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Eating Fossil Fuels: Oil, Food, and the Coming Crisis in Agriculture
A shocking outline of the interlinked crises in energy and agriculture ― and appropriate responses The miracle of the Green Revolution was made possible by cheap fossil fuels to supply crops with artificial fertilizer, pesticides, and irrigation. Estimates of the net energy balance of agriculture in the US show that ten calories of hydrocarbon energy are required to produce one calorie of food. Such an imbalance cannot continue in a world of diminishing hydrocarbon resources. Eating Fossil Fuels examines the interlinked crises of energy and agriculture and highlights some startling Concluding that the effect of energy depletion will be disastrous without a transition to a sustainable, relocalized agriculture, the book draws on the experiences of North Korea and Cuba to demonstrate stories of failure and success in the transition to non-hydrocarbon-based agriculture. It urges strong grassroots activism for sustainable, localized agriculture and a natural shrinking of the world's population. Dale Allen Pfeiffer is a novelist, freelance journalist and geologist who has been writing about energy depletion for a decade. The author of The End of the Oil Age , he is also widely known for his web www.survivingpeakoil.com.
144 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
July 17, 2008
It confounds me that both sides of the sustainable energy debate are able to form such cogent explanations of their positions. In this book, Dale Allen Pfeiffer, the guy who runs the SurvivingPeakOil.com website, delivers a rather bleak diatribe about the failed state of unsustainable world agricultural practices. He explains -- among other things -- that the so-called Green Revolution of the 1960s and 70s succeeded in making food cheap, but in doing so brought to life a Frankenstein monster of industry and dependence on quickly-depleting fossil fuels. This answers the question I hear so often at the grocery store: "WHY is food so much more expensive these days?"
Food prices have something to do with the simple cost of their transportation, sure, but many people forget the fact that food also requires planting, irrigating, fertilizing, harvesting, packaging, advertising, refrigerating and preparing -- all processes that consume fossil-fuel-derived energy. Because of our energy-driven agriculture system, the average American is able to eat in one day what would have taken him/her three weeks to grow & prepare in a system without fossil fuels. The Green Revolution (and the consequent globalization of the food industry) has allowed great convenience and variety into the diets of people with money, and it has also facilitated an enormous population boom. But it has done little to reduce the ever-growing percentage of people who starve.
It also has created a conundrum, that is, if we are to believe that the world -- and in particular the United States -- has reached the inevitable end of the fossil fuel era. Should we wake up tomorrow and find no more oil and natural gas, would we be prepared to feed ourselves?
Pfeiffer's contention is NO, and he offers various solutions -- community gardens, substituting human manure for natural-gas-based fertilizers, etc. -- all of which seem nice in theory but difficult to execute, at least at the personal level. That is why the last two chapters focus on the construction of a grassroots movement to encourage such a transition of the world's agriculture system.
Eating Fossil Fuels is not a particularly enjoyable or uplifting read. But it is a rather persuasive manifesto that is replete with data and certainly bound to open good discussions between environmentally conscious people.
Food prices have something to do with the simple cost of their transportation, sure, but many people forget the fact that food also requires planting, irrigating, fertilizing, harvesting, packaging, advertising, refrigerating and preparing -- all processes that consume fossil-fuel-derived energy. Because of our energy-driven agriculture system, the average American is able to eat in one day what would have taken him/her three weeks to grow & prepare in a system without fossil fuels. The Green Revolution (and the consequent globalization of the food industry) has allowed great convenience and variety into the diets of people with money, and it has also facilitated an enormous population boom. But it has done little to reduce the ever-growing percentage of people who starve.
It also has created a conundrum, that is, if we are to believe that the world -- and in particular the United States -- has reached the inevitable end of the fossil fuel era. Should we wake up tomorrow and find no more oil and natural gas, would we be prepared to feed ourselves?
Pfeiffer's contention is NO, and he offers various solutions -- community gardens, substituting human manure for natural-gas-based fertilizers, etc. -- all of which seem nice in theory but difficult to execute, at least at the personal level. That is why the last two chapters focus on the construction of a grassroots movement to encourage such a transition of the world's agriculture system.
Eating Fossil Fuels is not a particularly enjoyable or uplifting read. But it is a rather persuasive manifesto that is replete with data and certainly bound to open good discussions between environmentally conscious people.
