Courtesy of southasia.oneworld.net
In our fight against climate change, biofuels are considered as an eco-friendly alternative to oil-based fossils fuels, primarily because they help reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Any solid, liquid or gas fuel that is derived from biomass such as plants, metabolic waste, and organic waste, is termed as biofuel. Biodiesel, biogas, and biomass are some of the most commonly used biofuels.
Biofuels are considered to be ‘carbon neutral’ because when burnt or combusted, they release the same amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as is removed by them from the atmosphere when they are grown. However, critics question the carbon neutrality of biofuels, as production, processing and transportation of biofuel crops require many other energy inputs, which are commonly dependent on fossil fuels. For instance, fossil fuel based equipment are used for land cultivation; fertilizers and pesticides are used to grow energy crops; fossil fuel dependent machines and vehicles are used for processing and transportation of crops. If produced in a sustainable manner, biofuels could still be considered as substantially environment-friendly as compared to fossil fuels. In fact, the life cycle analysis of biofuels reveals that first generation biofuels, when produced sustainably, can save up to 60 percent of carbon emissions while second generation biofuels can save up to 80 percent of carbon emissions over fossil fuels.
In our rush to combat climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we seem to be resorting to rapid production of biofuels through non-sustainable practices such as deforestation and use of farmland for growing energy crops. This raises serious debate around the use of biofuels, and questions their credibility in combating climate change in true sense. A research study by scientist Finn Danielsen indicates that it may take more than 75 years before the carbon emissions saved through biofuels compensates for the carbon lost when good farmlands and forests are used for growing energy crops. In contrast, the use of only severely degraded land for production of biofuels is estimated to result in net removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in 10 years.
Conversion of forests into biofuel plantation not only aggravates the issue of climate change but also threatens wildlife. In 2006, about 85 percent of the global production of palm oil crop—a commonly used source for biofuel production—came from Malaysia and Indonesia. As a consequence, the aggregate annual tropical forest loss in these two nations was around 20,000 squares kilometers. Tropical forests are home to a significant number of the world’s terrestrial species and store around 46 percent of the world’s living terrestrial carbon. Deforestation of tropical forests may account for 25 percent of the net global carbon emissions and also impact wildlife. The rising demand for biofuels is also tempting farmers, specifically in the developing countries, to use their farmland for growing energy crops, resulting in lower food production. This leads to a surge in food prices, which further contributes to rise in inflation.
In our fight against carbon change, use of biofuels as a weapon to reduce greenhouse gas emissions can only be justified if a sustainable and environmentally safe approach is used for their production. International standards should be set to ensure that only severely degraded, non-agricultural and non-forested lands are used for biofuel production. Also, countries importing biofuels should set norms to accept imports only from those nations that can clearly demonstrate their compliance to these international standards.
