Put a little Tyson in your tank?

I think I'm gonna be sick. That's me talking from an emotional place. I cannot believe that we've found another means of subjecting animals to the ills of our ways and that they now have to suffer for our overly consumptive lifestyles.

The rational side of me looked at this and wondered about all of the additional energy and water and land use that'll be required to grow these animals for the sole purpose of obtaining their fat, potentially offsetting any overall benefit. The bottom of the article mentions that this fat is already present in the animal processing waste stream. So it seems that on this end, I've nothing to take issue with.

I've never been in a position where I've had to make such a choice between environmental matters and animal welfare matters. To date, neither have had to be sacrificed for the other so far as my choices are concerned. I hope never to be confronted with this scenario.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SSimon @ Apr 19 2007, 05:57 PM) [snapback]426369[/snapback]</div>

I can relate to your illness. The big question here is, will this be use of byproduct that would otherwise be thrown away (in which case it doesn't increase our use of land/water/etc.) or as you inferred, production of new animals just for the biodiesel.

This is the problem with current ethanol/biodiesel. If we can find a way to run our cars on leftovers from plant OR animal consumption, then that helps. If we are competing with our cars for actual food...not so good.

 

I thought this post was going to be about Mike Tyson.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tempus @ Apr 20 2007, 01:38 PM) [snapback]426891[/snapback]</div>

He ain't little and he ain't got enough fat!

 

This is strictly waste disposal. The animals aren't being raised with the sole intention of turning them into fuel. Rather, it costs a LOT of money to dispose of the waste. If the waste can be converted to a useful product then the company saves money and people benefit from the products. So SSimon, it's not as bad as you're thinking. The EROI would be horrendous. The EROI of corn ethanol is questionable enough. Raising animals to turn them into fuel makes absolutely no sense. There are FAR better ways to make a buck.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tripp @ Apr 20 2007, 03:56 PM) [snapback]426976[/snapback]</div>

I know, I said that I recognized that this fat was a component of the waste stream in my post....you know, my rational side did anyway.

 

It may not happen now, The dems dont like the tax breaks they will get. Phillips and Tyson said they will not do it without them.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Apr 19 2007, 03:09 PM) [snapback]426330[/snapback]</div>

But then your car will need a refill after a couple hours.