Environmental Quality and Biofuels

Thirdly, the cost of biofuel is high because its production and infrastructural cost is humongous. To create biofuel, large tracts of land need to be cleared for setting up the plant. This is not feasible because of global economic meltdown whose one major disadvantage is the rising food prices. If the land that could be better used for producing the much needed food crops, there is no need to use the same land for generating biofuels (FAO 07). Furthermore, the cost of establishing and running a biofuel plant runs into billions. Where would the money come from? Of course, the people have to pay for them, doubly, first for purchasing biofuel and secondly in the form of taxes. Ironically, the common man cannot afford such expenses given the current economic situation, which if not controlled will create more problems in the future like unemployment, an issue more important than debating biofuels and diesel fuels (Stern 07).

However, despite its many advantages biomass still has many disadvantages. Firstly it is not as efficient as fossil fuels, for example the ethanol produced for cars via biomass is not even close to the efficiency of petrol and does damage to engines over time. It also has the potential to harm the environment through increase of methane gases which are produced as a bi-product if animal and human waste is used. Biomass also requires a large distance away from residential areas in order to burn it and a large amount of fuel in comparison to other energy sources which can have dramatic effects if large portions of forests are cut down to provide lumber.1

With the rise of nonrenewable fuels prices and the estimated decline of availability in the not so distant future it is very clear that the only answer to this problem is to implement the use of renewable resources. Renewable resources are very versatile and can reduce pollution of the environment and can in the long

Initial research has shown that biodiesel, liter for liter, generates about 90 percent of the heat of traditional fossil fuels, and the resulting air emissions are significantly lower in sulphur, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons. Burning these fuels also does not contribute to global warming. Fossil fuels increase the amount of carbon in the atmosphere because the carbon they release upon combustion has been locked away for millennia. The carbon released by the combustion of biodiesel first had to be removed from the atmosphere by the plant that produced the oils it was derived from. Thus, no net gain occurs when said carbon is released. Biodiesel is also safer for people and the environment since it is non-toxic and biodegradable. Oil spills will no longer be multi-million dollar environmental catastrophes.

The featured film Fuel shows various points on fuel ruining the environment, from American children not being able to play in water to huge industries causing “cancer alley” such as the one on Louisiana. The Environmental Protection Agency has put a few standards into play to regulate health hazarda and complete destruction of the environment. Natural events that have been happening since the birth of Earth have created multiple types of ways humans have taken advantage to create fuel for the world. An interesting point brought up while watching this film was the fact that biofuels caught on as fast as it did to actually start to make a difference for the world. When word started to get out on how ecofriendly and cheap it really is,

What if there was an up and coming fuel that has the properties of normal oil, but its side effects were not nearly as bad? Would you support it? Well there is such a thing. It has been around for a few years, but only in the near future does it have the potential to do good on a worldwide scale. This innovation is called algae biofuel. Algae biofuel is a fuel just like gasoline or diesel, but instead of being mined from the ground, causing irreparable damage, it grows in a pond and actually has positive side effects on the environment. Algae Biomass Organization states, “Algae-derived biofuel can reduce life cycle CO2 emissions by 50 to 70 percent compared to petroleum fuels.” Algae biofuel could be one of the solutions to our polluted atmosphere.

Biofuels are biologically derived fuels obtained in a renewable way from organic waste. These organic remains usually come from sugar, wheat, corn or oilseeds. They all reduce the total volume of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere as they absorb it as they grow and emit virtually the same amount as conventional fuels when they burn, resulting in a closed cycle process. Biofuels are often mixed with other fuels in small proportions, 5 or 10%, providing a useful but limited reduction of greenhouse gases. In Europe and the United States, legislation has been in place requiring suppliers to mix biofuels to certain levels. This legislation has been copied by many other countries that believe that these fuels will help to improve the planet through the reduction of gases that produce the so-called 'Greenhouse Effect '.

