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.
To address the issue of land-use competition for biofuel versus food crop production, attention in now being shifted to ligno-cellulosic biofuel production from fast growing and short rotation cycle bioenergy crops such as miscanthus, poplar, willow, etc., which have the potential to produce about twice as many litres of biofuel per hectare of land as with current food-based crops. These dedicated crops can grow well on marginal or abandoned land, and the whole plant is used for biofuel production instead of only the seed or some part of the plant, thus optimizing raw material use.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to this, and probably a more important step in increasing biofuel production and sustainability, is the production of biofuels from agricultural and forestry residues/wastes, green algae, organic household and municipal wastes, etc., which are widely available, especially in developing countries. These are called second generation biofuels and they have less or no land use effects. Current research is focused on developing novel technologies for the cost-effective and large scale production of biofuel from these sources.
With continuing research and development, biofuels are expected to make significant contributions in meeting future sustainable energy demand.