Even if Zipcar reduces vehicle ownership a bit, it might actually increase the amount of driving people do. Most of the emissions occur in the process of driving it. Some studies have shown that just one quarter of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with passenger vehicles are produced in the manufacturing process. It depends on how car sharing affects driving behavior. And if fewer people buy cars, that’s good for the environment, right? After all, if you can borrow a car when you need one, then maybe you won’t buy one. Zipcar, the popular car sharing service, and others like it are often lauded for their environmental benefits. In the meantime, first- and second-generation biofuels will continue to play a role in a world-wide energy industry that is highly dependent on a variety of sources of fuel.ĭo you think biofuels are a sustainable form of fuel? Are you concerned about the long-term depletion of fossil fuels? Will new technology continue to support our energy usage? Let us know what you think, below, or via twitter Potts is the owner of RPM Fuels & Oil Pumps, suppliers of tanks and fuel transfer pump equipment to the fuel industry and RPM Fuels, supplier of a range of oil tanks and specialist equipment for biofuels and biodiesel.
Should technology emerge to allow scientists to generate large volumes of fuel from these sources, they may be able to negate the problems encountered so far. These fuels are still in the early stages of development and allow the modification of species of algae to produce yields of long-chain fatty acids. One area of biofuel production that might sustain the industry in the long-term is “third-generation” biofuels sourced from algae and bacteria. Its status as a popular crop also limits its long-term sustainability. agricultural policy which mainly favors corn and by Europe’s climate, which does not support sugarcane production there. However, its wider proliferation is currently constrained by U.S. Some maintain that sugarcane ethanol, the biofuel widely produced in Brazil, would solve this issue. The difficulty is that the volume of fuel created from biofuel production, or the “net energy yield per hectare of land,” is not sufficient to supply our economy in the long-term without creating further environmental impacts. Analysts believe that if the industry attracts more capital productive capacity will grow and the relative costs of production will fall further.Ĭritics continue to argue that sourcing biofuels from non-food crops will cause large-scale land use change and increased water usage. For example, the cost of enzymes, one of the key cost components, has fallen by 72 per cent in the last four years. A new study by Bloomberg New Energy Finance projects that cellulosic biofuels will achieve cost parity with ethanol by 2016. The average cost of cellulosic biofuels is around 40 per cent greater than the cost of corn-based ethanol.īut costs are falling. The production of second-generation biofuels requires complex and costly thermochemical processes such as gasification, pyrolysis and torrefaction. This improves the efficiency of the agricultural industry by removing waste. Second-generation biofuels are synthesized from crop waste or fast-growing grasses rather than derived from human food sources. Some see “second-generation” biofuels as the future of the biofuels industry. Add deforestation and large-scale changes in land use and corn ethanol seems to be a poor substitute for fossil fuels. As food prices rise globally, corn ethanol diverts food a food crop to fuel use. A a global water crisis looms and corn is a water-intensive crop. First-generation biofuels such as corn ethanol have well-known shortcomings.
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