Can Biofuels solve the liquid fuel problem?

Biodiesel is cleaner than crude oil, it is renewable, it is easy to manufacture. However, the concerns raised have been 'Can biofuels replace fossil fuel?

Well in short, No, we cannot do that because there is simply not enough farmland on the earth to grow enough biofuel crops to yield sufficient oil to replace crude oil. With even with 1,000 barrels coming from each square mile of crops, and every inch of arable farm land in the world dedicated to growing biofuel crops, we would only be able to obtain 20% of the oil necessary to match world consumption today - and world consumption continues to increase as the amount of suitable arable farmland decreases.

However biodiesel is renewable, safe to handle, non-toxic, and better for a diesel engine than diesel itself, therefore we should continue to develop biodiesel as an alternative to fossil fuels in conjunction with other alternative fuel technologies. The world's crude oil supplies are going to run out sooner rather than later, so it has to be replaced with something soon.

Bioenergy Education In Ghana

The economies of the world are changing into knowledge based economies in recent years. This requires advances in science and technology which together with appropriate governmental and commercial policies are both needed to deal with the challenges of global climate change, increased energy costs, the threats of energy supply disruptions and increasing difficulty in replacing energy in certain locations. This changing face of technology in the world however, requires individual to be specialized in a particular field. It is in this direction that the Koforidua Polytechnic has oriented itself to serve the purpose of not only researching into technology development and energy utilization but also seeing to the training of energy personnel through the establishment of an Energy Systems Engineering Department at the School of Engineering. The department, among other objectives seeks to be recognized nationally and internationally for the quality of its training and research activities (both technically and non-technical aspect of energy) for the contributions to the polytechnic and public education and debate on energy matters. This paper also seeks to address the need for collaboration and future prospects of the department as well as the challenges it is facing.

Environment Management System In Academia

The role of Higher Education Institutions - Universities and Polytechnics in building a sustainable society is paramount. It is therefore essential for these institutions to adopt and apply tools such as Environmental Management Systems (EMS) in creating a culture of sustainability which is vital in creating awareness for students as they graduate to fulfil the needs of society.

The development and implementation of EMS has mainly been the maintaining of organizational environmental performance inside the requirement of the law. With the introduction of the current government legislature on environment, it is incumbent on institutions not only to understand the exact details of which activities, product and services are affected by the environmental legislation but also to understand how such laws develop and where to monitor such developments on a regular basis.

This calls for a review of institutional activities and services in relation to the environment and would help in the gap analysis to identify possible areas for improvement to meet the environmental baseline requirement. In an attempt to bridge this environmental gap what have been the experiences of other institutions who have gone ahead in this area with planning, implementing and now are working with the maintenance of their environmental management system. Are there lessons to be learnt? Are there pitfalls to avoid?