[biofuels-biz] Mad Cow Disease Could Slip Into U.S.
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/feb2002/2002L-02-27-06.html Environment News Service: Mad Cow Disease Could Slip Into U.S. By Cat Lazaroff WASHINGTON, DC, February 27, 2002 (ENS) - Federal actions aimed at preventing mad cow disease from entering the United States do not ensure that the disease will be kept out, finds a new report by the General Accounting Office. The report by the investigative arm of Congress also warns that the U.S. could not guarantee rapid detection of the disease if it did cross the nation's borders. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, is an always fatal, neuro-degenerative disease that has been found in cattle in 23 countries around the world. Cattle contract the disease through animal feed that contains protein derived from the remains of diseased animals. Scientists generally believe an equally fatal disease in humans - known as variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease (vCJD) - is linked to eating beef from cattle infected with BSE. Just over 100 people have died from vCJD, one of a family of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. Both diseases have long incubation periods during which they are undetectable - two to eight years in cattle and possibly up to 30 years in humans. For more than a decade, the federal agencies responsible for ensuring the safety of the public and the nation's food supply have been working to prevent BSE from entering the U.S., and creating mechanisms for detecting and tracking the disease if it should appear here. But a new report from the General Accounting Office (GAO) finds that while BSE has not yet been found in the United States, federal actions do not sufficiently ensure that all BSE infected animals or products are kept out or that if BSE were found, it would be detected promptly and not spread to other cattle through animal feed or enter the human food supply. Despite regulations which bar imports of beef from countries where the disease has been found, tons of beef has entered the U.S. from such nations, because it was imported before the disease was detected. In fact, the United States has imported about 125 million pounds of beef and about 1,000 cattle from countries that later discovered BSE - during the period when BSE would have been incubating in those nations. In addition, new sources of BSE contamination may continue to enter the U.S., because of weaknesses in import controls such as an insufficient number of inspectors and inspection facilities to manage a growing load of overseas imports. The GAO report was requested by three U.S. Senators last fall, after a report by the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis concluded that BSE is extremely unlikely to become established in the United States and that, if introduced here, it would be eliminated within 20 years. The authors of that study acknowledged that their conclusions were based on a number of assumptions, including confidence in U.S. measures to prevent the introduction and spread of BSE. The new report by the GAO casts doubt on the Harvard conclusions, and suggests further measures that federal agencies should take to keep BSE out of the U.S. For example, the report notes that the United States has a more permissive feed ban than other countries - one that bars proteins from cattle, pigs and chickens, but allows cattle feed to contain proteins from horses and pigs. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is now reviewing whether these ingredients should also be banned in cattle feed. Banned feed products may still be served at some cattle ranches, the GAO found. FDA has not acted promptly to compel firms to keep prohibited proteins out of cattle feed and to label animal feed that cannot be fed to cattle, the report notes. Calling FDA's data on inspections severely flawed, the GAO said it found some noncompliant firms that had not been reinspected for two or more years and instances when no enforcement action had occurred even though the firms had been found noncompliant on multiple inspections. These inspection lapses could put the public at risk, the GAO explained, because consumers do not always know when foods and other products they use may contain central nervous system tissue, which, according to scientific experts, could pose a health risk if taken from diseased animals. As in most countries that are BSE free, the United States allows cattle brains and other central nervous system tissue to be sold as human food. The GAO also criticized the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), noting it does not test many animals that die on farms, despite the fact that experts consider these animals to be a high risk population for BSE. However, the GAO recognized that the USDA acted as many as five years earlier than other countries to impose controls over imports of animals and animal feed ingredients from countries that had experienced BSE. Agriculture
Re: Coppice Willow Hardwoods Part Dieu was Re: [biofuel] Re: Cornburning Stoves
