Therefore, even if the benefits of a biofuel sound attractive, but cannot be verified, it would be right to take a sceptical position. first carrier strike group powered partly by biofuel—, a federal mandate signed by President George W. Bush, How China turned a prize-winning iPhone hack against the Uyghurs, The woman who will decide what emoji we get to use, Why mixing vaccines could help boost immunity, Five modern bridges that are pushing the bounds of engineering. The large increase in imports led to problems. A prime example of this occurred in the early 2000s. Despite the growing awareness of the shortcomings of biofuel as a clean energy source, the government’s support for biofuels, coming from the departments of energy and agriculture and the Pentagon, continues, with hundreds of millions in additional funding. Because of the higher-than-petroleum gel point of many biodiesel-producing oils, a biodiesel engine can be difficult -- if not impossible -- to start in cold weather. But since many popular biofuel crops, such as corn and soybeans, are also popular food sources for much of the world, it stands to reason that the problems related to monoculture could get much worse as consumers demand more biofuel. Ethanol-blended fuels left untreated can start “phasing.” Phase separation is when ethanol in the fuel absorbs too much water, and separates from gasoline by dropping to the bottom of the tank since the ethanol and water mixture that results from phase separation is heavier than gasoline. While this is an economically attractive practice, playing off economies of scale to make the crop more profitable for the farmer, it can have severe environmental drawbacks. In recent months, rapidly rising corn prices have doubled the price of tortillas in Mexico. Many biofuel crops are used to make biodiesel. Hundreds -- even thousands -- of unbroken acres of one crop offer an irresistible target for plant pests; pest populations can explode beyond control in such a tempting environment. Careful fertilizer application can help prevent widespread pollution problems, but expanding biofuel production to meet the world's demand opens the door for more mistakes in this realm. According to some studies, biodiesels emit more of certain pollutants than regular diesel, and biofuels can have a larger carbon footprint than gasoline, depending on where you start in the production cycle. Nitrogen in drinking water can lead to a host of health problems, including methemoglobinemia, a condition that prevents infants from utilizing the oxygen in their blood [source: Rosen and Horgan]. Light, temperature and humidity increase the rate of deterioration. "Measuring Corn Ethanol's Thirst for Water." But large-scale biofuel production -- especially using corn, and in arid parts of the world -- will have to share finite water resources with drinking and irrigation needs. July 30, 2000. Biofuels show promise, but also present problems Less than a week after a UN report touted them as part of a global warming solution, another has raised alarms about their viability. Think about the oils in your kitchen: While the olive oil in the cupboard is easy to pour, the lard and vegetable shortening have a paste-like consistency. Very little, for instance, is going to grow in the Sahara Desert. The problem with double-counting is that it makes UCOs a high-value product on the global market. Matt Cunningham Biofuels can be tricky, because they operate differently in cars than regular petroleum-based fuels do. Hydrogenating, or treating the oil with hydrogen, can mitigate this problem, but increased processing means increased cost [source: Journey to Forever]. Another major hurdle for widespread adoption of biofuels is the challenge of growing enough crops to meet demand, something skeptics say might well require converting just about all of the world’s remaining forests and open spaces over to agricultural land. But the conversions add time and money to the biofuel equation, something that can be off-putting for potential biofuel users. www.alternative-energy-geek.com/problems-with-biomass.shtml The problem with growing crops for fuel is that they May 1, 2021. Another debate about corn and soy-based biofuels concerns the amount of land it takes away from food production. Relying on produce from halfway around the globe to feed a hungry nation is a risky price to pay for widespread biofuel integration into the world's energy supplies. Biodiesel heating fuel use in oil burners: This article describes the use of various biodiesel fuel mixes in oil fired heating equipment: heating boilers, furnaces, water heaters. For the billions of people who live on only a few dollars per day, even a small increase in food prices could put their access to proper nutrition at risk. Biofuels, made from crops such as corn, can have negative economic and environmental effects, as well as positive ones. This one relates to the little multicolored maps on the backs of seed packets. The biofuel myths : By Eric Holt-Giménez, New York Times, July 10, 2007: A good, simple summary of the case against biofuels. Union of Concerned Scientists. Perhaps the most straightforward of biofuel's drawbacks is the most obvious: It isn't petroleum-based fuel, so it will operate differently in engines designed for petroleum-based fuel. Biodiesel doesn't fare much better. On top of that, there may be secondary, unintended consequences due to competition for scarce resources as biofuel production is scaled, for example by the earlier effects on food supply and prices where raw materials were crops. Purdue Extension. "Preventing Pollution Problems from Lawn and Garden Fertilizers." But factor in a number of other complicating aspects, and biofuel often carries a heavy price. Biofuel Disadvantage : Teething Problems. One more issue is the use of large amounts of synthetic fertilizers, herbicide, and pesticides for the intensive cultivation of crops for biofuels. Last week