BIO FUEL: A Critique

A lot is sounding around regarding the Green Revolution!! Sounds great as we have a huge spectrum to work on, we may not plant trees but we have varieties of stuffs to do: we can sell carbon, calculate our carbon foot print or use bio fuels, hybrid cars. Although it all started with a try to make the earth a little better place to live but we are catching up with the dogma at a great pace by doing all those we could do. Bio Fuel is one of the initiatives that may not really suffice all of the above needs but definitely would help us save some drops of fossil fuels for our future generations.

If biofuels were taken off from the market, Merrill Lynch estimates oil prices would be 15% higher, which in turn would put further upward pressure on food prices. Indeed there is a huge economic advantage as the oil prices have risen 1000% in the last ten years while corn prices have risen only 200-300%. In 2006, the United States president George W. Bush said in a State of the Union speech that the US is "addicted to oil" and should replace 75% of imported oil by 2025 by alternative sources of energy including biofuels.

No doubt the bio fuels would fuel the growth of alternative energy sector but we should try to analyze the direct effects of it by plotting the graph of "Relative carbon released" Vs. "Economic benefit". The "Relative Carbon Released" would contain the ratio of 'total carbon released' to the atmosphere and 'amount of oxygen released' to the atmosphere during the plants full life cycle and the processing of the fuel (Burning). Certainly this plot would help us identifying the right biofuel for further usage.

Various types of bio fuels are in market as this technology is still nascent and would need to get time tested before it takes up the market. Feedstocks for biodiesel include animal fats, vegetable oils, soy, rapeseed, jatropha, mahua, mustard, flax, sunflower, palm oil, hemp, field pennycress, and algae. Pure biodiesel (B100) is by far the lowest emission diesel fuel. Although liquefied petroleum gas and hydrogen have cleaner combustion, they are used to fuel much less efficient petrol engines and are not as widely available. Biologically produced alcohols, most commonly ethanol, and less commonly propanol and butanol, are produced by the action of microorganisms and enzymes through the fermentation of sugars or starches (easiest), or cellulose (which is more difficult). Biobutanol (also called biogasoline) is often claimed to provide a direct replacement for gasoline, because it can be used directly in a gasoline engine. Ethanol fuel is the most common biofuel worldwide, particularly in Brazil. Alcohol fuels are produced by fermentation of sugars derived from wheat, corn, sugar beets, sugar cane, molasses and any sugar or starch that alcoholic beverages can be made from (like potato and fruit waste, etc.). There are researches going on Algae fuel. Algae fuel, also called oilgae or third generation biofuel, is a biofuel from algae. Algae are low-input, high-yield feedstocks to produce biofuels. It produces 30 times more energy per acre than land crops such as soybeans

Among all the bio fuel sources the Jatropha looks like most suitable candidate in place because ..

a) The hardy Jatropha is resistant to drought and pests, and produces seeds containing up to 40% oil. When the seeds are crushed and processed, the resulting oil can be used in a standard diesel engine, while the residue can also be processed into biomass to power electricity plants.
b) Goldman Sachs recently cited Jatropha curcas as one of the best candidates for future biodiesel production.However, despite its abundance and use as an oil and reclamation plant, none of the Jatropha species have been properly domesticated and, as a result, its productivity is variable, and the long-term impact of its large-scale use on soil quality and the environment is unknown.
c) Jatropha curcas, also known as physic nut, piñoncillo and Habb-El-Melúk, is used to produce the non-edible Jatropha oil, for making candles and soap, and as a feedstock for producing biodiesel.

d) Jatropha plantation has been identified as a most suitable option for the production of bio-fuels utilizing non-edible sources.
e) The plant is extremely drought resistance as its water requirement is extremely low. It can be easily propagated and grows rapidly. Sufficient amount of waste land is available in the State which could be utilized for jatropha cultivation.
f) A single Jatropha seed contains 27% to 31% extractable oil. 10,000 Hectares of jatropha is expected to yield 250,000-300,000 tons of crude jatropha oil per annum. The estimated revenues from 100,000 hectare farm would yield USD 100 mn per annum.
Some facts { Jatropha gossypifolia, also called bellyache bush: its fruits and foliage are toxic to humans and animals. It is a major weed in Australia. }

We have to understand that the bio fuel does not come with side effects. Especially the usage of corn would definitely shoot up the price of the foodstock and there would be a huge gap with global supply and demand of food. For the developing world rural poor who comprise about 67% of those living below a dollar a day, food price increases often increase income as their subsistence farms become economic while for the urban poor food price increases are disastrous. There is no apparent solution to this problem. But we should try to harness more and more wind and solar energy keeping the fact in mind that it is a expensive affair!



1st IMAGE courtsey : http://www.greenoptimistic.com/