Were the Production of Agrofuels Really Helpful in Balancing Our Climate?

It was not long ago that agrofuels were considered a substitute to fossil fuels and that they were heavily utilized in the transport sector. Moreover, fossil fuels were considered harmful for the environment due to their carbon dioxide emission and this in turn spiked the production of agrofuels to such an extent, that large companies were given tax incentives to produce corn-based ethanol and biodiesel from oilseed, which were advertised as a perfect solution to climate change.

EU countries focused on fulfilling 10% of their fuel requirements by agrofuels by 2020, while the US wants to utilize 36 billion gallons by 2022, which adds more incentive on companies for the mass production of crops just for the use in agrofuels.

 

But There is a problem 

 

While the replacement of fossil fuels by agrofuels should - like many people would have assumed - have caused a positive change for the climate, the vast production of agrofuels has led to the destruction of huge swath of land.

 

Large areas of forests, that are cleared in various locations like Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil, and South Africa, in order to plant crops that produce agrofuel, have not only led to deforestation, which is a loss of home for people and various animals and birds, but has also had a heavy negative impact on the climate.

 

So, What About The Belief That Agrofuels Produce Less Greenhouse Gases?

 

Greenhouse gases are well known to increase the global warming phenomenon and many people also believed that agrofuels could potentially reduce the greenhouse gas emissions. But this is factually wrong.

 

Many agrofuel crops, which are supposed to store crop biomass and reduce carbon dioxide from the air, produce excess amounts of nitrous oxide as a result of using nitrogen fertilizers. Alongside this, the highly industrialized cultivation, the process of fermenting various crops like corn, soybean, palm and sugarcane to procure bioethanol and collecting feedstock, which have to be then transported to production plants, which produce fuel and distributes them to different locations, consumes a lot fuel and energy. So, on the whole, more greenhouse gases are emitted during this entire process, which in turn causes climatic changes and natural disasters.

 

What Happens to OurForests?

 

It is a well known fact, that the forests and fields which are needed to produce food crops, are being cleared to plant energy crops. So not only do we lose our forests and trees, which absorb carbon dioxide to give us pure air, the purity of the soil is also lost in the way of organic matter, which in turn releases more carbon dioxide and GHG emissions. Also, the food prices are inflated, which have led to food shortages. So not just for conserving our environment, the damage which occurs is huge.

 

Final outcome

 

While agrofuels have received much needed attention over the past decade and have in a large way helped Europe and US to reach the much-needed renewable energy consumption targets, the wider picture is not that great. The amount of carbon dioxide produced in producing ethanol or biodiesel in large quantities is not helping the question of whether it is protecting our environment and causing less air pollution, which is the utmost need of present times.

 

The significant increase in temperatures and the damage caused by agrofuels are highly debatable topics. Concerns have been raised by several experts regarding the continuation of agrofuel usage while new methods are yet available, where electricity and hydrogen can be substituted to reduce the use of agrofuels.

Also, ways of restoring our forests and preserving our carbon rich ecosystems are being looked into to help restore the balance in our environment and reduce drastic climatic changes. Read more about it at elstel.org