October 26, 2015
Read this book and be afraid. For people already familiar with Peak Oil and its repercussions, it will not come as much of a shock to learn how intimately dependent modern industrial civilization is on oil and how its end will mean the necessary decline in the Earth's carrying capacity for human life.
If I were entirely new to the topic however, this slim but succinct book would serve as an excellent introduction and concise summary. Straightforward and highly readable, the author describes how our industrial scale agriculture has decimated the planet's natural ecosystems and will soon come to a halt due to dwindling fossil fuels that power its impressive output. He then provides two historical case studies of the outcome when ready access to energy gets cut off: North Korea and Cuba. Both countries struggled painfully when the Soviet Union collapsed in the 1990s, which resulted in sharply curtailed imports of fossil fuels and food. While the DPRK never really recovered from the ensuing mass famine and impoverishment mainly due to their emphasis on industrial production and the military, Cuba managed to pull through better owing to the successful, albeit forced transition to rural based society practicing organic farming. The more conducive tropical climate didn't hurt either.
The book focuses on practical advise and actions one can start taking to better prepare ourselves, with a long section at the end listing the many organizations dealing with permaculture and sustainable living for the reader to take things further.
While the tone is overall quite positive surprisingly, with the emphasis on remaining hopeful despite the gloomy prospect of the inevitable, some questions that I continue to have are:
- How many people can the planet support on organic permaculture based food production? If this is still substantially less than the 9 billion projected population by mid 21st century we will still face the inevitable mass starvation and apocalyptic conditions during the 'transition'. While being knowledgeable about organic farming techniques and rural community living helps, not everyone will have a chance to see it in practice, only the lucky survivors.
- It then follows that there may not be much of a point in learning these techniques now in the first place, since the focus should be on surviving the transition. Heading for the hills and bunker mentalities may not be so far fetched after all.
Predicting how things will unravel is much harder than painting a possible future for the remaining population POST fossil fuels. Even the experts like Dennis Meadows shy away from this, citing too many variables in the model. I suppose then it is up to the imagination of writers and artists.
If I were entirely new to the topic however, this slim but succinct book would serve as an excellent introduction and concise summary. Straightforward and highly readable, the author describes how our industrial scale agriculture has decimated the planet's natural ecosystems and will soon come to a halt due to dwindling fossil fuels that power its impressive output. He then provides two historical case studies of the outcome when ready access to energy gets cut off: North Korea and Cuba. Both countries struggled painfully when the Soviet Union collapsed in the 1990s, which resulted in sharply curtailed imports of fossil fuels and food. While the DPRK never really recovered from the ensuing mass famine and impoverishment mainly due to their emphasis on industrial production and the military, Cuba managed to pull through better owing to the successful, albeit forced transition to rural based society practicing organic farming. The more conducive tropical climate didn't hurt either.
The book focuses on practical advise and actions one can start taking to better prepare ourselves, with a long section at the end listing the many organizations dealing with permaculture and sustainable living for the reader to take things further.
While the tone is overall quite positive surprisingly, with the emphasis on remaining hopeful despite the gloomy prospect of the inevitable, some questions that I continue to have are:
- How many people can the planet support on organic permaculture based food production? If this is still substantially less than the 9 billion projected population by mid 21st century we will still face the inevitable mass starvation and apocalyptic conditions during the 'transition'. While being knowledgeable about organic farming techniques and rural community living helps, not everyone will have a chance to see it in practice, only the lucky survivors.
- It then follows that there may not be much of a point in learning these techniques now in the first place, since the focus should be on surviving the transition. Heading for the hills and bunker mentalities may not be so far fetched after all.
Predicting how things will unravel is much harder than painting a possible future for the remaining population POST fossil fuels. Even the experts like Dennis Meadows shy away from this, citing too many variables in the model. I suppose then it is up to the imagination of writers and artists.
November 17, 2008
I wrote this book. It is a very scary piece of nonfiction. Many consider it to be the book on energy and food production and the coming agricultural crisis.
June 30, 2023
Halo, Kerabat !
Buku ini ditulis oleh seorang futuris di bidang geologi yaitu Dale Allen Pfeiffer yang memang sering mengkaji dan menulis tentang penipisan energi, dampak perang bagi sumber daya di masa depan dan keberlanjutan lingkungan. Buku ini walaupun terbitan tahun 2006 rasanya masih relevan dibaca di tahun 2023 karena akan mengajak kembali memikirkan tindakan strategi dalam memperlakukan bumi dan isinya, terlebih jika ada keterlibatan kekuasaan yang berdampak pada biodiversitas.
