Castro: I see that you do not let go of the books. When do you sleep?
Chavez: I sleep a little in the early morning. I sleep some. I study a lot. That is one of the responsibilities of every revolutionary. We follow your example. I am now reading -
Castro: [Interrupting] Yes. You have been reading for a long while. You have great talent to keep it all in, to remember everything. The only thing you sometimes forget is figures.
Chavez: I forget numbers but not that much.
Castro: However, you have them all bookmarked and never miss one. It is not easy to keep up with you.
Chavez: Do you know how many hectares of corn are needed to produce one million barrels of ethanol?
Castro: To do what?
Chavez: To produce one million barrels of ethanol?
Castro: Ethanol. I believe you told me about that the other day. Somewhere around 20 million hectares.
Chavez:[Laughing] Just like that.
Castro: Go ahead, remind me.
Chavez: Indeed, 20 million. You are the one with an exceptional mind, not me.
Castro: Twenty million. Well, of course. The idea of using food to produce fuel is tragic, is dramatic. No one is sure how high the price of food will rise when soy is being used for fuel, with the need there is in the world to produce eggs, milk, to produce meat. It is a tragedy. One of many today. I am happy to know that you have taken up the flag to save the species because... there are new problems, very difficult problems and therefore tosee someone become a great preacher of the cause, a champion of the cause, an advocate of the life of the species. For that, I congratulate you. Continue fighting [words inaudible] to educate the people so they can understand.
Dumbfounding.
3 comments:
What is that in acres?
El Presidente got his DJIA data wrong!
50 million.
But of course, Chavez is wrong about that, as he is about everything else.
According to the U. S. Department of Agriculture, it takes only the production of 43,000 hectares of American corn, lovingly tended by super-efficient American farmers, to produce one million barrels of ethanol.
Maybe Chavez is just acknowledging that No. American farmers are 47,000% more productive than are Venezuelan farmers.
Further, one would have to be either a moron or desperate to use corn to produce ethanol.
A better question is, how many hectares of sugarcane or switchgrass does it take to produce one million barrels of ethanol ?
26,000 and 17,000, respectively.
And how many fewer hectares are under agricultural production in America in 2007, compared to 1910 ?
About 30,000,000.
Post a Comment