RE: salvation from tar pits?

As I interpret this article, it will take .22 NNP to build the
infrastructure for a new energy source. I might be wrong but that is
the way I interpret it.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Howard J. Van Till [mailto:hvantill@sbcglobal.net]
> Sent: Monday, June 28, 2004 7:53 AM
> To: Glenn Morton; 'ASA'
> Subject: Re: salvation from tar pits?
>
>
> On 6/28/04 8:11 AM, "Glenn Morton" <glennmorton@entouch.net> wrote:
>
> > "The fossil fuels burned in 1997 were created from organic matter
> > containing 44 x 10^18 g C, which is >400 times the net primary
> > productivity (NPP) of the planet's current biota. As stores
> of ancient
> > solar energy decline, humans are likely to use an
> increasing share of
> > modern solar resources. I conservatively estimate that
> replacing the
> > energy humans derive from fossil fuels with energy from
> modern biomass
> > would require 22% of terrestrial NPP, increasing the human
> > appropriation of this resource by ~50%." Jeffrey S. Dukes, "burning
> > Buried Sunshine: Human Consumption of Ancient Solar
> Energy," Climatic
> > Change 61(2003):31-44, p. 31
> >
> > We are using each year 400 x the net planetary productivity
> according
> > to this. WOW! This alone says why oil from Turkey guts won't work.
>
> Glenn,
>
> Thanks for the note, but I am having difficulty putting
> together two items of info.
>
> 1. In 1997 we burned fossil fuels at the rate of 400 times modern NNP.
>
> 2. Replacing energy humans now derive from fossil fuels with
> energy from modern biomass would require 0.22 modern NNP.
>
> At first glance this implies that 400 = 0.22. Obviously I'm
> reading this incorrectly. Does 400 NNP of biomass translate
> to 0.22 NNP in the conversion of biomass to fossil fuels (in
> place of direct use)?
>
> Howard
>
>
Received on Mon Jun 28 19:26:40 2004