And now we we’re pouring our ag bucks into biofuels, of all the imaginable absurdities. The idea that you could ever replace the rate of utilization of energy from fossil fuels, which has been estimated as consuming 400 years worth of photosynthesis per year, with a fraction of the annual photosynthetic harvest that does not impinge on food production is part of today’s magical thinking, along with reducing deficits by cutting taxes while continuing to increase spending.
— Prof. Nina Fedoroff quoted in Varied Menus for Sustaining a Well-Fed World - NYTimes.com
