Sustainability of BioFuels

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2010

Interest in liquid biofuels production and use has increased worldwide as part of government policies to address the growing scarcity and riskiness of petroleum use, and, at least in theory, to help mitigate adverse global climate change. The existing biofuels markets are dominated by U.S. ethanol production based on cornstarch, Brazilian ethanol production based on sugarcane, and European biodiesel production based on rapeseed oil. Other promising efforts have included programs to shift toward the production and use of biofuels based on residues and waste materials from the agricultural and forestry sectors, and perennial grasses, such as switchgrass and miscanthusso-called cellulosic ethanol. This article reviews these efforts and the recent literature in the context of ecological economics and sustainability science. Several common dimensions for sustainable biofuels are discussed: scale (resource assessment, land availability, and land use practices); efficiency (economic and energy); equity (geographic distribution of resources and the "food versus fuel" debate); socio-economic issues; and environmental effects and emissions. Recent proposals have been made for the development of sustainable biofuels criteria, culminating in standards released in Sweden in 2008 and a draft report from the international Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels. These criteria hold promise for accelerating a shift away from unsustainable biofuels based on grain, such as corn, and toward possible sustainable feedstock and production practices that may be able to meet a variety of social, economic, and environmental sustainability criteria.

Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 2009

Sustainable energy is the problem of the 21st century. If biofuels want to be part of the solution they must accept a degree of scrutiny unprecedented in the development of a new industry. That is because sustainability deals explicitly with the role of biofuels in ensuring the well-being of our planet, our economy, and our society both today and in the future. Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been the standard framework for assessing sustainability of biofuels. These assessments show that corn ethanol has a marginally lower fossil energy and greenhouse gas footprint compared to petroleum fuel. Sugarcane ethanol and some forms of biodiesel offer substantially lower footprints. New biofuels may offer low footprints. The science of LCA is being stretched to its limits as policy makers consider direct and indirect effects of biofuels on global land and water resources, global ecosystems, air quality, public health, and social justice.

2010

The paper presents an overview of the sustainability principles applied to biofuels analysis. Sustainable biofuel production is economically competitive, conserves the natural resource base, and ensures social well-being. There is a strong trend to look for fossil fuel substitutes; nowadays the leading option seems to be the biofuels. In terms of environmental sustainability, the most promising effects are related with emissions of particulate matter and GHG. The economic dimension of sustainability is positive to the agriculture sector, but at the same time biofuel production will mean raising prices of the food market. Moreover, biofuels do not constitute a path to avoid increasing in local fuel prices by international fluctuation of fossil fuel prices. Social sustainability is not clearly positive or negative as well. Depending on operational conditions such, agrochemical use, land rotation, source of energy to feed the process, and security measures for leakages, the sustainabil...

Biofuels and Sustainability, 2018

2013

Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2009

The imminent decline of the world's oil production, its high market prices and environmental impacts have made the production of biofuels to reach unprecedent volumes over the last 10 years. This is why there have been intense debates among international organizations and political leaders in order to discuss the impacts of the biofuel use intensification.Besides assessing the causes of the rise in the demand and production of biofuels, this paper also shows the state of the art of their world's current production. It is also discussed different vegetable raw materials sources and technological paths to produce biofuels, as well as issues regarding production cost and the relation of their economic feasibility with oil international prices. The environmental impacts of programs that encourage biofuel production, farmland land requirements and the impacts on food production are also discussed, considering the life cycle analysis (LCA) as a tool.It is concluded that the rise in the use of biofuels is inevitable and that international cooperation, regulations and certification mechanisms must be established regarding the use of land, the mitigation of environmental and social impacts caused by biofuel production. It is also mandatory to establish appropriate working conditions and decent remuneration for workers of the biofuels production chain.

This paper provides policy relevant information on the assessment of the environmental and social costs, benefits, the critical developments and the options for a more sustainable use of biomass and measures to increase resource productivity of biofuels. In the 21 st century biofuels are considered as economically efficient, socially equitable, and environmentally safe substitute of gasoline. The USA and Brazil produce major portion of the global biofuels. The expansion of biofuels conflicts arise around the food vs. fuel debate and the desirability, feasibility and sustainability of biofuels. At present more than two billion people in the world are suffering from hunger and more are suffering from nutritional deficits. If the production of biofuels be increased continually, more than half of the people of the world will starve around 2020 and most of them will suffer in poorer nations. The paper stresses not to violate human rights in producing biofules.

Ecological Chemistry and Engineering S, 2013

Nowadays world faces crisis caused by growing energy demand. Threat of climate change caused by the increased emission of CO2 from burning of fossil fuels exerts pressure on wider use of renewable energy resources. It is believed that one of important resources of renewable energy are biofuels. In the paper we present that in the most cases it is not true. Wide use of biofuel, especially in European Union, poses threat to sustainable development of today’s world. It is going to be presented that the production of biofuels from agricultural crops is, in many cases, unsustainable due to the fact that it reduces the access to food by devoting cultivatable land to crops designated for the production of biofuels. What is more, it has also negative influence on the environment, namely it reduces biodiversity, pollute water and, what is curious, not in all cases the use of biofuels leads to the reduction of CO2 emission.

Zastita materijala

Bioenergy, or energy derived from biomass, today is recognized as an important component in many energy scenarios, being an integral part of various global, regional, and national policies and strategies. This has led to intensified research into more efficient biofuel production. This paper explains the advantages, disadvantages, and problems related to the production of biofuels from different types of raw materials. Several examples of commercialized and demonstration plants for the production of biofuels in different parts of the world are listed. It is to be expected that, with greater use of modern biofuel production solutions, the contribution of these sources of (bio)energy will be the main part of future energy consumption from renewable sources.