weight would be difficult to measure accurately unless you can measure the moisture content of the wood. Steve Spence Subscribe to the Renewable Energy Newsletter: http://www.webconx.com/subscribe.htm Renewable Energy Pages - http://www.webconx.dns2go.com/ Human powered devices, equipment, and transport - http://24.190.106.81:8383/2000/humanpower.htm [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Original Message - From: Harmon Seaver [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: biofuel@yahoogroups.com Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2002 8:43 AM Subject: Re: Coppice Willow Hardwoods Part Dieu was Re: [biofuel] Re: Cornburning Stoves I think cords are a bad way to count wood, especially small trunk species like coppiced willow -- cords work fairly well for larger, straight logs, but the amount of air space you'd get with coppiced willow makes the cord totally unworkable. Weight is the only way to figure it, and in actuality, most coppiced tree products of any species is going to be chipped anyway. I suppose you could count cords of chips, but usually it's either just straight cubic feet or weight. Most of the stuff I've read about coppiced tree farms talks about harvesting with a large chipper machine anyway -- cutting acres of small shrubs would be horribly labor intensive otherwise. Coppiced tree products also make a good candidate for densification such as pelleting, briquetting, or extruded logs, since they are a lower density wood. On Wed, Feb 27, 2002 at 12:22:26AM -0600, MH wrote: Good site haven't read it threw yet but Species DensityHeat Value lb/cu. ft. lb/cordBTU/lb Million BTUs/ton Million BTUs/cord Willow 23.7 3,034 8,400 16.8 25.2 128 cubic feet per cord e.g. 23,7 lb/cu.ft. x 128 cu.ft./cord = 3034 lb/cord x 8400 BTU/lb = 25,2 Million BTUs/cord But I can not (unwilling to) stack it that solid so I figure about 70-90 cu.ft./cord e.g. 23,7 lb/cu.ft. x 80 cu.ft./cord = 1896 lb/cord x 8400 BTU/lb = 15,9 Million BTUs/cord -- Harmon Seaver CyberShamanix http://www.cybershamanix.com Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Buy Stock for $4. No Minimums. FREE Money 2002. http://us.click.yahoo.com/BgmYkB/VovDAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Mad Cow Disease Could Slip Into U.S.
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/feb2002/2002L-02-27-06.html Environment News Service: Mad Cow Disease Could Slip Into U.S. By Cat Lazaroff WASHINGTON, DC, February 27, 2002 (ENS) - Federal actions aimed at preventing mad cow disease from entering the United States do not ensure that the disease will be kept out, finds a new report by the General Accounting Office. The report by the investigative arm of Congress also warns that the U.S. could not guarantee rapid detection of the disease if it did cross the nation's borders. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, is an always fatal, neuro-degenerative disease that has been found in cattle in 23 countries around the world. Cattle contract the disease through animal feed that contains protein derived from the remains of diseased animals. Scientists generally believe an equally fatal disease in humans - known as variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease (vCJD) - is linked to eating beef from cattle infected with BSE. Just over 100 people have died from vCJD, one of a family of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. Both diseases have long incubation periods during which they are undetectable - two to eight years in cattle and possibly up to 30 years in humans. For more than a decade, the federal agencies responsible for ensuring the safety of the public and the nation's food supply have been working to prevent BSE from entering the U.S., and creating mechanisms for detecting and tracking the disease if it should appear here. But a new report from the General Accounting Office (GAO) finds that while BSE has not yet been found in the United States, federal actions do not sufficiently ensure that all BSE infected animals or products are kept out or that if BSE were found, it would be detected promptly and not spread to other cattle through animal feed or enter the human food supply. Despite regulations which bar imports of beef from countries where the disease has been found, tons of beef has entered the U.S. from such nations, because it was imported before the disease was detected. In fact, the United States has imported about 125 million pounds of beef and about 1,000 cattle from countries that later discovered BSE - during the period when BSE would have been incubating in those nations. In addition, new sources of BSE contamination may continue to enter the U.S., because of weaknesses in import controls such as an insufficient number of inspectors and inspection facilities to manage a growing load of overseas imports. The GAO report was requested by three U.S. Senators last fall, after a report by the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis concluded that BSE is extremely unlikely to become established in the United States and that, if introduced here, it would be eliminated within 20 years. The authors of that study acknowledged that their conclusions were based on a number of assumptions, including confidence in U.S. measures to prevent the introduction and spread of BSE. The new report by the GAO casts doubt on the Harvard conclusions, and suggests further measures that federal agencies should take to keep BSE out of the U.S. For example, the report notes that the United States has a more permissive feed ban than other countries - one that bars proteins from cattle, pigs and chickens, but allows cattle feed to contain proteins from horses and pigs. