What are biofuels and do they improve air pollution?
SHARE
Rate this article12345(7 votes)
Thursday, 29 November 2018 10:30
☛ Send to a friend
In one of our previous posts we mentioned that the European Union had set some goals for 2020. One of the goals was to reduce CO2 emissions, so Europe was investing in R&D&i on biofuels. But 2020 is just around the corner and Europe is already reviewing its goals for 2030. On June 14th we were informed of an apparent change of course. “Europe now limits the use of biofuels due to environmental damage” the news announced. So in the end, what are biofuels, a solution or a problem?
Digging a little deeper into the news, we discover that the headline is misleading. Europe has not decided to abandon the use of all biofuels. But it does want to stop using the most problematic ones, first-generation biofuels .
What are first generation biofuels?:
Let's start at the beginning. What are biofuels? Biofuels are substances produced by living beings that we can burn to obtain energy. Think about what products this definition includes. The first things that come to mind are oil and alcohol .
Where do we get oil? From plants that we already canada phone data grow for their oil, such as soybeans or palm trees . How do we produce alcohol? By fermenting sugars. And where do we get those sugars? From sugar-rich plants that we already grow, such as corn or sugar cane . This is the idea behind the first biofuels that were invented, the first generation biofuels.
What is the problem with first generation biofuels?
Well, we were already growing these plants precisely to eat them. So now farmers have to decide who to sell their crops to. Who makes them more money, the food industry or the fuel industry? So the price of food goes up .
And that's just the beginning. Don't think that the farmer is a gentleman with a humble farm, no, we are talking about colossal companies. Corporations with practices such as cutting down the Amazon to grow genetically modified soybeans; or using the spraying of crops with herbicides so powerful that they poison the local population. People who, on the other hand, cannot compete economically with these large companies.