Biofuels - The Alternative?

With the increasing worry of the damage that non-renewable energy sources such as oil and coal are doing to the environment the use of biofuels worldwide has surged dramatically but are biofuels really a good alternative to fossil fuels?

Biofuels are considered as means of reducing carbon emissions and is an increasing industry in Europe, Asia and the Americas. The most common use of biofuel is bioethanol which is an alcohol fuel mostly used as an alternative to gasoline which is being implemented widely in Brazil and is used sparsely in other countries, but is not available anywhere in the U.K. It can be mixed with petrol at up to 10% ethanol and will work with most cars on the roads. Retail prices are cheaper than gasoline and less damaging on the environment, so why isn’t this practice being implemented worldwide.

It is considered as renewable energy because it is primarily the result of conversion of the sun's energy into usable energy. Therefore we wont expire it, which is one of the main issues with gasoline. The alcohol used to make it is the same that is used in alcoholic beverages so the crops can be grown without any repercussions. It is even considered by the Overseas Development Industry that biofuels could reduce poverty in the developing world through increased employment, wider economic growth multipliers and energy price effects.

There are obviously issues with ethanol, as with all fuels, which are why, it has not been introduced worldwide yet. There have been fuel system problems such as electric fuel pumps giving of undesirable sparks due to the increase in internal water and as most modern cars are not compatible to run on fuel with more than 10% ethanol as it may cause corrosion of ferrous components.

There is also the ongoing debate of food vs. fuel and rising food prices. Due to the rising demands for biofuels farmers worldwide have an increased economic incentive to grow crops for biofuel production instead of food production. This could lead to reduced food production and increased food prices.

This isn’t just a development that will effect people in certain areas such as the building of a damn, but anyone who travels on any gasoline powered vehicle which in this country is just about everybody. It could mean that we will have a cheaper, reliable and renewable energy source that is less detrimental to the environment than gasoline.

Plan of Enquiry:
· Research into whether biofuels are a feasible alternative to fossil fuels
· Reflect my opinion on the issue
· Discuss the environmental issues raised
· Raise the issue of efficiency of biofuels
· The sociological issues

For the presenatation I will research heavily into figures on percentage rises in the usage ethanol, economic percentages such price differences and proposed environmental figures. I will conduct a survey with the view to gaining peoples opinions on the use of biofuels should we implement them, do they work as an alternative?