Biofuel energy helps us be able to take advantage of what fuel can provide us, but lessen the environmental cost that we pay to meet our needs. These fuels are created from organic matter and occurs thanks to the natural fermentation process. Although there are many advantages to using biofuel, there are some disadvantages that must be considered as well.
What Are the Pros of Biofuel Energy?
1. There are completely renewable.
The plants that are used to create biofuel energy can be grown year after year to create the needed fuel supply. Some crops, such as sugar cane and other grasses, can even have 2 or 3 crops grown in a single season.
2. Many technologies can already use it.
Most people who own a vehicle that can use biofuel energy don’t even realize they have this flexibility. Even current fuel supplies include ethanol at 10% levels and that gets pumped into millions of vehicles every day.
3. It may reduce the amount of carbon dioxide that is produced.
Carbon dioxide is thought to be one of the primary contributing gasses to the global warming issue. Biofuel energy reduces the amount of carbon that is released in the atmosphere and may even be carbon neutral.
What Are the Cons of Biofuel Energy?
1. This energy source requires equipment to produce it.
The fuel itself may be carbon neutral, but the manufacturing equipment is far from it. The creation of the tools to make biofuel energy consumes fossil fuels and creates carbon emissions and is often ignored in atmospheric impact calculations.
2. It reduces the amount of croplands for food.
Global hunger is a serious problem everywhere. Even in the US, 1 in 5 children regularly misses meals and goes hungry. It may be unethical to designated lands for biofuel energy when there are people to feed.
3. They are more expensive.
Biofuel energy typically costs about 20% more than traditional fuels right now. It also typically burns faster, which means more of it must be consumed in order to get similar results.
Biofuel energy may be the future, but we’ve got to reach the future first. By weighing the pros and cons of this energy, we can find the right path that leads us to environmental, economic, and ethical stability so that everyone can benefit from this technology.
Crystal Lombardo is a contributing editor for Vision Launch. Crystal is a seasoned writer and researcher with over 10 years of experience. She has been an editor of three popular blogs that each have had over 500,000 monthly readers.
