While using organic material (such as bio-fuels, ethanol) to provide energy is a popular solution to decrease dependency on fossil fuels, these sources may end up competing with food sources for farmland. Currently, there is only a finite amount of space for farming, and not enough to accommodate the demand for food and fuel sources.A recent study published by scientists from Michigan State University states that it is 36% more energy efficient to grow grain for food than for fuel purposes. In the study, a team analyzed 17 years' worth of data to make their conclusion. Overall, the inputs for growing fuel crops were greater than the resulting outputs in overall efficient land use. Most of these results are based on corn production. Corn has to be changed a lot more to become ethanol than it does to become an acceptable food source. But even though corn being grown for food is more efficient to produce, the most efficient use of the land would be to use the non-edible stalks and leaves to either decay and fertilize the land or to make it into ethanol.
Another factor to be considered in this issue are prices. The prices of corn, especially for livestock feed, are increasing because there is a decreasing amount of corn being produced specifically for that purpose since a lot of corn is now going towards biofuels. The overall amount of corn being grown has not increased with the increase of ethanol production, and it probably will not increase greatly due to limited amounts of land available for grain farming.
While increasing our biofuel production is popular with both major political parties in the United States (http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_06/b4020093.htm),
we must be careful to realize that it is a limited energy source and a balance will be necessary in the future.
-Lindsey Sutphin
We definitely should be careful when addressing biofuel because it is limited, and although it does reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but there is a limit to it. Also, gasoline is still far more efficient. There was an estimation that is produces 94% more energy than it takes to make it. Whereas biofuel and ethanol, we know, takes more energy to make. But the world is running out of cheap oil, and should be looking for alternatives as we have been doing. I think using ethanol right now is a step in the right direction, but it is a small one.
ReplyDeleteWhile the majority of biofuel policy in America caters to the corn-producing states, there are some energy crops that we can invest in without as much concern for detrimental effects on food supplies or costs. Switchgrass can be used for cellulosic ethanol production and grows on land that would not otherwise be viable for food production, including (according to research done by the VT Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences department) surface mining sites. Miscanthus, another cellulosic ethanol producing grass, has higher biomass & ethanol yields than corn. Investing in miscanthus over corn would allow energy prices to fluctuate without dramatic impact on food prices.
ReplyDeleteYou make an excellent point in the fact that deciding how to use domestic farmland is only becoming a more important issue as we increase land use for development. Crops that can be harvested for either food or fuel present an issue beyond the scope of competing land uses, however. There are certain ethical connotations that surface when policy makers and farmers alike weigh the advantages and disadvantages of ethanol production. The simple fact that people in developed countries like the U.S can decide wether or not to use food sources for fuel can not even be fathomed in some of the world's least developed countries where people often die from starvation. I am not saying that we should be sending all of our corn to the third world, but intragenerational ethics are less often addressed in regard to biofuel production. Creating fuel from corn is relevant to foreign aid policy and raises questions of wether or not others' most basic interest in survival are more significant than the convenience of transportation.
ReplyDeleteAlthough biofuels are environmentally beneficial in that they emit less particulate pollution than traditional fuels, they also pose other social and environmental concerns. A major concern is the amount of resources needed in biofuel production. Biofuel production not only increases the cost of crops for other purposes, but also increases necessary water consumption. The use of biofuels would generate increasing pressures for agricultural development and production, and could possibly deplete aquifers, lowering the watertable and possibly creating sinkholes. Also, considering the fact that over a billion people worldwide do not have enough to eat and almost 2/3 of the world’s population does not have access to clean drinking water, the resources used for biofuel production could be better allocated. While I do value the importance of biofuels, I think biofuel production should first utilize agricultural byproducts such as corn stalks, before moving on to crops.
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