Buku ini lebih menjelaskan hubungan antara bahan bakar fosil (minyak bumi, gas alam, dan batu bara), produksi pangan, dan krisis yang akan datang dalam pertanian.
Pfeiffer memperhatikan konsekuensi dari pertanian terindustrialisasi, seperti degradasi tanah, penurunan suplai air, dan ketergantungan pada input berbasis hidrokarbon karena Revolusi Hijau, meskipun meningkatkan produksi pangan, namun hal ini ternyata gagal mengurangi kelaparan global dan justru menyebabkan konsolidasi perusahaan agribisnis besar.
Pfeiffer menyoroti sifat tidak berkelanjutan dari sistem pertanian saat ini dan menekankan kebutuhan mendesak untuk melokalisasi pertanian dan mengembangkan gerakan dasar untuk menjamin keamanan pangan. Buku ini sebagai panggilan untuk kita semua sebagai umat manusia untuk : bangun !!! Karena kerusakan lingkungan sudah dirasakan lama, dan secara darurat memerlukan solusi potensial masa kini dan masa depan yang benar-benar berkelanjutan dalam produksi pangan.
Praktik pertanian industri intensif menguras nutrisi tanah dan menghabiskan pasokan air yang mudah diakses. Ketergantungan pada hidrokarbon meningkat seiring dengan peningkatan biaya produksi. Produksi hidrokarbon dunia diperkirakan akan mencapai puncaknya sekitar tahun 2010, diikuti oleh penurunan yang tak terhindarkan. Relokalisasi pertanian menjadi solusi dengan membangun kembali infrastruktur produksi pangan lokal.
Gerakan dasar diperlukan untuk memulihkan pertanian lokal. Buku ini memberikan gambaran tentang upaya yang diperlukan dan kontak organisasi di daerah yang sudah bekerja untuk mencapai tujuan ini. Jika berhasil membangun gerakan pertanian lokal, kita dapat melindungi diri dari dampak penurunan produksi hidrokarbon. Pertanian berkelanjutan dapat membantu menyesuaikan populasi dengan kapasitas planet. Buku ini adalah panduan diet yang komprehensif untuk mencapai tujuan ini.
Revolusi Hijau terjadi pada tahun 1950-an dan 1960-an, memungkinkan pertanian terus meningkatkan produksi melalui penggunaan lahan marginal dan degradasi. Ini menghasilkan industrialisasi pertanian dengan pengembangan tanaman pangan hibrida baru. Produksi biji-bijian dunia meningkat 250% antara 1950 dan 1984. Revolusi Hijau dimungkinkan oleh penggunaan bahan bakar fosil dalam pupuk, pestisida, dan irigasi. Konsumsi energi pertanian meningkat sekitar 50 hingga lebih dari seratus kali lipat. Revolusi Hijau memberikan tambahan energi pangan, tetapi didorong oleh bahan bakar fosil. Relevansi penting dalam pemahaman kita bahwa kita sedang mengonsumsi bahan bakar fosil secara tidak langsung.
Kegagalan Revolusi Hijau karena hukum termodinamika, tidak ada hubungan langsung antara masukan dan keluaran energi dalam pertanian. Selama prosesnya, terjadi kerugian energi yang signifikan. Antara 1945 dan 1994, masukan energi pertanian meningkat empat kali lipat, sementara hasil panen hanya meningkat tiga kali lipat. Sejak itu, masukan energi terus meningkat tanpa peningkatan yang sebanding dalam hasil panen. Kita telah mencapai titik pengembalian yang rendah. Namun, akibat degradasi tanah, peningkatan tuntutan pengendalian hama, dan biaya energi yang semakin tinggi untuk irigasi, pertanian modern harus terus meningkatkan pengeluaran energinya hanya untuk mempertahankan hasil panen saat ini. Revolusi Hijau semakin mengalami kebangkrutan. Pada tahun 1950-an dan 1960-an, Revolusi Hijau dipromosikan sebagai solusi kelaparan dunia. Peningkatan produksi pertanian seharusnya memastikan bahwa ada cukup makanan untuk semua orang dan tidak ada yang kelaparan di planet ini. Sayangnya, hal ini tidak terjadi.
