Pros And Cons Of Biofuel

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Title: Biofuel, is it the future energy solution? 3. Is biofuel the answer? - Analysis of pros and cons Pros : 1- Availability of Biofuels Biofuels are theoretically unlimited. In terms of availability, biofuels have a big advantage as they are at the top of the list of alternatives. The transition is likely to be subtle but slow as more and more fossil fuel is replaced with biofuel. 2- Environmental Impact Biofuels are environmentally friendly if they’re carefully produced and distributed. 3- Spills and Surface Contamination Biofuels are biodegradable thus bacteria and other organisms that live in the soil and water have the ability to use biofuel molecules as energy sources and break them down into harmless byproducts. 4-…show more content…
Biofuel production will likely be most profitable and environmentally benign in tropical areas where growing seasons are longer, per acre biofuel yields are higher, and fuel and other input costs are lower. For example, Brazil uses bagasse, which is a byproduct from sugar production, to power ethanol distilleries, whereas the United States uses natural gas or coal. The future of global biofuels will depend on their profitability, which depends on a number of interrelated factors. Key to this will be high oil prices: 6years of steadily rising oil prices have provided economic support for alternative fuels, unlike previous periods when oil prices spiked and then fell rapidly, undercutting the profitability of nascent alternative fuel programs. On the other hand, the sector’s profitability has been negatively affected by rising feedstock prices (corn and vegetable oil, not sugar), which account for a very large share of biofuel cost of production. For this commodity-dependent industry, government support to reduce profit uncertainty has been a common theme in the U.S., Brazil, and the EU, where biofuel production has been most significant. Biofuels will most likely be part of a portfolio of solutions to high oil prices, including conservation and the use of other alternative fuels. The role of biofuels in global fuel supplies is likely to remain modest because of its land intensity. In the U.S., replacing all current gasoline consumption with ethanol would require more land in corn production than is presently in all agricultural production. Technology will be central to boosting the role of biofuels. If the energy of widely available, cellulose materials could be economically harnessed around the world, biofuel yields per acre could more than double, reducing land requirements
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