CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY	1
2. CREATING FOOD ABUNDANCE	5
Better Plants and Livestock	7
Better Plants	10
Improved Livestock and Poultry Production	21
Defending GM Food	25
Food Safety	26
Environmental Scares	31
Environmental Benefits	34
Crop Lands, a Declining Resource?	37
Extent of the Resource	37
Soil Degradation	40
Summing up on Land	44
Water	45
Harnessing More of the Resource	45
Depletion and Degradation	46
More Efficient Use	47
Competition from Non-Agricultural Uses	49
Non-Conventional Water Resources	52
Genetic Base	56
Fisheries	57
Non-Renewable Resources	60
Nitrogen Fertilizer	60
Phosphate	61
Potassium	61
Fuel for Farm Machinery	62
“Alternative” Agriculture is No Such Thing	62
3. PLENTY OF RESOURCES	66
Aiming for Global Affluence	66
Our Energy Needs	70
Fossil Fuels	71
Oil	71
Coal	76
Natural Gas	77
Fossil Fuel as a Whole	80
CO2 Emissions and Global Warming	82
Uncertainties	83
Alarmism	85
What about Eco-Catastrophes?	91
Business as Usual for Now	93
Adapting to any Climate Change	93
CO2 Capture and Storage	95
Solar Energy in its Various Forms	99
Direct Solar	99
Wind	104
Waves	106
Hydroelectric Power	108
Biomass	109
Other Possible Resources	110
Summing up on Solar	110
Nuclear Power without the Phobia	111
Resources	115
The Safety of Nuclear Power	117
Concluding Comments on Nuclear	140
Geothermal Energy	140
Energy Overall	147
Minerals and Other Raw Materials	148
Tidying the Nest – Our Effect on the Environment	149
Air Pollution	150
Water Pollution	151
Pollution and Development	153
Pollution Scares	155
Loss of Forests	159
Mass Extinctions	160
4. CAPITALISM, THE TEMPORARY TOOL OF PROGRESS	164
Introduction	164
Soviet Hangover	165
Africa: More Capitalism Please	166
Capitalism Outgrows Itself	173
What about the “Communist” Countries?	177
Economic Calculation without Capitalism	179
Collective Ownership will be More Efficient	181
Leaping into the Unknown	193
ABBREVIATIONS	195
REFERENCES	197
NOTES	210
INDEX	232