There is global awareness that greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and vehicular combustions have caused damage to the Earth’s atmosphere and altered our present day climate. The sustainability of our environment has been compromised since the resources that we are using now are less than favorable. How much more unfavorable will it be for the future generation?
At present, there is a global effort to promote sustainability by using biofuel as alternative source of energy. As ideal as it may seem, do all of us know what biofuel is?
What is Biofuel?
Biofuel or also known as bioenergy, is a source of renewable energy drawn from biological sources comprised of biomass and biogas and co-firing.
Biomass as a source of biofuel, derives energy from organic materials that contain chemical energy derived from sunlight. Examples of biomass are wood and its waste, straw, animal manure, sugar cane and many other agricultural products and byproducts.
Biogas is also a source of biofuel, mainly producing methane and carbon dioxide unaided by oxygen drawn from decomposed organic matter. Sewage sludge, landfill sites and decomposing microbes and algae are the most common sources of biogas.
There is also the process known as co-firing, wherein a supplementary fuel from a biomass will be made to combust simultaneously with as base fuel, usually coal. The process of co-firing biomass with coal is perceived to be the most economical method of generating green energy for power plants. As such, it is expected to minimize the emissions of carbon dioxide emanating from fossil fuels.
As an example, biofuel can be extracted from the alcohol produced from the fermentation of plant sugar, corn and other agricultural crops. It is considered as viable for use as transport and as heating fuel.
Biofuel described as renewable energy, means it has the capability to be replenished mainly because of its inexhaustible supply, ability to re-grow or to be recycled. Plant’s have the ability to capture carbon in the air, reuse the carbon as fuel then simply absorbs back the carbon released through combustion.
Today, biofuel represents 10% of the world’s supply of energy while the three most common biofuels that are expected to be widely usable are biodiesel, bioethanol and biomethanol.
Biofuel as a renewable form of energy, costs less and can help us cope with the constant rise in fuel prices. Overwhelming global demand for fossil fuels coupled with political instability in most of the major oil exporting countries are considered as the causes for the unpredictable prices of fuel. Hence, considering the prospect for a broader source of energy such as biofuel will lessen global dependence on imported fossil fuels
Environmental concerns about greenhouse gas emissions can be addressed as energy derived from biofuels can minimize or at the least retard carbon emissions that permeate in the Earth's atmosphere. The ability of plant biomass to recapture carbon released in the air as car and power plant emissions will likewise provide positive contributions.
The diversification of agricultural products in developing countries as resources for the production of biofuel, presents an attractive opportunity to provide employment to the farmers and development to rural communities all across the globe.
What Possible Drawbacks can Biofuel Bring?
Despite the positive promises of changes presented by biofuel production, we must also consider the possible drawbacks:
Possibility of less food production as there will be an over-aggressive scenario among developing countries to meet the demand for fuel. Thus, the international market must institute trade and subsidy policies to avoid, if not eliminate this scenario. The necessity for infusion of investments to provide technological innovations in order to meet large-scale biofuel manufacture which can help prevent tendencies to sacrifice food production.
The over aggressiveness in producing biofuel will result to rapid depletion of soil nutrients, induce and worsen erosion, degradation of water resources, displacement of habitats to cause disruption in biodiversity as well as threaten the traditional livelihoods of local communities.
There is a lesson to be learned from the past, man advances through the years with his intelligence yet destroys all that is gained by his greed. Hence, if this one drawback remains unchecked, it is likely that we will just go back to where we were before.