Fairley, P. (2022, December 13). The New Era of biofuels raises environmental concerns. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-new-era-of-biofuels-raises-environmental-concerns/
Peter Fairley’s December 13 article on Scientific American raises concerns about the effect of our increased usage of biofuels on our environment. Fairley prefaces by pointing out that one reason that biofuels are doing so well is because ever since Russia invaded Ukraine, oil has been harder to come by. Because of this, refiners are researching ways to meet the demands. Some are finding ways to process palm, soya, and canola oils, some are processing animal fat, and others are investing into bio-feedstocks. These expansions could further increase the demand for biofuels and decrease the demand for fossil fuels. However, 2022 reports show that biofuels may have the opposite result. After the 2022 US Renewable Fuel Standard required transportation fuel to contain a set amount of renewable fuel (like biofuels), all the diesel-fuel led tractors and fertilizers actually resulted in a net increase of the greenhouse gas effect. This is because the fertilizers used to produce biofuels release a byproduct of nitrogen oxide, which is nearly 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Agronomists, crop geneticists, and carbon emission life-cycle scientists all agree that after the 2022 outcomes, we need to make “profound advances” in this field in order to make it sustainable.
Fairley’s article goes into depth both about why biofuels have become so popular, and why they are not currently helping our environment as much as the general public may think they are. I liked the explanation about the switch from oil to biofuel being caused by the war in Ukraine, and the article provided a lot of clarity by stating that nitrogen oxide is almost 300 times worse than carbon dioxide emissions. This explains why it may not be the best idea to switch from fossil fuels to biofuels, since farming with fertilizers releases nitrogen oxide. I think biofuels could be extremely helpful if they were produced organically. However, knowing that money is the first concern for manufacturers, it’s unrealistic that they will comply with regulations that force them to be totally organic because fertilizers would provide so much more income for them. So, I think it’s a long shot to try to solve our environmental problems with biofuels.
This is really interesting, I didn’t think about the increased emissions from biofuels that aren’t carbon related. Do you think there are ways we can trap or minimize these emissions so biofuels can remain a valid energy source? I’m remembering catalytic converters in cars that can break down carbon monoxide and other harmful pollutants into less harmful ones. Maybe we could use a similar process to brake down nitrogen oxides into harmless gasses.
Thanks for reading, Ron. I’m sure we could use a process like the one you described, but that might be too expensive. People will likely find a way to do it in the cheapest way possible though, so they might resort to using harmful fertilizers to make more money just as they’re doing right now.