I am having problems getting my quote blocks to line up, so I am getting rid of them. I read Brave New world in high school. I found it a fascinating book. But perhaps 'Soylent Green' would also be a book relative to the topic?
You axample of cChina and its attempt at population control is a frightening one. I hope there are better ways. China is stil an overcrowded cesspool. I have an ex-girlfriend from there, so many people just want out in any way possible.
I would say that the bigger problem that using food cropland for fuel is using eating meat. Meat, particularly beef, requires a lot of arable land, and creates a lot of methane. Pastures can easily become overused and result in soil weakness, and erosion. The corn fed to cattle could be used for humans, or the land used for other crops, but in either case without petrochemicals the land will produce much less. I think we can grow some energy crops on land that, without petrochemicals, can't grow much else. i am trying to remember the name of that prarie bush that survived very will before it was burned out and replaced with corn and wheat fields. But this crop alone will not satisfy all of our needs for fuels. One of the first things to do is to cut down on the amount of high-energy-density fuels needed, by eliminating oil-fired electrical plants. Second, might be to bring back sailing ships as a way to transport good across the oceans (but very high-tech sailing ships). Third, is to make the machines which have to use these fuels much more efficient. fourth is to make our use of them much more efficient. These can all be done. however, they require very long-term thinking on the parts of government and economic institutions in the developed world. Expect nothing from the underdeveloped world but one disaster after another.
Electric and gas distribution can also be improved. instead of burning methane in our kitchen stoves, we burn hydrogen. Instead of heating houses with gas furnances, we use hydrogen fuel cells to create electricity with heat being the byproduct. But I am still skeptical on hydrogen, as not enough has been done to secure its plentiful supply from other than petro sources. (though it can be created by microbial fuel cells). it's also a really dangerous explosion hazard (but so is methane). Electrical distribution can be improved by converting from 120 volts AC in the house to something higher, like the 240v used in Europe. But that won't save that much, really. Generation of electricity from nuclear, wind, solar, microbial fuel cells, hydro, tidal - all of these have to be tapped. These can also help transportation, as some short-range transport can be done by plug-in cars.
Well, I am getting tired of writing now. My point is there's so much that can be done to keep us away from starvation. It just takes good leadership (which is in short supply).
