Dramatically expanded use of federal forfeitures since the 1980s has raised persistent concerns about government overreaching in the seizure of private property. The Supreme Court failed to address the problem in Bennis v. Michigan (1996), upholding the forfeiture of property of an entirely...

The authors of this paper have been involved in contentious discussion of the EROI of biomass-based ethanol. This contention has undermined, in the minds of some, the utility of EROI for assessing fuels. This paper seeks to understand the reasons for the divergent results.

The rapidly growing world population and rising consumption of biofuels are increasing demand for both food and biofuels. This exaggerates both food and fuel shortages. Using food crops such as corn grain to produce ethanol raises major nutritional and ethical concerns. Nearly 60% of humans in...

Detailed energy outputs and inputs were assessed for the following crops, cultured in the U.S. and developing countries: corn, wheat, rice, soy, potato, cassava, tomato, citrus and apple. In addition, the labor input for each crop was analyzed.

All biofuels produced in the world utilize food resources. This contributes to the world starvation problem that is reported to be more than 66% of the world population being malnourished. Starvation is the number one cause of death in the world. Approximately 40% of U.S. corn is being converted...

Crops for biofuels squanders cropland, water, and energy resources vital for food production needed for people.

Since humans worldwide obtain more than 99.7% of their food (calories) from the land and less than 0.3% from the oceans and aquatic ecosystems, preserving cropland and maintaining soil fertility should be of the highest importance to human welfare. Soil erosion is one of the most serious threats...