greatest graph from a basic design standard. The visual hierarchy is a little funky since the title is so understated, but the point of this graph is obvious: traditional fossil fuels is already highly subsidized more so than renewables.

For those market-worshiping conservatives (remember, libertarians wouldn't be supporting those huge market altering tax breaks for oil, gas, and coal), this is what people mean when they say that renewable energy doesn't get a fair break in tax incentives.

A very important distinction between the fossil fuel subsidies and the renewables is that the former are written into permanent U.S. tax code and create predictable incentives that drive business decisions. The latter are temporary and are approved year to year and sometimes not. The renewable energy industry doesn't get to plan for continued and efficient growth like the fossil fuel industry.

The Democrats want to end some of those Big Oil subsidies, but good luck ever getting Big Coal to ever pay it's fair share. The subsidies for Corn Ethanol are listed under "climate protecting" but that is highly controversial. All of this might create decent economic policy, but it is horrible environment policy. Energy policy must be somewhere in the middle.....it cannot be considered merely a part of economic policy. The renewable energy subsidies should be made permanent and predictable. Europe has figured it out...why can't we?

Read more at http://www.eli.org/Program_Areas/innovation_governance_energy.cfm

Garden Journal #2

Produce in the Kitchen

Bit of a stretch here, but half the greens are from the garden and the cilantro in the naan is as well. Radishes in the chholey from our garden and Kyle's mother's.

Pulled my first green onion to go into this and decided it would be an Italian flavored soup so in went dry basil from the garden.

Blooms in the Garden

Green beans are blooming. I can't wait for huge pots of green beans!

The mimosa in the back yard is just divine. It makes me appreciate the South.

Garden Journal #1

(This was written about 4 weeks ago, waiting photos for posting)

Kyle's Ambitious Garden Plans
I knew that Kyle wanted a vegetable and herb garden. We talked briefly about it last spring, but decided we were too late to really get started, especially with the work that needed to be done on cleaning up the ice storm damage and putting a new roof on the house. For myself I imagined just one big, long row of something along side the fence. I don't care what it would be, but I had collard greens on my brain I guess. Just a bunch of stuff that I could give away to my friends to prove that I could grow something and to subtly encourage healthy eating habits. Little did I know how grand his plans would grow!

Kyle had something quite different in mind. I should have suspected when he came home with seed packets galore and starter kits. Then came the spreadsheets tracking germination and planning the beds. Oh, the beds! Raised beds! A whole bunch of them! I didn't volunteer to dig out all the grass turf for them, but I have helped a little here and there. As always little side projects distract us from on-going projects or chores. For example the lawn been rarely mowed this spring and taking out the back fence took priority over finishing the soil prep for the raised beds.

Current (May 30th) Garden

My Little Victory

I am probably too impatient to be a successful gardener. I want immediate results that will not fail. The idea of starting from seed and only having 20% of them germinate and survive is nerve-wracking for me. My preference would be annuals in six packs and for sure bulbs like daffodils. Same for vegetables. I was letting Kyle worry about all this seeding business knowing full well that when the time comes for results, I will be buying peppers and tomatoes that have got a good head start in the nursery.

While Kyle has been fooling with the seeds, I had a little surprise that has turned into a small victory. As you have probably read, I have an active compost pile. About two weeks ago I was out turning it when I spotted some new green growth coming out of it. I was not thrilled about this until I realized what it was. GARLIC! I had thrown out some small bulbs that had sprouted and not even thought about them taking root. I did a little research and decided that I was going to grow garlic this year. They should have been started back in about November for a long growing season, and they recommend starters that are certified disease free, but any kind of green growth makes me happy. So I grabbed a few more of the old garlic bulbs that really are past their prime, and planted them in my little hill of cooked compost from last year. They all rooted just fine and now they have been transplanted in the newly prepared raised bed.

Garlic bed as of May 30th

My victory is that with basically no work, I have green and growing plants that are bigger and prettier than anything Kyle has. Of course they will not produce the best results because they need a long growing season, but hey, they look pretty! (UPDATE: Garlic is in a normal bed now)

Now the question is should I transplant the three potato chunks that have sprouted in my active compost pile as well? It wasn't in the plans for the garden, but perhaps I should just try them out! (UPDATE: I did transplant the potato starts)

You wouldn't know it, but natural gas prices affect food prices

Last week the St. Petersburg Times, well regarded as probably the best newspaper in the state of Florida, ran an article on the increasing price of food around the world. Frong page and above the fold, the article tried to discuss some of the underlying causes of the increase BESIDES the increase in demand for grains caused by biofuels. It was a decent article until the last section when the author totally blew a crucial fact.

I suggest you read, and then read my follow up email to the journalist. I may have been a tad harsh on him, but it seems like a journalist for a major newspaper should do a little more complete research rather than just draw conclusions from his assumptions.

"Instead of biofuel, other global trends starve Haiti"
http://www.tampabay.com/news/world/article465408.ece


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Mr. Adams,

I am glad you went indepth on some of the many reasons for rising food prices, but I feel like you REALLY dropped the ball on a huge component of the increase. You posit a strong correlation between increased corn yields and increased fertilizer costs (168% since 2000).

My first thought was.."well, that's is bad logic" An average reader reading your column can even see the fallacy given what you told them: more corn, less soy and rice, Did total acres in production go up or does corn use more fertilizer than soy and rice per acre?

Then I remember something in a college class call "Conservation of Natural Resources" The basic idea (with some rough stats plugged in from quick research): industrial fertilizers are produced with huge quanties of AMMONIA. To create (afix nitrogen molecules) AMMONIA, massive amounts of NATURAL GAS are used. Upwards of 90% of the cost of AMMONIA is the NATURAL GAS used to afix nitrogen. US natural gas wellhead prices: Jan 2000=$2.6/Kcubicfeet, Jan 2008=$6.99. Price difference=$4.39 Price Difference as ratio of Original Cost: 4.39/2.6= 1.69, as a percentage increase that is 169%.
http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/icm/2003/4-14-2003/natgasn.html
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/ng/ng_pri_sum_dcu_nus_m.htm

Those are rough numbers just on wellhead price, not wholesale, import, commerical or industrial delivery, but isn't that a great coincidence?

I am no agricultural economist, but I am going to bet the farm on this one: The greatest SINGLE cost behind fertilizer increase is the increase in the price of natural gas. AWESOME ARTICLE! Besides dropping the ball on this one. Feel free to call me tonight or tomorrow early if you want to real quick chat. Or call an agricultural economist from some university. I am sure they have those, right?
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