The first annual BioMass conference, attended by biofuels researchers, manufacturers, equipment suppliers, and farmers, is underway here at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Prime on the agenda in the opening session this morning was a question lately blaring from headlines, for instance in a story in today's New York Times: can we grow crops for converting into fuel without catastrophically upsetting the world's food supply?
A brief note on our agricultural community. For one, in times of abundance our government actually pays farmers to let their crops go into decay rather than sell them to the public. So, in short it's not like we have a shortage, it's just another arguement to back oil companies.
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