Will biofuel creates a new set of problems to our environment if it fully replaces crude oil ?

Answer 1

Biofuels may create new problems, however the problems that they solve are extremely severe.

Oil peaking and the possibility of global economic collapse.

Global warming and the possibility of global environmental collapse.

Current health impacts of millions of excess deaths each year.

All of these problems are very real and will be solved one way or another. If we ignore them the solutions will be very unfortunate for humans. If we tackle them, biofuels must be one of the tools we use. Certainly we have the opportunity to mitigate the new problems that biofuels will bring because our prior experience with unintended consequences has made us wiser.

The fact that you even ask the question is proof. Do you think people were asking questions like this 100 years ago when we were embarking on the wide spread use of fossil fuels? I don't.

Answer 2

It won't create an new set of problems it will just exacerbate some existing ones. The problem with bio-fuels is not with the fuels them selves it's with the system that they feed. Every living thing on the planet meets it's basic food and energy needs utilizing the resources in its local, and they do it in a way that maintains those resources indefinitely. If they didn't they would have gone extinct already. We are the only species that import almost all of our food and energy from some other place. Up until now this has allowed us to fuel our exponential population growth. There has always been some new place we could exploit. We have run out of those places. Switching to bio-fuels will just push us to exploit more land using the agricultural methods that are creating deserts and wastelands all over the world. The only way bio-fuels would help solve the problems is if they are locally produced and locally used, and it is done in a way that strengthens the local resource base rather than uses it up.

Answer 3

Well, this is a great question. The idiots out there are all rushing to "the biofuel solution". Biofuel is simply a renewable, you grown something (consuming CO2) , create biofuel from it, then burn it (creating CO2). Doesnt that sound great!
Problem, how do you grow enough without damaging the environment, without adding more energy than you get back, without tearing up the rain forest, the list is endless.
But.... it is attractive to politicians and other stupid groups who do not think things through.

At the moment we can achieve huge things by conservation. Lets start with small turbocharged diesel engines and we can all jump to 50miles to the gallon.

Answer 4

Yep, the basis of biofuel is biomass, namely sugarcane, corn, etc.; these same sources are also used in many instances as sources of food for humans. As the environment continues to degrade (i.e., loss of land), freshwater sources are depleted, and the overall human population continues to grow, a competition will be created between food vs. biofuel. In addition, to meet the demands of food and biofuel, more land will be needed to grow a supply that can meet these demands. As such, more marginal lands, in countries such as Africa, will be depleted in nutrients, eventually leading to desertification. These are just a few problems that are possible; however, these problems can be reduced with sustainable uses of the land.

Answer 5

Everything that man has come up with, has created problems for someone else. With the idiots in this old world it is bound to be a problem for someone. THE

Answer 6

Maybe.