Session 7 - food or energy?

Brief Overview/Summary of the themes/topics addressed during the session

In session 7, we began with a video, depicting how humanity has destroyed Earth. In the video, we were described as parasites that are in the process of destroying the healthy Earth. It then became a question – is the video being cynical and too extreme or is it an accurate description of who we are and what we are going to do? This session gave us a chance to think about how agriculture can, in fact benefit us in different ways through innovation and technology. I liked Professor Shahi’s quote about how we would finally be on our way to sustainability “when we are able to grow the resources we need”. However, I want to add on the fact that we need to be able to do so efficiently, such that we can meet the ever-increasing demand.

Interesting Observations and Ideas (ideas and concepts that captured your attention)

An interesting idea that caught my attention was the BioBusiness in Waste Management. The idea to use of technology to capitalise on waste and create useful products from them has been around for years and I thought it is a good thing to see it happening. An example is the Mannvit’s waste management technology in Iceland. On their website, they described briefly how they recycle waste to produce biogas that can replace fossil fuel.

This means that we are able to convert waste to useful energy that can be used in our daily lives. And this would be very beneficial to many countries, especially developing countries with no proper system for waste disposal. This video shows how waste is being managed in Nairobi. In this video, it was shown that due to no proper system to manage waste, people dispose their waste anywhere and this has led to pollution and breeding of mosquitoes that cause the spread of malaria. It then occurred to me that if waste management technology is being applied in developing countries such as that in Nairobi, these countries will not only be able to construct a better, healthier environment, they would also be able to make use of their waste to generate electricity.

However, such plans are not without high costs. And there is a need to consider if the people in developing countries are willing to pay for such costly waste management, when they may not be able to feed themselves. But, I believe that such plans are necessary because poor waste management would only further deteriorate the living conditions. Therefore, I think further development in this technology is necessary so as to reduce the cost of it, such that it is made affordable, and thereby available to developing countries.

Key Take Away Points (the 2 or 3 key messages from the session that you intend to keep in mind going forward)

One message that I want to keep in mind is the issues that come along with urbanisation. It was mentioned in class how increasing urbanisation has led to a change in our needs. Despite rapid urbanisation, there are some who are not able to adapt well to the change. Moreover, in urban environments, airborne diseases transmit much faster. A more essential issue that rises in urban countries is that the source of food comes from rural areas. And if food is not delivered in a timely fashion, there will be an issue of hunger.

I think it is important to recognise these challenges so that solutions can be devised to resolve these problems. This would be very useful for developing countries as they gradually become urbanised. This would help developing countries avoid the errors made as well as prepare them for the challenges, so that they can resolve them quickly to progress faster.

Another key message that I thought was interesting is from about how we can get materials like plastic from growing plants. The video “BioBytes” was shown in class and it gave a rather brief introduction on how this is done.  This method aims to make use of agriculture to produce energy, which intends to replace finite petroleum in our daily use. In this article, Coca-Cola Co. aims to make 100% plant bottle, to accomplish green goals. I think it is important for large corporations, such as Coca-Cola, to take the lead in making use of such technology to reduce carbon footprint, so as to be sustainable. Because, this means that more research would be done in such technology to improve it and make it more affordable and available to the mass.

The phrase from the article, “It takes 77 million years to make fossil fuels and 45 minutes to use as a coffee cup,” is indeed very intriguing. The step towards using plants to replace petroleum or fossil fuels is a huge one towards a sustainable world. However, is this enough? Is changing to renewable sources of energy enough to meet the increasing demand of people? When will the time, used to grow plastic-based plants, be considered too long, too inefficient to meet the increasing demand from the world?

From the first video shown in class, humans are compared to parasites, consuming everything quickly and efficiently. So, the question is, is it enough to just switch to alternative energy? In my opinion, I believe it is even more important to change the way we use and do things. Alternative energy may be one way to keep us sustainable. But eventually, this alternative energy would need to be continually improved such that the rate of production of energy matches our rate of demand. So, it may not be that sustainable in the end.

However, I believe that it is nevertheless, very important to make use of such technology now. Sustainability is not a quick and simple goal that can be achieved overnight. Taking the small steps towards this goal is essential to achieve this. 

Issues for Further Discussion (stuff you wish had been considered or given more air-time in class – and why)

I wished that more time had been given to discuss the issue regarding the decision between growing food and growing energy resources. I think this will be a very big problem in the near future. Energy resources are depleting due to the increase in demand for them. Alternative methods will become more popular and necessary. Then, the decision between growing food and growing energy resource will become a real, substantial problem that we will face. Will the priority be to satisfy the basic needs of those in developing countries? Or will the priority lie in resolving the wants of those in developed countries? Hunger problems would essentially escalate if farmers change to grow plants for energy purposes. How then can we resolve this? I thought it would be interesting to hear others’ take on this issue. But I think that the solution would be to conduct further research in efficient farming of food such as through vertical farming, such that food can be grown upwards, and efficiently. I think this would be one way to curb the problem.

Personal Ratings for Session (how you would rate the session on a scale of 0 to 10. Feel free to be as subjective as you like in your assessment)

In conclusion, I thought the presentations made by various students were really fascinating. I learnt a lot from the presentations such as in vitro meat and vertical farming. I thought these were good concepts that we may rely on in the future when food source becomes scarce. I thought the concepts introduced by the Professor were rather broad and it seemed like BioBusiness covered all the businesses in the world. It was a rather informative session. I would rate this a 7/10.