World Perspectives
biofuel energy

Chemophobes; Off-Expertise

Separating otherwise safe, concurrent uses of chemicals is as wrong a strategy as the Maginot Line. Organic matter is chemical matter at its base. Chemophobes Win After being pilloried in the social media by activists, the Subway sandwich chain announced it would stop using azodicarbonamide as a bleaching and conditioning agent in its bread. The complaint was that the chemical is also used in making yoga mats. Actually, it is used in the manufacture of many plastics, but the sweaty yoga mat provides a graphic image to chemophobes. One could make this ever grosser: benzoic acid is used to fight fungus in food as well as athlete's foot in humans (food odor is caused by isovaleric acid, also found in foods). Additionally: Sodium benzoate...

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From WPI Consulting

Forecasting developments in production agriculture

On behalf of a private U.S. agricultural technology provider, WPI’s team generated an econometric model to forecast the movement of concentrated corn production north and west from the traditional U.S. Corn Belt. WPI’s model has subsequently provided quantitative support to a multi-million-dollar investment into short-season corn variety development. WPI’s methodology included a series of interviews with regional grain elevators and seed consultants. Emphasizing outreach and communication with stakeholders who possess intimate sectoral knowledge – on-the-ground insights – is a regular component of WPI’s methodologies, made possible by WPI’s ever-growing network of industry contacts.

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