Opinion
- Editorial- Commentary
Express
Editorial :
Looking
at the biofuel option
As countries face up to the uncertain future that
may arise because of the use of fossil fuels and
the consequential rise in carbon dioxide levels
in the atmosphere causing global warming and climate
change, many are now looking at the biofuel option.
For hundreds of millions of years plants, both
on land and on sea, have been absorbing solar energy
and through the magic of photosynthesis have been
synthesising complex carbon containing molecules
from the simple ingredients of carbon dioxide and
water, producing life supporting oxygen as a byproduct.
These range from simple sugars to complex polymers.
Of course there are other molecules of life but
life as we know it is entirely dependent on this
process, but much of the carbon used is temporarily
stored in the form of starches or even oils, and
much may be sequestered in cellulose, a fundamental
structural building block of the plant kingdom.
When plants, and many animals, die these complex
molecules may be further modified becoming the
fossil fuels that we now mine and use as the main
source of energy. Burning coal, oil or natural
gas releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere,
one of the principal greenhouse gases creating
a major problem for humanity. Thus any shift to
other sources of energy that do not add carbon
to the atmosphere is a desirable option.
There are several alternative energy sources that
are currently either being used or in the process
of development, such as hydro, solar, geothermal,
wind, tidal and ocean currents. Another, nuclear,
is environmentally clean in that it is carbon
neutral, but dirty in that it is highly dangerous
in being processed and stored. The biofuel option
is however an attractive one in some respects,
especially for use in automobiles and large road
vehicles.
The principal biofuels are ethanol and vegetable
oils, the former for use as an alternative to gasoline,
and the latter in diesel engines. What is attractive
about biofuels is that they use current energy
stores that may have been produced in one or more
growing seasons, rather that energy that had been
accumulated and stored in plant and animal tissue
millions of years ago.
As they are used the carbon dioxide produced is
released into the atmosphere to be recycled. Brazil
has developed an advanced ethanol biofuel industry
based on production from sugarcane, one of the
most efficient of photosynthesising plants.
The United States is doing the same but producing
ethanol from corn, a rather more complex process,
and one that is subsidised. The downside of this
is that as more corn goes into biofuel, less goes
into food for humans and grain fed animals, and
the price of corn rises. So let us not be surprised
when our food prices rise, especially of foods
that require a large component of imported corn.
Trinidad
& Tobago Express is
one of the main newspapers of the island. Petroleumworld
does not necessarily share these views.
This
commentary was originally published by Trinidad Express, Sunday,
February 24th 2008. Petroleumworld
reprint this article in the interest of our readers.
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Petroleumworld
News 02/17/08
Copyright© 2008
Andy
Johnson. All
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