Do you remember the famous quote "Save Water, Drink Beer"? It seems, even that is in trouble - the beer, I mean. In the US and European agricultural markets, strong demand for biofuel feed stocks such as corn, soya beans and rapeseed is encouraging farmers to plant these crops instead of grains like barley, driving up prices of barley, hops and such grains.
Jean-François van Boxmeer, chief executive of Heineken the Dutch brewer, warned last week that the expansion of the biofuel sector was beginning to cause a "structural shift" in European and US agricultural markets.
One consequence, he said, could be a long-term shift upwards in the price of beer. Barley and hops account for about 7-8 per cent of brewing costs.
We need to find smart ways to reduce our consumption of energy, or we'll end up running out of beer before we run out of fuel in our desperate quest for endlessly available energy, he said.
In effect, what he meant was it was time to forget about Peak Oil and instead start to worry about Peak Beer.
So, today, when you get off work, have a sip of ice cold lager, followed by a mug of warm ale and a chilled Heineken for good measure.
AnD, If YoU Do, ReMeMbEr To TaKe A TaXi HoMe
;-)
Jean-François van Boxmeer, chief executive of Heineken the Dutch brewer, warned last week that the expansion of the biofuel sector was beginning to cause a "structural shift" in European and US agricultural markets.
One consequence, he said, could be a long-term shift upwards in the price of beer. Barley and hops account for about 7-8 per cent of brewing costs.
We need to find smart ways to reduce our consumption of energy, or we'll end up running out of beer before we run out of fuel in our desperate quest for endlessly available energy, he said.
In effect, what he meant was it was time to forget about Peak Oil and instead start to worry about Peak Beer.
So, today, when you get off work, have a sip of ice cold lager, followed by a mug of warm ale and a chilled Heineken for good measure.
AnD, If YoU Do, ReMeMbEr To TaKe A TaXi HoMe
;-)
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