To solve the rigorous threat to earth from global warming, bio-fuels serve as the most feasible source of energy all over the world. The environmental and economical performance of bio-fuel as compared to fossil fuel was analyzed by full Life Cycle Analyses (LCA) in Spain. The Spanish government CIEMAT, carried out two LCA’s so as to compare ethanol-ethanol mixtures with gasoline, and biodiesel-biodiesel mixtures with fuel oil according to ISO 14040-43 standards, these standards evaluate energy and mass balance for two or more objects. It was concluded that carbon dioxide emission during utilization of bio-fuel are lower than fossil fuel and bio-fuel requires less primary energy to be processed than fossil fuels. Bob Dinneen, President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association submitted the letter to the editor of The Gazette in which he marked that “On an environmental level, conventional ethanol is reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 34% compared to petroleum, including hypothetical land use change emissions” (qtd. in renewable fuel association). As the raw material for

For over forty years now, scientists and researchers have been tirelessly searching for an alternative to fossil fuels. Biofuels have become an interesting contender in the search for the replacement of the non-renewable energy source. Biofuels have been used throughout history for over thousands of years. There is a large debate over biofuels and its true impact on the environment. Those involved in the discussion debating whether biofuels have any real overwhelming benefits compared to fossil fuels could argue for its usage. According to recent research performed by the University of Michigan, biofuels may not be the best alternative for fossil fuels. Regardless of its impact on the environment, biofuels are becoming more popular particularly when the price of oil rises.

In the United States biofuel production has grown a lot over the last two decades. In 1995 production was at 500,000 gallons, by 2005 it was 75 million gallons, and by 2006 it was at 224 million gallons [Biofuels ‘13]. The main plant used in the United States biofuel production was the soybean [Biofuels ‘13]. Currently 4 percent of the world’s demand for primary energy comes from biofuels. The more popular and more well-known hydropower only provides 2 percent of the world’s primary energy demand [Maugeri ‘10]. Most modern cars can use up to a 10 percent biofuel mix in their engines without any modifications, though some cars called flex-fuel can use 100 percent biofuel or gasoline [Maugeri ‘10]. One big advantage to using biofuel is that it produces a higher octane rating than gasoline which helps improve engine performance [Maugeri ‘10]. Biofuels currently cost a little more to make compared to gasoline at about a ten to eight ratio respectively [Sanders ‘10]. Hopefully with more farms producing the components for making biofuels hydroponically it can help drive the price down to where it can be competitive with gasoline and one day completely replace it.

As our world’s population continues to grow our insatiable appetite for energy grows as well. Our planet has very few energy sources that are renewable and the ones that are renewable are the ones that have little to no pollutant like emissions. The nonrenewable resources that I will discuss produce or emit CO2, carbon dioxide, which is in a sense killing our planet. The two countries that I will compare will be the United States of America (USA) and Brazil. Both are the leading consumers of energy in their respective continents as well as the leader in CO2 emissions. I will discuss their industrial and agricultural profiles along with their similarities and differences in fuel sources. Seeing that both countries are leaders in

In the world of global warming, all kinds of pollution and fuel shortages going on, renewable and clean/ green energy is increasingly the ideal solution of energy related problems we have to solve one way or another. Biofuel is one of the mainstream and highly supported solutions nowadays, an idea to make renewable fuel by living organisms such as fiber, corn, vegetable oil or sugar cane. Unlike nonrenewable fossil fuels over extracted by people causing various environmental problems like generating a considerable amount greenhouse gas, current technology already lets renewable fuel like biofuels to shrink a certain amount of greenhouse gas production, making it a more ‘clean’ source of energy.

Unlike gasoline or diesel, biofuels release little pollution. It can also be used to produce electricity by heating water using biofuels and using the steam produced to rotate a turbine. Another method is to allow the biofuel to decay and produce methane. Methane is commonly used as fuel for car, heating, cooking, and producing electricity.

This essay focuses on two renewable energy resources. First of all, biofuel is now accepted as alternative energy in worldwide. The figures continue upward trend in the biofuel production. ‘An annual growth rate of 6.8% from 2006 to 2030 is expected for total biofuels consumption in the transport sector’ (International Energy Agency: 2008 cited in Zhou, et al., 2009:S11). Significant leaders of the biofuel market are Brazil, the United States and the European Union. The results of research indicated that 92% of the world’s ethanol is produced by Brazil and US together, while 90% of the world’s biodiesel manufactured by the EU. In addition, several developing countries in Asia such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines have an enormous potential for biofuel production. Now these countries are

Consequently, another new challenge which the airline industry is currently undergoing is the ability to find a greener solution to fuel so that aviation is not purely dependent on fossil fuels. Some sources of literature have alleged biofuels to not be the answer to cleaner fuels as although the direct emissions from airplanes powered by a biofuel mix may be reduced, the indirect emissions through producing biofuels are significant. Biofuels create a lot of pressures on carbon sinks through the way they are cropped causing strains on the land and rainforests (Bringezu et al, 2009), which adds to the greenhouse effect, furthermore increasing climate change. Due to the size of land required of biofuel production, it can also threaten biodiversity of flora and fauna and