Food vs. fuel?

According to this article “Food vs. fuel?; Institute sounds warning that producing more ethanol will harm world’s corn market”, the author suggests different opinions of two experts. One of these two experts, Lester Brown who is the president of the Earth Policy Institute, states that producing ethanol as an alternative oil creates a competition between 800 million people who have vehicles and the 2 billion poorest people who are spending more than 50% of their salaries on food. Moreover, he says that the requirement of the whole world for ethanol is absolutely greedy. The other expert, Brian Jennings who is executive vice president for the American Coalition for Ethanol, argues that Brown’s worries are unnecessary. Also, he asserts that we won’t have the phenomenon of shortage of food. In conclusion, the author wants people living in this world to be concerned about the issue of ethanol.

Apparently, using ethanol as fuel has created chaos around the world. Although we can substitute ethanol for oil to decrease consumption of fuel temporarily, it also produces a lot of problems we need to face soon. There is not only the problem of food crisis but also the problem of the world’s economics. Therefore, the author worried about the reality of this world.

Firstly, ethanol is primarily made from corn through a series of chemical process. And corn plays an important role in most people’s food supply. Also, the human population keeps growing in this modern society. In ”Environment: Problems and Solutions”, the author discusses the fact that “There are more births than deaths happening in this world”(Miller, 1994, p.20). It means more people need more food to survive. However, if we keep using corn to produce ethanol, it will make many people have no food to eat. So, we need to reconsider whether using corn to make ethanol is a good way.

Secondly, using corn to produce ethanol has been a huge impact on our economy. It is not only a food resource but also made of ethanol. In “Biofuels blamed for food price crisis” the author wrote “The use of corn for ethanol has consumed more than 75 percent of the increase in global corn production over the past three years.” It means demand and supply of corn is imbalanced. Due to this reason, the price of corn is getting higher and higher. So, the poor are poorer and poorer, and we really have to pay attention on this issue.

Lastly, as demands on alternative energy increase, the manufacturers of ethanol will try to produce more ethanol to make big money as soon as possible. So, how can we be so sure that these businessmen will have consciousness to control their output of ethanol?

On the other hand, although famers can try to grow more corn to supply production of ethanol, rising demands for corn means more land which could have a significant side-effect on the environment. Don’t we make a big effort to advocate protecting our environment? This way, I think using ethanol will accelerate destruction of our environment more quickly.

In consequence, we should not apply ethanol as an alternative because it would cause food shortage, an impact on the economy and damage to the environment. Hence, anyone living in this global village should be more concerned about this reality to reconsider its feasibility.

References
Miller, G. T., Jr. (1994). Environment: Problems and Solutions. Belmont,CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.
Truini, J. (2007, January 7). Food vs. Fuel? ; Institute sounds warning that producing more ethanol will harm world’s corn market. Waste News. Retrieved July 8, 2008, from LexisNexis.

不順的一天~

今天的課還蠻愉快的,吃完午餐後
我就打電話給賣車的人(1994,TOYOTA Tercel,$1100),結果進入語音
而且昨天才post的廣告,心想應該不會很快就被買走
到下課後我再打去,沒想到竟然說賣掉了.......(靠邀哩)
記得一個禮拜前也是這樣,想買的車都被買走,搞得我要抓狂了

然後又跑去Staple買binder,看到網站說三個只賣$0.25
心想賺到了,但衰事又來了,特賣是Sunday~Wednesday,it's Thursday
真的衰到好想揍人,碼的有沒有這麼衰
但是還好不是只有我一個人白跑一趟,剛好碰到Sean,也是要來買binder,ha ha ha

不知道是不是因為早上在路上看到兩隻烏鴉才這樣,還是我就是這麼容易遇到衰事?!
砍 ~ ~

Ethanol

In an article in the Oil & Gas Journal (2007) entitled “Increased US ethanol production requires dedicated pipelines” the author points out that if we want to use ethanol as an alternative energy, there are several problems we have to figure out. According to this article, he mentions that the US ethanol output soared more than 30% between 2005 and 2006. Also, he states that there are several ways to transport ethanol fuel from manufacturers to consumers, but pipelines are the best way to transport it. However, he argues that transporting ethanol in pipelines is not an easy thing to control. Therefore, he says that we need to create a new ethanol infrastructure to provide enough energy.

