biofuel essay

1、1Evaluatewhetherthedevelopmentofprocessedbiofuelscanprovideaseriousalternativetotraditionalfossilfuels.Therecentdevelopmentofbiofuelsaroundtheworldcanbeattributedtoacombinationoffactors,inwhichtheenergycrisisplaysanimportantrole.Theoilpricerepresentthatenergycrisishasadeepimpactontheworld.Itisarguedthattheenergycrisisiscausedbythewasteofenergy.Accordingtothelawsofthermodynamics,energycannotbedestroyed.Whatpeopledoistotransformitfromonestatetoanother(Seitz:2008).However,sometimestheformislesseff。

2、icientthatresultsinthewasteofenergy.Fossilfuelisatypicallessuseableform,whichstilltakealargeproportionofthemarket.Theneedthattobeindependentonfuelandthethreatfromglobalwarmingforcesgovernmentstolookforalternatives.Scientistsaretryinghardtofindnewsourcesofenergy,aimingtoincreasetheefficiencyofenergyandreducethepollutionbroughtbyfossilfuelontheenvironment.Biofuels,asacreationofadvancedtechnology,whichiscleaner,greenerandmoreefficientthanfossilfuel,hasbecomeoneofthemostpotentialkindsofenergy.Inorde。

3、rtoprovewhetherbiofuelscanbeaseriousalternativetotraditionfuels,thisessaywillgiveacloserlookatthreegenerationbiofuelsandevaluatetheirpotentialandlimitationfromtwocriteria:costandenvironment.Biofuelsisthenamegiventosolid,liquidorgaseousfuelsderivedfromrecentlydeadbiologicalmaterial.SinceitseemsthatbiofuelscanhelppeoplereducetherelianceonfossilfuelandtheemissionofCO2intotheatmosphere,governmentsofbothindustrializedcountriesanddevelopingcountriesareencouragingpeopletoincreasetheproductionanduseofbi。

4、ofuels.Howeverthedramaticgrowingdemandofbiofuelshascausedvariousproblemsassociatedwiththeeconomy,environmentandsociety,whichshouldbetreatedseriously.InAugust2007,aglobalconferenceisholdbytheUnitedStatesDepartmentofAgriculture(USDA)attheUniversity2ofMinnesotaanddiscussedtheseissues(Ruth,2008).Accordingtothedifferentfeedstockandconversionaltechnology,biofuelscanbedividedintothreegenerations.Thefirstgeneration,asthefirstonesteppingontheworldstage,hasbeenusedmorewidelythanthelatergenerations.Seedsan。

5、dgrainssuchaswheatareusedforthebasicfeedstockfortheproductionoffirstgenerationbiofuels.However,atthesametime,concernshavebeengrowingaboutitsimpactonfoodsecurityandagriculture.Mr.Ziegler(2007)warnedoftheconsequencesofusinglargeareasofarablefarmingforbiofuelsfeedstockproductioninsteadofusingforgettingfood.HeclaimedthatboththeUnitedStatesandBrazilhadputheavyinvestmentintotheproductionofbiofuelsthatusedfoodcrops.Theformeraimedtodosotoalleviateitsrelianceonimportedfuels,andthelatteristoreduceforeignd。

6、ebt.Thereisarealdangerofturningovervastfarmlandstogrowcropsforbiofuels,becauseitwilldirectlyleadtofoodshortage.Theconsequenceisthatmorepeopleinlessdevelopcountriescannothaveenoughfood,whichisasignificantproblemforpoor.Manyoftheproblemsrelatedtofirstgenerationbiofuelscanbeaddressedbytheproductionofsecondgenerationbiofuels.Cellulosicbiomasscanreplacecropsandbecomethenewfeedstockofbiofuels.thishastwoattractiveadvantages.Firstly,thewastebiomasscancreatevalueforsocietywithoutadditionallandbeingrequir。

7、ed,whichreducesthepressureonagriculture.Secondly,cellulosicbiomassfromfast-growingenergycropssuchaswood,tallgrassed,forestrycropscansurviveinawildrangeofsoiltypes,eveninsomemarginallandwherewiththehelpofthesecropstopreventerosion.Competinglandusewilldisappearandthiswillallowmuchmoreusefulgrantstobegrownatthesametime(WorldwatchInstitute(CB),2007).Ontheotherhand,thefeedstockoffirstgenerationcanonlybeachievedintheyieldwithgoodsoilsandsufficientwatersupply.Itisobviouslythatscientistshave3madeprogres。

8、sonthefeedstockofbiofuels,butfromanotherperspective,thesecondgenerationofbiofuelsalsohasitsowndisadvantages.Incomparisontofirst-generationbiomassfeedstock,cellulosicbiomassismoredifficulttobebrokendownanditisnotyetclearwhetherconversionaltechnologywillbeprofitablewidely.Thefeedstockofthirdgenerationbiofuelsisalgaeanditsproductionislowcostandhighyield.Researchshowsthatalgaecanproduce30timesmoreenergyperacrethancanbeproducedfromconventionalfeedstockrequiringland(EvianaHartman(2008-01-06)).Whileiti。

9、sarguedthatthethirdgenerationbiofuelsisthemostpromisingones,however,excessiveexpansionoffarmingalgaeisathreattotheeco-systeminthesea.Tosomeextent,bothfromtheperspectiveoftheeconomyandtheenvironment,thesecondandthirdgenerationbiofuelsaremoreviableoptions,sogovernmentarealreadyinvestinginplanningsomeprogramsandresearch.Nevertheless,problemsraisedconversiontechnologyshouldbetakenintoconsideration.Actually,becausemostmethodsofproducingsecondandthirdgenerationfuelsarestillunavailable,countriesthatuse。

10、biofuelsaregenerallyrelyingonfirst-generationbiofuels.Feedstockcosttakeupthemajorityofbiofuels'price.Inaddition,growingorimportingaretheonlywaytogetfeedstock,sotherewillbecostsinproducingandtransportationthataccountfortherest,whichmayresultinahigherpriceofbiofuelsthanthatoffossilfuel.Ethanol,asthemostpopularbiofuels,isacaseinpoint.Itisassumedthatjustwhenthepriceofcrudeoilexceedtocertainextent,thepriceofethanolwillbecompetitive.Inordertohelpbiofuelstoplayaroleinthemarket,governmentcarriesoutsomein。