New essay on bioenergy, fertilizer, wastewater remediation

April 25, 2011 |

In an original essay published today at biofuelsdigest.com, “Wastewater-based fertilization of bioenergy crops,” environmental attorney Steven Medina writes:

“He intensively grows corn for ethanol in clay soil that once grew corn for bootleg liquor and a variety of other crops to varying degrees of success, allowing my mother’s family to survive but never thrive. He rarely leaves the county or sees a doctor. By necessity, he uses a pick-up or a tractor until he can use it no more. He missed the coming of the flat screen television but does have a cell phone and keeps up on every detail of his crops.

“He does not talk much and politely gets back to work when I try to converse with him for more than two minutes. He will eat a piece of fried chicken at the annual June family reunion then get back in the truck before I can ask him about his views on the Millennium Development Goals.

“In part because Johnny is too busy surviving to join me in this search for truth, I am going to ask you to join me…Suffice it to say that my cousin does not have the luxury of focusing on para grass for water buffalo in India or jasmine flowers for flavoring tea. Neither I, nor even the WHO, is going to tell Johnny anything he does not already know about growing his crops. But I can try to set out on paper why I think it might be a good idea for the influence-makers in American bioenergy to consider wastewater-based nutrients for meeting crop fertilizer needs.”

The complete text is available here.

Category: Fuels, Thought Leadership

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