Biofuel[]
One slight problem I'd like to bring up about biofuel. While it does reduce the total carbon output on the long term it isn't exactly enviromentally friendly. Land used for biofuel crops can typtically not be used for food production, possibly contributing to food shortages in poor areas. To make up for the lost land many may clear forests, contributing to that problem as well.
What is your verdict on this, people? 212.45.32.221 17:05, 22 May 2008 (UTC)
- Hi, and thanks for bringing this up. Biofuels are a hot topic and have generated a lot of controversy. My personal view is that bio-fuels are an important part of the mix of solutions humanity will need to reduce global warming, but not The One Solution itself. Like any other resource,it will need to be managed well (not that humanity has the best record of doing that!) to avoid some of the problems you mention. However, I also think it is an oversimplification to pinpoint bio-fuels as a principle cause of food shortages.
- There's an op-ed piece in the [New York Times] that addresses these concerns.
- A few points from the article:
- Food Shortages - Hundreds of millions of people in Asia have moved from poverty to the global economy in the past 10 years. This has resulted in rapid urbanization and a much higher demand for food, contributing to a rise in food prices.
- Food costs-The increasing price of food commodities has tracked to the decline of the dollar. China is offloading depreciating dollar reserves to hoard commodities.
- Destruction of the Amazon rainforest - Viable cane-growing areas are hundreds of miles from the rainforest. Brazil's savannah could multiply its current 3.5 million hectares of land used to grow cane for ethanol by 10 without going near the Amazon.
- Then when you add trade barriers and agricultural subsidies into the mix, the situation gets even more complicated.
- It might be worth it to add some of these issues to the articles on Biofuel and Ethanol. Mollyh 17:38, 22 May 2008 (UTC)
- Hmm, one thing I forgot to mention would be that in many cases biofuels take more energy to create than they release, making them rather inefficient. 212.45.32.216 17:55, 22 May 2008 (UTC)
- Yes, there is that factor, then again, compared to conventional oil, I'm not convinced biofuels are so bad. There are also start-up costs and issues to consider. Initial outlay of a new technology is expensive and has inherent problems, but these decrease over time. I'd rather look to the opportunities to improve efficiencies in the aspects of creating biofuels as opposed to a knee jerk reaction to stop them.Mollyh 19:15, 22 May 2008 (UTC)
- Hmm, one thing I forgot to mention would be that in many cases biofuels take more energy to create than they release, making them rather inefficient. 212.45.32.216 17:55, 22 May 2008 (UTC)