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Afsar Gandhi (1051) Ajay Kumar(1052) Shashi Yadav (1037) Vijaybharthi A (1044)
Biofuels an Imperative
Energy security fears, Rising oil prices, Low barriers to entry and government support Strategic advantage to promote sustainable development
Biofuels an Imperative
Energy security fears, Rising oil prices, Low barriers to entry and government support Strategic advantage to promote sustainable development
Energy Information Administration in December 2008industry will not be able to meet these levels of production in time. Environmental Protection Agency announced that it would support higher biofuels production levels under the condition that producers cut greenhouse gas emissions of their refineries - including the emissions that are created during farming, transportation, blending, and consumption. The fact that biofuel production
Removes food stock from the food chain for human and animal consumption requirements, Increases demands upon soil, atmosphere and water and has a higher incidence of cost that any petroleum based fuel source. It is estimated that 100 million more people around the world have been forced into starvation status.
Biofuels are far less efficient than any petroleum based fuel source. The total cost of seed supply, irrigation requirements (water, pesticide, waste and runoff), manufacturing processes and distribution. Takes 34% more energy to produce a comparable BTU from food stock than from petroleum and 61% more than from natural gas.
Rural Development
Opportunities
2011-Study conducted to identify land available to grow biofuel crops enough available land to meet half of the world's fuel consumption without affecting food crops or pastureland. available land area - 2.7 million acres globally produce 26 to 56 percent of global current liquid fuel consumption.
Opportunities
the global distribution of combustible biomass favors developing countries provide potential for increasing farm income and aiding economic development receiving a higher price for their output Corn prices increased by 50% $5-6 per bushel-2008 $3.40 per bushel -2007
Opportunities
Farm income in the US increased by 4.1 % $92.3 billion in 2008 $88.7 billion in 2007 and up 51 percent from its ten year average. Average farm household income is forecast at $89,434, nearly 20 percent above the five year average from 2001-2006 (US Department of Agriculture).
Conclusion
Biofuels reduce GHG emission but at the cost of
Increase car travel Reduce biodiversity Reduce water availability and worsen water quality
References
Biofuel policy process in India: Context, Actors and Discourses by Shailesh Nagar http://woods.stanford.edu/docs/biofuels/Biofuels4a.pdf http://www.wri.org/stories/2009/06/rules-fuels-biofuels-andclimate-change-impacts http://sgp.undp.org/downloads/Zimbabwe_Biofuel.pdf http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/technology/biofuels/ http://www.mnre.gov.in/policy/biofuel-policy.pdf http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/globalwarming/biofuel-profile/ http://www.wikinvest.com/industry/Biofuels http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy99osti/24052.pdf http://ecnr.berkeley.edu/vfs/PPs/Sexton-Ste/web/RFA.pdf