Apparently, the author’s idea is correct in this article. As the price of oil goes high and the crude oil goes down, we need to find an alternative to replace oil as soon as possible. Although he cites some problems about transporting ethanol, it is worthwhile that we spend a lot of time finding an alternative because we have only one earth.

Firstly, as time goes by, there will be more and more people living in this world, but there will be less and less energy which we can use. With respect to oil, wherever we go at any time, we drive a car or take a public transportation, the one thing that makes it work is oil. However, there is not any natural resource which we can use forever. If we still consume oil like the way we used to, soon the way we live will be totally different. So, it is better that we use ethanol as an alternative.

Secondly, there are more and more countries which use ethanol to replace oil, especially the US. And their consumption of oil keeps reaching a significant high amount. Also, if in the future they still rely on ethanol as an alternative of oil more and more, they have to figure out to how to keep ethanol in a good condition, because there is a lot of work to do.

In conclusion, using ethanol might cost a lot of money to control, but natural resources such as oil are worthless. So, we should try to substitute ethanol for oil.

References
Oil & Gas Journal. (2007, September 17). Increased US ethanol production requires dedicated pipelines. Retrieved July 7, 2008, from Lexis Nexis database.

Oil: A global crisis

According to this article, the author, whose name is Geoffrey Lean, wants to ask “How are our lives going to change as we struggle to cope with the $200 barrel?” He reports many experts’ opinions. There are Dr. Mamdouh, Goldman Sachs, Chris Skrebowski, and David Strahan. The oil economist Dr. Mamdouh says that if there wasn’t the Iraq war, the price of oil wouldn’t be so high. Another expert, Goldman Sachs, mentions that the price of oil could go up to an unbelieveable price and the era of cheap oil price will never happen again. Another expert, Chris Skrebowski, discusses the fact that there are many unpredictable things happening in the oil market. The other expert, David Strahan, tells that global oil production has achieved its highest limits.

There are several reasons that I agree with some experts. Firstly, I think the price of oil will go very high because there are too many unnecessary wars happening in the world. They not only waste human resources but also consume too much oil. Secondly, I agree with the editor of Petroleum Review, Chris Skrebowski, because in my opinion the trigger of the high oil price is that everyone wants to share this big cake of the oil market. On the other hand, I disagree with Dr. Salameh’s idea because I think some of these eight countries must have stored a big amount of oil on purpose.

From my experience back in Taiwan, the oil crisis is really a big issue. In the last couple months, the government suddently has declared to increase the price of oil. Before that day, many car owners rushed to add their fuel, which caused a long line on the street.

And from watching opinions on television daily, I think the oil crisis causes a series of things to happen, like food production declining, making poor families poorer, and economic recession.

Lastly, I’ve read one report from a magazine which made me believe more that there are speculators behind the oil market.

Reference:
Murray, J. (2008,May 25). The Independent. Oil: A global crisis. Retrieved July 1, 2008,
from
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/oil-a-global-crisis-834023.html?service=Print

1st week in Carbondale,6/22 ~ 6/29

記得在這個禮拜我作了超多事的,
6/23先是去了學校報到(機車死的學校,害我一整個超趕),
接著又去銀行開戶,辦手機,去Wal-mart,中超採買食物
BTW,這裡雖然只是個小鎮,但是可以說什麼食物都有,還有白蘭氏雞精ㄋㄟ,except fish,也有Victoria's secret,只是沒有大牌子的包包,sigh

然後我的兩個好室友Angela和阿Lee(他們人真的太好了)就帶著我到處去看房子,好像看了有五六個地方吧,讓我一直拿不定主意,快要煩死了
而且原本打算不買車的,但是這幾天想想好像又需要車子,只是這又需要一筆錢.....

