Does Using Plant-Derived Agrofuels Create more problems than it solves?
by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss
ScientificAmerican.com
by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss
ScientificAmerican.com
Agrofuels, also known as Biofuels
are fuels created from plants rather than fossil fuels. They show great promise
for powering a carbon-neutral society and combating the rising gas prices. Once
they die, plants release the CO2 they contained back into the atmosphere in a
harmless way that does not contribute to global warming. By using them for
fuel, we don’t release any extra CO2 into the air, thereby staying
carbon-neutral. Fossil fuels, on the
other hand, release CO2 rapidly into the atmosphere. They were contained below
the earth’s surface and their CO2 release upsets the carbon balance,
contributing to global warming. Though the agrofuels themselves do help protect
the environment, producing them does not. Growing, harvesting, processing, and transporting
crops requires the use of lots of fossil fuels, ultimately emitting more
greenhouse gasses than those they would save. Another issue that arises with
this alternative energy is hunger and potential food shortages caused by
devoting parts of agriculture to energy production. According to the Friends of
the Earth International, “The production of agrofuels…is generating serious
environmental damage and eroding the people’s ability to control the
production, trade, and consumption of food… [while] more and more agricultural
land is being devoted for energy crops.” Though agrofuels have potential for
creating a carbon-neutral world and solving the energy crisis, there are still
many issues regarding the production and distribution of them.
In this article, both anthropocentric views are presented.
The authors claim that agrofuels offer promise for eventual carbon-neutral
technologies and industry, thereby greatly helping the environment. However,
they also argue that the crops should be used for human consumption, and
agrofuel production threatens local famers and small businesses. In my opinion,
other methods of alternative energy should be explored before agrofuels because
of fossil fuel’s large part in their production. Also, agrofuels threatens small business, as
large, industrial farms and farming facilities start to dominate the market.
This would also lead to a decreased about of land, since more land would be
taken up by large farms. I also think that before we can use foods for energy,
we must first deal with world hunger and ensure people are fed. Other clean
energy sources, like solar power or hydroelectricity should be pursued before
agrofuels, since they do minimum damage to the environment and would not harm
the agricultural industry or burn excess fossil fuels during production. In
conclusion, though agrofuels have potential for creating carbon-neutrality,
there are still many issues with production and crop distribution.
Do you think the reason that hunger would be even more of an issue because the perfectly fertile lands are being used for growing agrofuel crops rather than for crops we could use for food? It's interesting how such a great idea is turning out to be not so great. Biofuel seems like such a perfect answer, especially if we could reuse materials (maybe the corn stalks rather than the actual corn itself). I tend to agree with your opinion that we should try other forms of energy.
ReplyDeleteMaybe in the long run, if we were to entirely convert to using agrofuels it would be a lot more cost beneficial and in general more beneficial to the environment. Once we stop depending on fossil fuels and simply rule it out, we'd be a lot more open to other sources of energy.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your opinion, to discover other forms of wining energy, rather than using it from our humans food sources. I think this turns out to be a huge problem, because, as you said, the big industries and companies will buy up the farmers land, in order to win energy and get money, however, the farmers will loose their land and therefore their business, which helped them survive. We should definitely try to find other resources rather than corn for example.
ReplyDeleteCurrently, the E.U. is planning to shut down food-based Biofuel production, due to its effect on rising food prices. They just announced it Monday, since its really harming the agricultural industry. Before, Biofuels accounted for about 4.5% of the E.U. transport fuels.
ReplyDeleteHere's some more information about the recent decision: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=eu-u-turn-spells-doom-for-food-base
This is great feedback and use of current research Annie! Excellent discussion you guys! :)
ReplyDelete