Revolusi Hijau meningkatkan ketersediaan kalori sebesar 17 persen per orang meskipun populasi meningkat 70 persen. Namun, masih ada sekitar 798 juta orang kelaparan di negara berkembang. Di Amerika Serikat, 11,9 persen rumah tangga mengalami ketidakamanan pangan, dan jumlah orang kelaparan di AS meningkat sebesar 3,9 juta. Kelaparan disebabkan oleh akses terhadap makanan yang tidak merata, dan solusinya terletak pada reformasi sosial, agraria, dan demokratis. Revolusi Hijau berkontribusi pada ketidakadilan sistem pertanian, degradasi lahan, dan tidak berkelanjutan. Makanan harus didistribusikan dengan lebih adil untuk mengatasi kelaparan dunia.
Mari mengingat kembali tentang :
HUKUM PERTAMA TERMODINAMIKA atau HUKUM KONSERVASI ENERGI
Energi tidak dapat diciptakan atau dihancurkan atau Energi dalam alam semesta tetap konstan;
atau Kamu tidak bisa menang (Dale Allen Pfeiffer).
HUKUM KEDUA TERMODINAMIKA atau HUKUM ENTROPI
Tanpa perubahan yang mengkompensasi di tempat lain, panas hanya dapat mengalir dari benda yang lebih panas ke yang lebih dingin atau Dengan berjalannya waktu kronologis, entropi alam semesta cenderung menuju maksimum atau Kamu tidak bisa mencapai keseimbangan (Dale Allen Pfeiffer).
HUKUM KETIGA TERMODINAMIKA
Entropi zat padat atau cair, yaitu, substansi yang terkondensasi, memiliki nilai nol pada suhu mutlak nol atau Suhu mutlak nol tidak dapat dicapai atau Kamu harus tetap bermain dalam permainan (Dale Allen Pfeiffer).
Jadi, masa depan selanjutnya apakah masih ada harapan atau akan ada kemusnahan-kemusnahan kecil yang siap menggerogoti dampak dari kerusakan lingkungan yang terakumulasi dari waktu ke waktu karena abai pada mitigasi dan transisi ?
Hatur nuhun.
March 24, 2013
this was a pretty solid book. very good information about the interpentration between agriculture and fossil fuels. it also points to the need for a wider systemic change and not simply driving more fuel efficient cars. our industrial agricultural system requires huge amounts of fossil fuels every step of the way. transport, fertilization, pest treatment, irrigation etc etc all require fossil fuels. we need to transition away from industrial agriculture not simply to prevent further global warming but because we are heading for systemic collapse as fossil fuel production decreases. it is also good that it ends with some ideas for activists. i thought when i flipped through the book before reading it that it would be pretty hokey but i thought it was pretty good. it was nice that the book ended with an explicit rejection of government or industry being the driver of change and laid out that it will be grass roots movements for change that we should be put our time, energy and hope into. so get out there and get involved!!
October 29, 2008
Well written overview of the worldwide agricultural situation as it relates to fossil fuels and the overuse and over dependence on these limited resources. While Pfeiffer can come across as bleak and "doom n' gloom", he reminds the reader than when you give up and lose hope, you lose your chance to survive. That said, he offers several ideas for a move towards sustainable agriculture and living. A good read for anyone interested in making our world a more sustainable place to live, before it is too late.
January 12, 2008
A scary realization of what may happen to our world. The ending is somewhat uplifting!
January 20, 2014
Even in a quarter of what is predicted comes to be, we need to seriously rethink our agricultural practices.
January 5, 2015
Fearmongering. Neat.
I do believe that the end of fossil fuels is nearer than currently conceived by many United States citizens. And yes, a lack thereof would render some modern agricultural practices useless (i.e. the use of diesel power tractors and transportation of end products). However, as an agriculturalist trained in economics and agronomy, I find great fault in the claims made against the intent of the Green Revolution and the "failed" outcome of it. Throughout the book I longed for a rational conversation about the problems limited fossil fuels would have on agricultural production but was left with dated statistics and data that could be misinterpreted by the reader (for example acreages left in hectares instead of the United States acre) and poor comparisons between unrelated subjects, like comparing insect nervous system altering insecticides with the plant EPSP synthase inhibiting herbicide, glyphosate (otherwise known as RoundUp, proved harmless to humans over and over and over again).
Now on this book's writing, I would have been more satisfied if it was increased in length; I longed for explanations of some acronyms, elaboration on examples and increased examples to prove points.
