When most people hear the words "biofuel" they generally think of an eco-friendly and renewable fuel source. As a result of the significant increase in demand, biofuels are severely threatening the stability of crops. Here are some additional pieces of information you should know about biofuels.
- In the States, currently a huge percentage of their corn grown goes to biofuel, which, as I'm sure you know has driven up the price of corn and corn products.
- What is interesting, which this article mentioned, is using cellulosic ethanol (aka making trees into fuel).
- This technology is relatively new and there are two potential ways of processing the trees both of which are mostly still in the research and development stages and are not currently contributing hugely to biofuel production.
- Cellulosic ethanol is a better option than starch-based ethanol because it does not compete with the agriculture sector for land and other resources.
- There is just a lot of money needed to expand and develop these technologies, and the government is hesitant to supply this money, as fossil fuels are still "relatively cheap".
- I think there is great potential here and with "plantations" of C4 plants such as switchgrass and miscanthus, which have high energy potentials and can be grown on marginal land (thus not competing with the best crop land).
- ·Further research should be emphasized to expand these sectors, with less of a reliance on other biofuel crops that inhibit food production... more food should be grown in urban environments anyway! (Perfect world!)
Do you think the benefits of biofuels outweigh the cons? Check out this article by the BBC on the unethical nature of biofuels.
(From Marlaina M)
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