Bio-Fuels = Good or Bad?
Posted by Laird on May 27, 2008
Bio-Fuels = Good or Bad?
Bio fuels are produced domestically, which is a great first step towards energy independence. Bio fuels are solids, liquids and gases derived from living organisms and used as fuel. Unlike petrol, coal and nuclear fuels, it is environmentally-friendly and a renewable fuel based on carbon cycle. Bio Fuels are all over the news these days. Farmers are falling over each other to plant corn for ethanol plants, the Federal government is investing in the industry as part of its environmental strategy, institutions from public transit to delivery companies are looking at biodesiel conversion, and the auto industry is pinning its hopes on the promise of biofuels.
Bio fuels are realistic contenders as major low carbon fuel sources for the future. Ethanol from food crops and bio-diesel from plant oils serve as an entry point but have limited potential for further cost reduction.
Bio fuels, hydrogen fuel cells, and pure electric cars are all aimed in the right direction however some attempts are ultimately not as significant. Biofuels are increasingly used in many countries for environmental and economic reasons. Two of the more popular bio-fuels are ethanol and biodiesel for gasoline and diesel engines, respectively. Biofuels were all the buzz at the biotech industry’s most recent mega-convention in April 2006 . Syngenta (the world’s largest herbicide manufacturer and number three, after Monsanto and DuPont, in seeds) is developing a GE corn variety that contains one of the enzymes needed to convert corn starch into sugar before it can be fermented into ethanol.
Although Bio-fuels are fuels that can be used to replace polluting fuels such as petrol, without damaging the environment. A fuel such as ?willow? is a good example. Bio-fuels are being touted as the new panacea for global warming. But, because this fuel from plants is being introduced without much thought about wider implications; it is becoming a good idea practised badly.
Environmental impacts from utilizing agricultural products and/or wastes may also be explored. Environmentally, bio-fuels are a “good thing”, but then comes an economic struggle for agricultural planning - is it more profitable to grow food or energy ?
Support to bio-fuel production displaces food production in some areas and leads to higher food prices. There are no criteria presented to ban bio-fuels that do compete with food production in developing countries. Supporters of biofuels argue that they can be “carbon neutral” because the CO2 released from burning them is taken up again by the next crop. Interest is greatest for diesel engines, which can run unmodified on vegetable oil, and in Germany bio-diesel production has doubled since 2003.
Biomass is today the largest non-hydroelectric renewable source for electricity in the U.S. Most of this is produced in pulp and paper mills, which often generate electricity by burning wood chips, bark or the sludges and “liquors” that are byproducts of the paper-making process.[1] Biomass is plant matter such as trees, grasses, agricultural crops or other biological material. It can be used as a solid fuel, or converted into liquid or gaseous forms, for the production of electric power, heat, chemicals, or fuels.[2]
[1] http://www.wapa.gov/es/pubs/esb/2007/dec/dec074.htm
[2] http://www.nrel.gov/biomass/
Bio-fuel crops, such as corn and rape-seed are internationally traded commodities which means as demand increases the price goes up. This has a direct impact on food prices as well as the price of bio-fuel.[3] Bio-fuels are energy sources from matter that was living only months or a few years before use as fuel. [4] Bio-fuels are agri-produce, dictated by weather and crop cycles. So the risks of short supply and price swings are much higher.[5]
[3] http://www.boilerjuice.com/blog/6/have+you+ever+considered+using+bio-fuel%3f.html
[4] http://www.chemecol.net/faq3.html
[5] http://www.kavitachhibber.com/main/main.jsp?id=business_related-may2006
Bio-fuels have huge potential to serve up to some 30 per cent of the global energy consumption in the near future (when taking into account the vast potentials of energy efficiency in the transport sector). Bio-fuels are not renewable. Water supplies are depleted. Bio-fuels development is just one aspect of a sustainable energy policy. Other alternative sources like biogas, solar and wind should likewise be explored.
And of course!
Bio-fuels are poised to get some of the largest tax breaks, subsidies, and kickbacks, and user surcharges of any renewable.
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