I do believe that the end of fossil fuels is nearer than currently conceived by many United States citizens. And yes, a lack thereof would render some modern agricultural practices useless (i.e. the use of diesel power tractors and transportation of end products). However, as an agriculturalist trained in economics and agronomy, I find great fault in the claims made against the intent of the Green Revolution and the "failed" outcome of it. Throughout the book I longed for a rational conversation about the problems limited fossil fuels would have on agricultural production but was left with dated statistics and data that could be misinterpreted by the reader (for example acreages left in hectares instead of the United States acre) and poor comparisons between unrelated subjects, like comparing insect nervous system altering insecticides with the plant EPSP synthase inhibiting herbicide, glyphosate (otherwise known as RoundUp, proved harmless to humans over and over and over again).
Now on this book's writing, I would have been more satisfied if it was increased in length; I longed for explanations of some acronyms, elaboration on examples and increased examples to prove points.
January 22, 2011
This was an intriguing book; undoubtedly dealing with a particularly political issue, I think the author was actually a Geologist.
Consequently I didn't really find the political analysis very broad nor enlightening. In some situations I think it was just inaccurate. However, that said the facts on the amount of oil we use in making our food were amazing. Really interesting and eye-opening stuff.
I enjoyed his idea to use Cuba and North Korea as case studies of countries who have already suffered energy crises (following the collapse of the Soviet Union) and certainly some of the points he makes are valid in relation to how each country coped with the loss of their energy supply. However, I couldn't help but think that both Cuba and North Korea not only lost their energy supply in the early '90s but also nearly all other diplomatic ties with the international community. Consequently they were not assisted in their agricultural plights as they might otherwise have been had their leaders been more accepted in the mainstream.
Nevertheless the book was easy and quick to read and gave a nice "boundary" analysis of the political and ecological consequences of peak oil.
Consequently I didn't really find the political analysis very broad nor enlightening. In some situations I think it was just inaccurate. However, that said the facts on the amount of oil we use in making our food were amazing. Really interesting and eye-opening stuff.
I enjoyed his idea to use Cuba and North Korea as case studies of countries who have already suffered energy crises (following the collapse of the Soviet Union) and certainly some of the points he makes are valid in relation to how each country coped with the loss of their energy supply. However, I couldn't help but think that both Cuba and North Korea not only lost their energy supply in the early '90s but also nearly all other diplomatic ties with the international community. Consequently they were not assisted in their agricultural plights as they might otherwise have been had their leaders been more accepted in the mainstream.
Nevertheless the book was easy and quick to read and gave a nice "boundary" analysis of the political and ecological consequences of peak oil.
July 10, 2011
Awalnya, gue baca buku ini untuk memastikan hubungan antara populasi (x) dengan kelaparan (y1) dan kerusakan lingkungan (y2). Gua berprasangka bahwa fakta-fakta mengenai buruknya keadaan lingkungan saat ini dimanipulasi oleh politikus dengan menekan ilmuwan tertentu untuk kepentingan pribadi dan golongan—yang mana diakui pula oleh penulis bahwa hal tersebut mungkin saja terjadi (p. 35). Depopulasi karena kekhawatiran akan adanya wabah kelaparan terdengar seperti mengamini motif Hitler ketika memusnahkan warga Yahudi ([http://ow.ly/5AMr9]) atau Belanda ketika memusnahkan etnis Tionghoa di Kali Merah atau menyetujui esainya Malthus tentang hubungan antara produktivitas dan populasi. Di luar fakta medis mengenai tingkat kematian akibat kelahiran, depopulasi pranatal juga terdengar melanggar HAM—#MyUterusMyRights.
[http://ow.ly/5ANj1].
[http://ow.ly/5ANj1].
April 17, 2010
Concisely explains the Green Revolution and its coming crisis in the context of peaking exploitation of oil, natural gas, and fresh water. Provides look at two modern societies, North Korea and Cuba, which have both experienced agricultural crises related to the unavailability of oil and other essential resources, and explores the radically different approaches these nations took to the crises. Briefly explores alternatives to the technology- and resource-intense Green Revolution and provides an excellent set of resources at the end for folks who want to do their part to prepare for the coming agricultural crisis.
July 5, 2008
The Green Revolution sure was a bad idea. Find out why.
July 20, 2012
Not really a book so much as an extra-long term paper about stuff we all should have already known.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews