Biofuel - truths or expectations?
It has been said that biofuel could be the ‘solution’ for the growing global warming problem, but is it really? Is it true or just false expectations?
First of all, it’s known that the global warming problem is partially a result of the effect of keeping the sun’s heat by gases associated with the greenhouse effect such as carbon dioxide (CO2), which is the most commonly emitted gas worldwide, the main problem being the use of fossil fuel for all kinds of transport. So we can quickly summarize this point by saying that: the amount of CO2 produced will have a directly proportionate impact on the greenhouse effect which in turn will have direct consequences on the global warming thus increasing the scale of the problem. For two centuries, indeed, the industry and the transport generated gases which accumulated in the atmosphere which allow the sunlight to pass through to the earth but which block the infrared rays from the earth towards space. As a result, just as in a greenhouse, the atmosphere warms itself. The average temperature rose 0.6°C in the 20th century
And then there arrived biofuel oil. Being 'bio' it reduces the emission of gases, it contributes to the protection of the environment and so slows down the development of the global warming problem. But on the other hand, the production of biofuel requires the use of plants such as sugarbeet, corn, and so on. Fortunately, there is one effective way to reduce the presence of CO2 in our atmosphere, and this is through the process of photosynthesis by plants. So the best way to reduce the quantity of CO2 is to have as many plants as we can, and here is the problem. Using biofuel requires the destruction of plants and the use of fertile lands which would otherwise allow us to clean our atmosphere, So which is the most important: reducing emissions or increasing the removal of CO2?
Next, the use of fertile land for biofuel will decrease the space for our food production needs and will have bad consequences regarding another difficult problem which is: the level of famine that exists in the world and the rising price of foodstuffs. So for the production of this new, renewable energy we have to give up a huge amount of space (very useful for us) because of things like deforestation, or the continual production of raw material needed to refine the biofuel.
Finally, biofuel might bring a lot of advantages but perhaps these are outweighed by the inconveniences. Is the balance now in favour of the change from fossil fuel to biofuel or not? Were the expectations associated with this “solution” realistic or just a dream?
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