the U.S. Navy, with its accustomed pomp and fanfare, launched its first carrier strike group powered partly by biofuel—in this case, a blend made primarily from beef fat. Biofuel production is shrinking the human food supply, causing water shortages, and accelerating topsoil erosion which leads to desertification of the planet. Many fertilizers contain nitrogen and phosphorus. It may produce 100 gallons of the fuel out of one season's crop. The term "biofuels" generally refers to the gasoline substitute derived from corn, while "biodiesel" is a diesel substitute derived from soybean oil or animal fats. But in other regions, the same plants would be impossible -- or extremely costly -- to grow. "Biofuel" is a major buzzword in transportation circles these days, and for good reason. By that time, the corn had been on the market for a season. And high-consumption production practices -- moving palm oil with petroleum-powered trucks and the practice of draining and burning peat bogs to prepare farmland -- have made the southeast Asian nation one of the world's leading greenhouse gas emitters [source: Rosenthal]. Switchgrass and other grasses rate … Consumers living in a low-producing region would need to have biofuel trucked or piped to them, increasing both cost and the amount of emissions produced in production and transport [source: Pimentel]. Industry researchers had found an answer in palm oil, a relatively easy-to-produce biofuel source. University of California, Berkeley. … and environmental chaos ensued. There are some practical issues with biofuel production and distribution that do not make their commercial production favourable in many countries. If you live in Zone 5, for example, you will likely have trouble growing a plant that requires the long growing season and high heat of Zone 10 [source: Burpee]. These agriculture products can cause water pollution and have harmful effects on the environment. Bloomberg Businessweek. Biofuels are produced from crops, and these crops need fertilizers to grow better. The main problem is that biofuels are less stable than petrodiesel, and they deteriorate over time. For … Biofuel production using food crops such as corn, soybeans and sorghum has the potential to alter drastically the world's access to affordable food. This makes sense given that the first big nomination contest takes place next week in Iowa, the source of much of the ethanol grown in the U.S. Plant-based fuel can be produced almost anywhere, comes from a renewable resource and often produces cleaner emissions than petroleum-based fuel. November 2007. Phosphorus has been implicated as a trigger of localized algae blooms: The tiny aquatic plants feed off it and rapidly reproduce, often killing other plants and aquatic animals by reducing the amount of oxygen in water or by releasing toxic chemicals. He’s got a point—but politicians on both sides of the aisle are mostly keeping their mouths shut on the issue. But biofuels aren't completely cost-free. A pig farmer, for example, may have to pay a few extra dollars per bushel to buy corn to feed his livestock. \"Biofuel\" is a major buzzword in transportation circles these days, and for good reason. Many common crops could economically produce biofuel in certain parts of the world. The rise in demand for food-biofuel crops can have a positive effect for crop producers, in the form of higher prices for their produce. (Nov. 19, 2010)http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_yield.html, Lau, Michael H. et al. Add other resource costs into the equation, such as the gallons of fresh water needed to grow the plants and the amount of fertilizer needed to keep them healthy, and it becomes even harder to equate biofuel with real energy and carbon emission savings. "Oil Yields and Characteristics." Our mission is to bring about better-informed and more conscious decisions about technology through authoritative, influential, and trustworthy journalism. To put it another way, think about a field of corn being grown for ethanol. In the U.S., switching to domestically produced biofuels helps cut dependence on foreign oil, and boosts income for farmers. Fuel." For more than five years from around 2005, algae-based biofuel companies, including the likes of Algenol, Sapphire Energy and Solazyme, raised hundreds of millions of dollars in private sector investment on the promise that chemically engineering algae could scale up to produce tens of millions of gallons of fuel in a matter of years, at prices competitive with fossil fuels. "Environmental Effects of Genetically Modified Food Crops -- Recent Experiences." Biofuel crops are no different from petunias or peppers in this regard. While the first is a bit beyond the control of biofuel producers, the second is at the core of a potentially serious drawback of plant-based fuels: The water demands of some biofuel-producing crops could put unsustainable pressure on local water resources if not managed wisely. An immediate problem related to biofuels is that food products—corn and soy—are being diverted to make fuel. … Second-generation biofuel technologies have been developed because first-generation biofuel manufacture has important limitations [22]. Biofuels, and the process of integrating them into our fuel use habits, can be costly. It seemed like a win-win idea: European demand for biofuel was set to spike, driven in part by regulations aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It might seem counterintuitive at first, but some scientists argue that widespread biofuel production is a negative-sum game: Producing enough biodiesel or ethanol to replace one gallon of petroleum fuel, they argue, requires the energy equivalent to several gallons' worth of petroleum fuel [source: Pimentel]. Make their commercial production failed to materialize for fuel is that biofuels are less stable than petrodiesel, accelerating... 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