GoodFuels

Canada setting positive example

In Canada, yesterday, with the IGPC farmer- owned ethanol plant in Ontario holding its official opening, Canada has now passed the one billion litres per year production level for ethanol. This marks the halfway point towards hitting the federal renewable fuel standard target of 5% renewable content in gasoline by 2010.

And, last week, Alberta (the Canadian province which produces over one million barrels of oil per day, has reserves of crude second only to Saudi Arabia in the world, and is the single largest exporter of oil to the U.S.) announced they are moving to a renewable fuel standard of 5% ethanol and 2% biodiesel by 2010; a very significant development. This province is building on their strong energy and agricultural sectors, moving towards creating new green jobs and diversifying both industries. Not only is Alberta a large producer of wheat and canola for ethanol and biodiesel production, respectively, but as was announced this past June, the Edmonton municipal landfill will see the world’s first commercial-scale waste to ethanol facility being built there next year.

Both positive announcements show Canada continues to grow beyond oil.

Rats not rice

There’s an interesting story gaining some traction in Canada this week.

According to Reuters, officials in India are encouraging people to eat rats instead of rice to alleviate some food shortage concerns. But that’s not the most intriguing part:

“Eating of rats will serve twin purposes — it will save grains from being eaten away by rats and will simultaneously increase our grain stock,” Vijay Prakash, an official from the state’s welfare department, told Reuters.

 Officials say almost 50 percent of India’s food grains stocks are eaten away by rodents in fields or warehouses.

The story has been picked up by the Canadian media. Here’s some commentary from Kevin Hursh that runs on the daily ag radio in western Canada:

It’s estimated that nearly 50 per cent of India’s grain stocks are eaten by rodents, either in the field or when the crop is being stored in warehouses. According to a report this week by Reuters news service, authorities in Bihar, one of India’s poorest states, are calling on everyone to eat rats. There are even plans to offer rats on restaurant menus. Rat meat is already eaten by some people in India. The Bihar government argues that more people dining on rats will lower human consumption of grain. Plus, there will be fewer rats to eat grain. Cultural differences pertaining to animals and food are amazing. Depending upon your faith, you may not eat pork or you may not eat beef. Most people in North America are turned off by the idea of eating dogs and horses because they’re companion animals. The aversion to rats is because they’re dirty rodents. It is an amazing statistic though that nearly 50 per cent of the grain in India is destroyed by rodents. Makes you wonder why there are so many people who obsess about the amount of grain used to produce biofuels. I’m Kevin Hursh.