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Topic Name: STRI researchers complete a new study that highlighting environmental costs of biofuel production
Category: Environmental engineering
Research persons: Jörn Scharlemann, William Laurance
Location: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, United States
Details
Biofuels
reduce greenhouse-gas
emissions in comparison to fossil fuels. In the Jan. 4 issue of the journal
Science, Smithsonian researchers highlight a new study that factors in
environmental costs of biofuel production. Corn, soy and sugarcane come up
short. The authors urge governments to be far more selective about which
biofuels they support, as not all are more environmentally friendly than fossil
fuels.
Because fossil fuels contribute to global
warming and supplies are dwindling, more eco-friendly alternatives are
required. However, biofuels may not be superior if their production results in
environmental destruction, pollution and damage to human health, argue
postdoctoral fellow Jörn
Scharlemann and William
Laurance, staff scientist at the Smithsonian
Tropical Research Institute.
A new study by Zah et al., commissioned by the Swiss government, calculates
the relative merits of 26 biofuels based on relative reduction of greenhouse-gas
emissions and an environmental-impact index, which includes damages to human
health and ecosystems and natural resource depletion.
The Swiss study identifies striking differences in the environmental costs of
different biofuels. Fuels made from U.S. corn, Brazilian soy and Malaysian palm
oil may be worse overall than fossil fuels. The best alternatives include
biofuels from residual products, such as recycled cooking oil and ethanol
from grass or wood.
The Zah et al. study falls short in that it fails to consider secondary
consequences of biofuels, such as rising food costs, but it is a big step
forward in providing a way to compare the environmental benefits and costs of
dozens of different biofuels.
“Different biofuels vary enormously in how eco-friendly they are,” said
Laurance. “We need to be smart and promote the right biofuels, or we won’t
be helping the environment much at all.”
Note for Fossil fuel
Fossil fuels or mineral fuels are fossil source fuels, this is, hydrocarbons found within the top layer of the earth’s crust.
They range from very volatile materials with low carbon:hydrogen ratios like methane, to liquid petroleum to nonvolatile materials composed of almost pure carbon, like anthracite coal. Methane can be found in hydrocarbon fields, alone, associated with oil, or in the form of methane clathrates. It is generally accepted that they formed from the fossilized remains of dead plants and animals by exposure to heat and pressure in the Earth's crust over hundreds of millions of years. This is known as the biogenic theory and was first introduced by Mikhail Lomonosov in 1757. There is an opposing theory that the more volatile hydrocarbons, especially natural gas, are formed by abiogenic processes, that is no living material was involved in their formation.
It was estimated by the Energy Information Administration that in 2005 86% of primary energy production in the world came from burning fossil fuels. With the remaining Non-fossil being hydro 6.3%, nuclear 6.0%, and other (geothermal, solar, wind, and wood and waste) 0.9 percent
Fossil fuels are non-renewable resources because they take millions of years to form and reserves are being depleted much faster than new ones are being formed. Concern about fossil fuel supplies is one of the causes of regional and global conflicts. The production and use of fossil fuels raise environmental concerns. A global movement toward the generation of renewable energy is therefore under way to help meet increased energy needs.
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