[extropy-chat] A Grim Vision ...?

[Keith Henson]

At 01:16 PM 4/14/2007 -0400, Robert wrote:

>On 4/10/07, Keith Henson 
><<mailto:hkhenson at rogers.com>hkhenson at rogers.com > wrote:

snip

>>Given that it takes about 1000 tons of water to grow a ton of wheat, that 
>>would run up the cost of wheat for the water alone to $1000 a ton.
>
>But it the water is used for transpiration to drag the nutrients from the 
>roots up into the leaves.  You don't have this problem if you grow you 
>food in solar ponds or relatively sealed greenhouses that you can condense 
>the water from at night.  Its a "change the traditional thinking" or 
>"infrastructure investment" problem.

You *can't* grow food in a "relatively sealed greenhouse."  Think about it.

>>Wheat runs about a $100 a ton, and shipping to the mid east might run
>>around $50 a ton.  It would still cost them better than 5 times the current
>>cost. 
>><http://www.ndwheat.com/buyers/default.asp?ID=287>http://www.ndwheat.com/buyers/default.asp?ID=287
>
>So don't use wheat.  Use cyanobacteria engineered to produce a lot of 
>starch that end up tasting like wheat.

Shortly after you have this much ability to design living things, I expect 
you could just run humans (or simulations) directly on electricity.

Keith