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is now reviewing whether these ingredients should also be banned in cattle feed. Banned feed products may still be served at some cattle ranches, the GAO found. FDA has not acted promptly to compel firms to keep prohibited proteins out of cattle feed and to label animal feed that cannot be fed to cattle, the report notes. Calling FDA's data on inspections severely flawed, the GAO said it found some noncompliant firms that had not been reinspected for two or more years and instances when no enforcement action had occurred even though the firms had been found noncompliant on multiple inspections. These inspection lapses could put the public at risk, the GAO explained, because consumers do not always know when foods and other products they use may contain central nervous system tissue, which, according to scientific experts, could pose a health risk if taken from diseased animals. As in most countries that are BSE free, the United States allows cattle brains and other central nervous system tissue to be sold as human food. The GAO also criticized the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), noting it does not test many animals that die on farms, despite the fact that experts consider these animals to be a high risk population for BSE. However, the GAO recognized that the USDA acted as many as five years earlier than other countries to impose controls over imports of animals and animal feed ingredients from countries that had experienced BSE. Agriculture
More from SANET - Re: [biofuel] $7.5 Million Feedstock Subsidy for SSPC
Cross-post in response to George's letter. Keith Date: Sat, 2 Mar 2002 19:58:19 +0530 From: Maple Organics [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Low input vs. high input organic systems To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dear Keith, I really enjoyed going through the letter which you pasted along with your mail. It is a typical reply we get in India as well. I could share with you our response to the farmers. 1. We suggest slow and gradual transition to Organic from chemical farming, say 20-25% per cropping cycle. This would ensure that the yield will not come down drastically. 2. For crops like Corn, which need high amount of Nitrogen (C4 family), we suggest that you make compost out of the crop residue and try and supplement the same with organic matter like chicken waste, lentil waste etc which have high amount of Nitrogen. This generally gives N of about 6-7% in the final compost. 3. Carry out intercropiing with things like Alfa-alfa, Stylo, Soya beans etc. We recommend that these plants could be sown on the sides or even along with the main crops. 4. If enough organic matter in the form of crop residue etc is available, then one could think of mulching as well. It might cost the first cropping time, but becomes sustainable later. 5. If cow dung is available, then excellent, but it is not mandatory that you do need cows. You could make very good compost with what ever organic matter one has, be it plant waste only. C:N ratio is an old paradigm now. Hope my basic inputs help you in your work. Sanjay Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [biofuel] Making Something From Nothing
If our planet were the size of a basketball, the thickness of the breathable atmosphere would be no more than one quarter of a millimeter, a barely noticeable 6-mile-high smear over the surface of the ball. The Earth is a ball of rock covered by a thin smear of atmosphere and ocean.-- James L. Grubb book review @ www.amazon.com of Almost Everyone's Guide to Science : The Universe, Life and Everything by John Mary Gribbin After reading - General: Elephant Grass and Coppiced Willow (thank you Todd) http://beyond2000.com/news/Feb_01/story_1032.html found a book review (below) that lead to the authors website with the following excerpts; Entitled: Living with the greenhouse effect by John Mary Gribbin [date unknown to me] A great deal of what you read and hear about the so-called greenhouse effect is either exaggerated, or misrepresented, or both. But the basis for concern about uncomfortably rapid global warming occurring within our own lifetimes and those of our children rests on just three facts, and a reasonable inference. [with a brief plain speak message in-between] Should we care? That's really another story, but if nothing is done to curb the increasing buildup of greenhouse gases, the models suggest that temperatures will rise by a further 1.5 oC by the year 2030, bringing flooding of coastal regions around the world as sea levels rise, diseases normally associated with lower latitudes spreading out from the tropics, drought in the US Midwest (still the most important grain producing region in the world) and other climate changes. You may or may not feel that this is a price worth paying (by our children) for our own reliance on fossil fuels; but there is enough evidence to persuade an unbiased observer that it really is going to happen. http://www.biols.susx.ac.uk/home/John_Gribbin/environ.htm If moisture levels gradually recede - humus content in soil could be beneficial absorbing morning dew providing a highway for biological activity. I'm not sure how important this is to the US Senate's Energy Policy or anybody else but thought others might find this interesting to some ΒΌ. The author, a scientist, is reported to have written over 30* science books.*http://beyond2000.com/news/Oct_99/story_286.html Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- FREE COLLEGE MONEY CLICK HERE to search 600,000 scholarships! http://us.click.yahoo.com/iZp8OC/4m7CAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [biofuel] Mad Cow Disease Could Slip Into U.S.
