Introduction:
- Biofuel – A fuel produced through – biological processes.
- Can be derived indirectly from commercial, industrial or domestic wastes or directly from – plants.
- Biofuels → same application ≈ fossil fuels
- Types biofuel → First generation + second generation + third generation
- Biofuels → ↓ carbon intensity so that they don’t affect – global warming directly.
- ↑ biofuel production → direct impact on land & environment.
- Unintended impact of biofuel on – biodiversity, food & water.
- Water scarcity – proves to be limiting factor for – biofuel feedstock production.
- Large scale and ↑ use of biofuels → degrade quality of - water.
- WHO → recorded ↑proportion malnourished people – 3.7 billion, 2005
- Irrigation – importance → 17% irrigated crops contributes ↔ 40% world food supply
- ↑ biofuel use → ↓ oxygen content within soil ↔ affecting plant growth.
- (Ajanovic, 2011)
Hook: US waterways each year → ~1.5 billion metric tons of soil wash carrying - pesticides and fertilizers ↔ corn agriculture.
(Engel et al., 2010)
Thesis: The report describes about various negative impacts that biofuel usage can cause over consumption of water and food resources which leads to the scarcity of water sources and food products.
Body Paragraph 1:
Topic Sentence: Increment in the demand of ethanol based biofuels has provided the boost to the production of corn crops which put the bad effect on the quality of water and supply.
Causes:
- To produce ethanol for the fuel → ↑ corn crops = causes soil erosion ⸪ of ↓ spreading of roots.
- Corn crops → more fertilizer ≠ other biofuel crops.
- Biofuel crops need ↑ quantity of water → ↑ scarcity of water resources.
- Phosphorus + Nitrogen in fertilizer → mixing in rivers & streams ⸪ of soil erosion → Oxygen depleted states.
Effects:
- These will → ↑ area in the regions → dry states ⸪ of less sources of water.
- 5B metric tons – soil wash every year = drain of pesticides + fertilizers of corn crop = results in ↓ productivity.
- Usage of ↑ water in irrigation → ↓ supply of drinking water.
- Additional abstraction of water → - impact on water sources + wetlands.
- (Mathews & Tan, 2009)
Body Paragraph 2:
Topic Sentence: The production of the Biofuel crop has increased in compare to the other vegetable crops which has adverse effect on the prices of the food as the food products will become more expensive for people.
Causes:
- With the ↑ production in the biofuel crops = corn crops → ↓ production in the food crops.
- ↑ rate of land acquire for = biofuels crops → ↓ production of food crops.
- Scarcity of water → poor growth of food crops.
- The soil erosion = drain of fertilizer in the river & stream → poor quality of food.
- Demand of food products ≠ supply of food products → problems in society.
Effects:
- ↑ production of Biofuel crops → scarcity in food products.
- ↓ quality of food products ⸪ of less fertilizer & water.
- The price of food products ↑ by 3.5% - 4.5% in 1 year ⸪ of ↑ in the production of Biofuel crops.
- The corn prices ↑ from $2.00 bushel to $3.40 in 1 year.
- (Kaye-Blake, 2010)
References:
- Ajanovic, A. (2011). Biofuels versus food production: Does biofuels production increase food prices?. Energy, 36(4), 2070-2076. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2010.05.019
- Cadenas, A. & Cabezudo, S. (1998). Biofuels as Sustainable Technologies: Perspectives for Less Developed Countries. Technological Forecasting And Social Change, 58(1-2), 83-103. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0040-1625(97)00083-8
- Engel, B., Chaubey, I., Thomas, M., Saraswat, D., Murphy, P., & Bhaduri, B. (2010). Biofuels and water quality: challenges and opportunities for simulation modeling. Biofuels, 1(3), 463-477. http://dx.doi.org/10.4155/bfs.10.17
- Kaye-Blake, W. (2010). Biofuel and food: it’s complicated. Biofuels, 1(4), 511-514. http://dx.doi.org/10.4155/bfs.10.27
- Lopez-Garcia,. (2007). Biofuels: The Impact on Food Availability and Quality. Cereal Foods World. http://dx.doi.org/10.1094/cfw-52-4-0211
Mathews, J. & Tan, H. (2009). Biofuels and indirect land use change effects: the debate continues. Biofuels, Bioproducts And Biorefining, 3(3), 305-317. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/bbb.147
