What are problems associated with biofuels?

What are problems associated with biofuels?

Environmental?

Social?

Economic?



Cheers :)What are problems associated with biofuels?Environmentally - it is complete myth that the production of biofuels is a carbon neutral or even low carbon alternative to fossil fuels. Agriculture, at least the system of industrial agriculture used in the West, is an energy intensive process: the manufacture of nitrogen fertiliser uses a lot of fossil fuel energy (natural gas), tractors and combine harvesters use energy, the transport and processing of the product uses energy. In fact, most types of biofuel use almost as much fossil fuel energy as the energy that they provide when used. Some types (eg. from sugar) also produce a lot of pollution from the processing. So, biofuels are generally a con. It would be simpler and more honest to just burn the fossil fuel.

Economic - the attraction of biofuels is that they earn a lot of money for farmers, who have a powerful lobby in countries like the US. They also earn votes for politicians who can claim to be doing something for the environment, for the agriculture industry and for energy security (reducing dependence on foreign supplies of oil), even though those claims are mostly untrue. Meanwhile, as the food supply for people is dramatically reduced (the US used to be a main international supplier of grain, but now (or soon will be according to its biofuel plans) burns most of the maize it used to export, so food prices have gone up around the world.

Social - poor people in many countries are starving. Their are food riots (rarely report in the western press). There is social and political tension.What are problems associated with biofuels?We sacrifice food for human consumption and use it for fuel

Environmentally, it is nearly carbon-neutral assuming the conversion process is carbon-neutral

Economically it increases food pricesWhat are problems associated with biofuels?increased nipple growth