2008 Woodie Awards
Biofuels: Environmental savior or the source of world hunger
Samantha Marinko
Issue date: 4/24/08 Section: Features
With the climate crisis in full swing, the development of biofuels looked to be the answer everyone was hoping for. Experts, however, have found that biofuels may not be all their cracked up to be.
Biofuels, according to the Energy North East Web site, are transport fuels made from plant material and recycled elements of the food chain.
It may sound like a miracle-fuel, but according to Dr. Mark Jareb, director of the Pre-Medical Advisement Program and professor of biology at Sacred Heart, the realities of it are far from ideal.
"The argument for using biofuels is that replacing gasoline with ethanol produced from crops such as corn results in fewer greenhouse gases being produced," said Jareb.
Of course, with every outwardly ideal solution follow the issues.
"The additional land being used to produce the crops for biofuel has primarily been forest or grasslands that have been converted into croplands. The forest and grasslands were much more productive in taking carbon out of the atmosphere than the crops," said Jareb.
"Therefore, using these lands to grow biofuel actually results in a net increase in carbon emissions and greenhouse gasses."
According to a recent article in Time Magazine, it's estimated that the ultimate effects of the production of ethanol from corn will actually increase global warming because of the large areas of the Amazon Rainforest that are being cleared to grow soybeans since a plethora of American soy farmers converted their land to corn fields.
But the environment isn't going to be the only thing suffering.
After the grasslands and forests are converted into croplands, all those crops will go straight to biofuel production plants instead of being used to feed the hungry.
"Using food for fuel, especially corn, drives up food prices worldwide making feeding the worlds hungry more difficult," said Dennis Demchak, professor of air pollution studies at Sacred Heart and employee of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.
Biofuels, according to the Energy North East Web site, are transport fuels made from plant material and recycled elements of the food chain.
It may sound like a miracle-fuel, but according to Dr. Mark Jareb, director of the Pre-Medical Advisement Program and professor of biology at Sacred Heart, the realities of it are far from ideal.
"The argument for using biofuels is that replacing gasoline with ethanol produced from crops such as corn results in fewer greenhouse gases being produced," said Jareb.
Of course, with every outwardly ideal solution follow the issues.
"The additional land being used to produce the crops for biofuel has primarily been forest or grasslands that have been converted into croplands. The forest and grasslands were much more productive in taking carbon out of the atmosphere than the crops," said Jareb.
"Therefore, using these lands to grow biofuel actually results in a net increase in carbon emissions and greenhouse gasses."
According to a recent article in Time Magazine, it's estimated that the ultimate effects of the production of ethanol from corn will actually increase global warming because of the large areas of the Amazon Rainforest that are being cleared to grow soybeans since a plethora of American soy farmers converted their land to corn fields.
But the environment isn't going to be the only thing suffering.
After the grasslands and forests are converted into croplands, all those crops will go straight to biofuel production plants instead of being used to feed the hungry.
"Using food for fuel, especially corn, drives up food prices worldwide making feeding the worlds hungry more difficult," said Dennis Demchak, professor of air pollution studies at Sacred Heart and employee of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.
Be the first to comment on this story