Is Biodiesel Good Or Bad For the Environment?

The Biofuel Debate - What's all the fuss about?production. Using arid land in the poorer regions could
There has been much talk of biofuels and in particularprovide social and economic benefits for that region
biodiesel being touted as a more carbon friendlyNew sources that lessen the threat of environmental
alternative to traditional petroleum based fuel...impact include:-
- Because biodiesel is made from renewable- Algae - grows quickly, renews quickly but to be a
resources (unlike fossil fuels) and it has lowerviable option cost effective harvesting remains a
emissions compared to petroleum dieselchallenge
- Because it is less toxic than table salt and- Jatropha - can be grown in arid climates, has a high
biodegrades as fast as sugaryield compared with traditional biocrops, has the
- Because it is made entirely from renewablepotential to increase fertility of the land
resources such as soybeans, sunflowers, rapeseed- Camalina - Researchers say the Camelina plant is an
and palm oil as well as waste vegetable oil (usedexcellent source of biofuel; it can be grown in arid
cooking oils) It surely follows biodiesel must be betterland, with less water, fertilizer and pesticides
for the environment...or is it?Biodiesel - Many Complex Issues
Over the last few years through the Kyoto Protocol,Diesel engines were in fact originally designed in the
governments have discussed the global issue ofearly 1900's to run on biodiesel made from oil seed
climate change with a view to setting targets tocrops and not to run on petroleum-based diesel. Was
reduce greenhouse gases. Whilst there has beenit a mistake not to encourage the development and
general agreement that something needs to be donetake up of biodiesel back then instead of depending
and targets have been set, the United States is thealmost solely on petroleum?
only developed country that has not ratified theDespite agreement in principle that biodiesel has a role
treaty and yet it is one of the significant greenhouseto play in helping to reduce emissions unless politicians
gas emitters.give clear guidelines about the future of renewable
The dilemma seems to be that biodiesel isfuels there will continue to be a haphazard take up
undoubtedly greener than traditional petroleum basedaround the world. Most governments have been
fuel. On the other hand however, as there is noproceeding with caution and rightly so but mixed
stipulation how and where this fuel is produced, couldmessages from governments around the world have
this 'green' fuel actually be doing more harm to ouronly added to the uncertainty around the use
environment than good?biodiesel fuel. What should be the governments role
Let's look at some of the contributing factors to thisbe in promoting the use of biodiesel?
debate...We live in a world today that has largely grown up in
Biodiesel - The Gooda throw away society without due regard to the
As an alternative fuel, biodiesel would seem to be aconsequences of waste. This wasteful attitude has
very good alternative to fossil based fuels:-been exacerbated by the lack of proper education in
- Mitigating the effects of greenhouse gas emissionsthe basic skills of survival. It is only relatively recently
- Making best use of the remaining limited supplies ofthat modern day governments have begun to
fossil fuelsencourage large scale recycling.
- Reducing air pollution along with the associatedThe challenge we face is to educate the public about
health risks to the publicthe issues surrounding biofuels and what is good or
- Benefiting domestic economies by reducing thebad. Honest debate not influenced by individual hidden
dependence on importing foreign petroleumagenda's is the only way to arrive at political choices
- Relatively easy to produce in small or large volumesthat embrace all the issues surrounding the use of
Biodiesel - The Badbiofuel.
The main problem with bio-fuels today is the sourceSo, is biodiesel good or bad for the environment?
of the raw materials:-One thing is for sure, first generation biofuels once
- Biodiesel and ethanol are produced from plant oilsthought to be the alternative fuel source of the
and from edible crops meaning competition for basicfuture, have come under increased scrutiny recently.
foodstuffs, food or oil?It is becoming clear that more information is needed
- Rain forests are being converted to palm oilabout the potentially destructive elements of
production (palm oil is a key ingredient of food andfirst-generation biofuels and the impact they have on
other consumables...it can also be used to producethe environment.
biodiesel)Environmentalists are concerned that the inadvertent
- Current crops cannot keep pace with theconsequence of using biodiesel fuel is unrecoverable
bio-materials needed for producing biodiesel Does thisdamage to the environment. Furthermore, developing
mean if we replace traditional petroleum based diesela dependence on traditional first generation biocrops
with biodiesel we'll compromise our supply ofmay result in food competing with fuel over the use
foodstuffs?of land. We need to determine what the true balance
Biodiesel - The Futureis between good and bad from an environmental
The Biotech Industry has begun to help with theperspective.
need to find alternative fuel sources for the futureClearly governments need to further embrace the
by looking at how to get more from less:-concept of reducing greenhouse gas emissions but
- Increased production of more plantsshould they be more proactive in finding a green
- Improving crop yields - corn, a common biofuel cropsource for our fuel as well?
in the USA, yields under 200 barrels (per square mileInstead of destroying forests maybe we should look
per year) whereas Jatropha for instance can yieldto new more "green" raw materials for producing
over 2,000 barrelsbiofuels. We must embrace the promotion of second
- Use of marginal land - look at crops (see below)and third-generation biofuels in an effort to help solve
that can be grown on arid land rather than takemany of the current problems surrounding the use of
away arable farmland needed for essential foodfirst generation biodiesel.