- Original Message - From: Keith Addison Sent: Saturday, March 02, 2002 09:26 Subject: [biofuel] Mad Cow Disease Could Slip Into U.S. Calling FDA's data on inspections severely flawed, the GAO said it found some noncompliant firms that had not been reinspected for two or more years and instances when no enforcement action had occurred even though the firms had been found noncompliant on multiple inspections. This is why the govmt. is not to be trusted, they ignore the big companies and go after the little guy. Greg H. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- FREE COLLEGE MONEY CLICK HERE to search 600,000 scholarships! http://us.click.yahoo.com/iZp8OC/4m7CAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Re: BSE not in the USA
Keith, I know the reason you posted the lengthy message about the GAO report saying BSE is not in the USA was to point out to us in the last paragraph that animal fat is becoming cheaper and more readily available in the US market. I don't imagine you were actually saying that the GAO knows more about BSE than Harvard University. Nor were you trying to support those pointless anti-government sentiments we sometimes see on newsgroups. Especially since the USDA and FDA have been so successful in protecting our animal and human food supply with the aggressive measures already in place. So now that the USA is protected from BSE, we can concentrate on taking advantage of the animal fat surplus to make biofuels. Simple fuel making is so non-political that I hate to see us become involved in finger pointing and innuendo for no purpose but the self-satisfaction of it. So concerning animal fats, have we already formed a group opinion on whether thermal cracking would produce biodiesel from tallow? Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Buy Stock for $4. No Minimums. FREE Money 2002. http://us.click.yahoo.com/BgmYkB/VovDAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [biofuel] Re: BSE not in the USA
Safety of American markets from BSE is far from certain...so much so that studies released this week actually gave US government agencies, inclusive of the FDA, extremely low marks on enforcement issues that are supposed to better secure American markets. As I first heard of it via the air waves and National Public Radio (February 27), I rather seriously doubt that Mr. Addison was the instigator. He's pretty good and knows how to pull strings. But I don't think he was the man behind this puppet. Todd Swearingen - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: biofuel@yahoogroups.com Sent: Saturday, March 02, 2002 9:14 PM Subject: [biofuel] Re: BSE not in the USA Keith, I know the reason you posted the lengthy message about the GAO report saying BSE is not in the USA was to point out to us in the last paragraph that animal fat is becoming cheaper and more readily available in the US market. I don't imagine you were actually saying that the GAO knows more about BSE than Harvard University. Nor were you trying to support those pointless anti-government sentiments we sometimes see on newsgroups. Especially since the USDA and FDA have been so successful in protecting our animal and human food supply with the aggressive measures already in place. So now that the USA is protected from BSE, we can concentrate on taking advantage of the animal fat surplus to make biofuels. Simple fuel making is so non-political that I hate to see us become involved in finger pointing and innuendo for no purpose but the self-satisfaction of it. So concerning animal fats, have we already formed a group opinion on whether thermal cracking would produce biodiesel from tallow? Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ADVERTISEMENT Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- FREE COLLEGE MONEY CLICK HERE to search 600,000 scholarships! http://us.click.yahoo.com/iZp8OC/4m7CAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] important ethanol development
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news? tmpl=storyu=/ap/20020301/ap_on_go_co/ethanol_in_cars_9 PS: Does anyone know how to bookmark my groups to my.yahoo.com page? Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Buy Stock for $4. No Minimums. FREE Money 2002. http://us.click.yahoo.com/BgmYkB/VovDAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
