31–40 of 51 posts
Isn't there a way to produce synthetic caffeine? I mean, there's been a shift recently for nicotine and the market for e-cigs, I'm sure we can somehow find a way to do the same for caffeine.
To answer your question: yes, we already create synthetic caffeine. It's widely used in soda, energy drinks, etc.
It's strange that an article about the potential scarcity of Arabica doesn't once mention the country where most Arabica is grown: Brazil. Not only that, the expectations have been improving because of improved conditions this year: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-21/coffee-dec...
It does seem like the article may have conveniently evaded that news. However, that doesn't mean there isn't a looming threat to the coffee supply. The fact that Brazil may have an exceptionally good year, only means that it is likely to have a less-exceptional year after that, due to regression to the mean. If the climate does start to negatively impact the more tertiary coffee growing regions, Brazil will not be ab…
Isn't that a Monte Carlo fallacy? One outcome in a sequence of tests does not mean that others are more likely in the future. If you flip a coin and get 10 heads in a row, your likelihood of getting a tails on the next flip (assuming a perfectly-balanced coin) is still 50%. Brazil's good year may be another case of climate change for all we know, and could very well persist for awhile; or, you might be right and next year things will balance out again. We don't know either way yet.
That isn't to say that we shouldn't be concerned regardless; you're correct in your observation that having all our figurative, coffee-flavored eggs in one basket - even if that basket is the size of Brazil - is rarely a good idea.
Is it not possible to grow coffee plants using vertical farming? It sound ideas like this => http://cargocollective.com/dellabosca/Vertical-Coffee-Farm are going to need to become a reality in the future if we can't stop climate change, where it can protect the plants from heavy rainfalls and allow farmers to control their growth.
A challenge would be that coffee trees have very deep roots [1]. [1] http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/ad219e/AD219E05.htm
Even more conventional greenhouses, however, should help somewhat. I reckon the point of the parent commenter is less about the vertical nature of such farms and more about the climate controllability of such farms.
Is it not possible to grow coffee plants using vertical farming? It sound ideas like this => http://cargocollective.com/dellabosca/Vertical-Coffee-Farm are going to need to become a reality in the future if we can't stop climate change, where it can protect the plants from heavy rainfalls and allow farmers to control their growth.
Isn't there a way to produce synthetic caffeine? I mean, there's been a shift recently for nicotine and the market for e-cigs, I'm sure we can somehow find a way to do the same for caffeine.
Nicotine patch? I want a caffeine patch! Honestly though, I'd be less upset about coffee going away as a source of caffeine than it going away as a drink. It's so wonderfully delicious that synthetic caffeine just wouldn't really cut it for me.
Isn't there a way to produce synthetic caffeine? I mean, there's been a shift recently for nicotine and the market for e-cigs, I'm sure we can somehow find a way to do the same for caffeine.
You know, some people drink coffee because they like the flavour, not because they need caffeine :P (As a matter of fact, I consider caffeine to be an undesirable side-effect of delicious coffee...) Coffee isn't the only natural source of caffeine, and yes, it can also be made synthetically.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
From what I understand, a lot of this caffeine is sold to soda makers as a byproduct of the decaffeination process used on coffee beans. Does this mean the end of soda as well?
I'd love a good cola that has no caffiene. (Although I also don't want it to have sugar either.) There's a niche in the market for somethig that tastes nice, is cold, isn't full of sugar and is not caffeinated.
(my point being more that marketers probably won't call what you are looking for cola, not the pedantry)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It does seem like the article may have conveniently evaded that news. However, that doesn't mean there isn't a looming threat to the coffee supply. The fact that Brazil may have an exceptionally good year, only means that it is likely to have a less-exceptional year after that, due to regression to the mean. If the climate does start to negatively impact the more tertiary coffee growing regions, Brazil will not be ab…
> The fact that Brazil may have an exceptionally good year, only means that it is likely to have a less-exceptional year after that, due to regression to the mean. Isn't that a Monte Carlo fallacy? One outcome in a sequence of tests does not mean that others are more likely in the future. If you flip a coin and get 10 heads in a row, your likelihood of getting a tails on the next flip (assuming a perfectly-balanced c…
> "One outcome in a sequence of tests does not mean that others are more likely in the future. If you flip a coin and get 10 heads in a row, your likelihood of getting a tails on the next flip (assuming a perfectly-balanced coin) is still 50%"
True, but I am arguing that out of 10 flips, the average number of heads will likely be 50%. If you got 10 heads in a row, that would be 100%, an exceptional event, possibly like Brazil's good year. However, if you were to flip 10 more coins, it is much more likely that you will get less than 100% heads flips, as it will regress closer to the mean of 50%.
I guess the main point I was arguing is that just because Brazil might have a good outlook in the future, does not mean the article is invalid and too presumptuous.