周末時我們就去看了功夫Panda,然後我又自己跑去shopping
雖然沒什麼名牌好買,但是我好像發了瘋似的看到什麼好看的都想買,真害
記得只買了四副耳環,一個包,一組床單還有Bath & Body
就花了我不少錢,靠腰貴的

還有不知道是剛到美國還是怎樣,胃口有點不太好,感覺瘦了兩公斤
只吃了兩次外面,一次卡哈拉,一次Steak & House
我只能說我愛三明治,好好吃

Anyway,I love the life here,而且我這禮拜竟然都沒哭,每天晚上馬上倒頭就睡,真是太奇怪了!!

US's national day ~ ~

7/4,早上10:50,整個CESL學生都準備去St. Louis看煙火
第一站就是去Dillard's shopping
我超愛這間mall的,其中COACH, Express,GODIVA, AE, Converse都是要等我有錢時要攻略的目標
我今天也只花了一杯 dark chocolate raspberry$5.45,超級無敵好喝的 ^^
和買了Bath & Body的乳液和護唇膏(pink mint)$1.08
但是我現在已經學會怎麼克制想買的衝動了

第二站就是St. Louis Union Station
但是離看煙火的地方還有一段距離
要看煙火的地方是在arch
然後我就一直沿路拍照,一邊講話
到了9:40pm,煙火開始
直到00:30才到家

我只能說這是個有點小無聊的trip
然後我真的必須要學習獨立一點,和多多練習說英文
因為直到現在我還是有點暈暈的

衰事不斷 ~ ~

6/21,抵達Carbondale的那天,已經是凌晨一點多了
也是我第一次和兩個室友見面
感覺得出來他們是很nice的人
打過招呼後,我就開始整理我的行李
就在我快整理完時,發現我找不到我的錢包
那時心裡想,我該不會放在會長車上吧?
但是因為很累了就不想去想這件事
只是當我一躺到床上,隔壁鄰居竟然在開趴喝酒說瘋話
讓我更睡不著了,心裡越想越急
然後就拜託Angela(one of my roommare)幫我打電話給會長
但他手機又關機,挖哩勒
因為睡不著就上MSN,就和雪桂說到這件事
還好有她讓我心裡比較平靜
到了三四點真的撐不住了,就上床去睡覺
沒想到在美國的第一天晚上我都沒有哭,真的太神奇了

I think I'm a brave girl....

坐飛機前,和爸爸媽媽道別
竟然沒有一絲感傷反而是笑著說再見
我還以為我和媽媽會抱著哭

坐上飛機,赫然發現
美國空姐真的如傳言所說的,都是阿嬤級的,都一大堆皺紋且也沒啥身材
接著過沒幾分鐘就開始發早餐
早餐是Omelette,還蠻好吃的
接著就到大阪關西機場,等清艙
然後就到了底特律機場
入關時我一整個很慌張,因為一會又要拖鞋一會又要看登機行李
然後又拿著兩個不小的行李,一整個好狼狽
幸好這一路上有遇到一個小妹妹陪著我
到了要飛往St. Louis的時間,在這之前我一整個眼睛都快要闔起來了
但是又不行,必須隨時注意自己的包包
只想趕快坐上飛機到達目的地
只是沒想到,等坐上飛機的那一刻
竟然給我下冰刨,接著又下大雨
原本說可能會delay 30 min,但是雨卻越下越大,整整delay了將近2 hr
到了St. Louis時,我就連絡會長問問看他在哪裡
但沒想到他手機竟然給我轉接語音,當下就心想挫賽,我要留宿在機場了
但我想我還是先提我的行李好了,就在等我行李的時候
突然有一個亞洲男生問我是不是新生
原來他就是會長,幸好有遇到
然後又要坐車做個2.5 hr才能到Carbondale,My God~ ~
在這途中我們又去了兩個地方,真不知道我哪來的體力
這一路我想我大概花了快一天的時間才到我住的地方

原本想好好睡覺,沒想到隔壁鄰居竟然在開趴,喝酒說瘋話
啊~~饒了我吧!!
我只能說老天爺一直再給我考驗,這一路上真的衰事連連
待續 ~