Sanjiv Singh, 11th Grade

While gas prices rise to historic levels, Americans have been considering other sources of fuel such as biofuel (1). From ethanol to other forms of biofuel, the economic and environmental impacts could be enormous.

As gas prices skyrocket due to many factors and one being the war between Russia and Ukraine, many citizens have been unable to gain gasoline, leaving them unable to work. As a result, people have been asking for alternatives. One alternative source of energy is biofuel. Biofuel is created by converting existing biomass into usable energy (2). Biomass is any organic matter used as fuel (11). Ethanol is a renewable energy source made out of different plants. Ethanol is combined with gasoline to reduce smog production and increase octane amount (2). Biodiesel is another biofuel produced by vegetable oil and animal fat, making it a renewable source (2). Biodiesel is not toxic and is biodegradable, unlike fossil fuels, making it safer for human use (2). Biofuels can either be mixed with regular fossil fuels or used on their own.

So, biofuels seem like they are a great alternative to fossil fuels right to help the environment right? Not so fast! As it turns out, producing biofuels might actually cause more harm to the environment than good (3). As there is an increased use of biofuels in fuel consumption, more land is turned from holding green forests that hold tons of carbon dioxide to releasing it into the atmosphere, so that the land can be used to farm crops, which is the biomass turned into biofuel (3). As a result, natural diversity and habitats for wildlife will start to disappear. Not even that, but the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by clearing the land won’t even be reclaimed since the crops produced will be converted into biofuel to be released again into the environment! Yes, biofuels will reduce the amount of production of toxic gases and each time biofuels are used will produce less greenhouse gases compared to fossil fuels, depending on the type of biomass used, it can cause more greenhouse gases in the entire process than some fossil fuels based on the amount energy produced per greenhouse gases (4). Production of biofuels can also increase the amount of water pollution is present by introduction of nutrients, pesticides, and sediment. The use of water might also exacerbate the drought-like conditions of many places due to climate change, such as California and India (4). Luckily, newer generations of biofuel involve waste products such as nonedible parts of plants, and algae, which would already be produced, and not significantly increase the greenhouse gases released. In the end, although on paper the prospect of biofuels seems a bright and green alternative to fossil fuels, they might cause just as much, if not more problems to the environment.

So, what about the economy? How does biofuels affect gas prices, and what else is affected by biofuels? Well, since biofuels would be decreasing some of the demand for fossil fuels, prices would start going down. This would seem good, until the lower prices would cause poorer countries to return to buying fossil fuels, causing higher environmental impacts (5). The use of biofuels would cause higher food prices as crops are turned into biofuels, leaving the poorer countries that depend on imports to face higher prices in food, or starve (4). The higher food prices might cause some to turn away from plants and look towards meat, which would not help. Luckily, it is believed that the increase in food prices would only be short-term and food prices would return to normal as farmers adapt to an increase in need for crops (5). However, the change in diets will cause an increase in price in other crops that tend to be more stable, leading to a decrease in their demand (5). Jobs created by biofuel is predicted to be 807,000 by this year, and is predicted to produce approximately 148.7 billion USD this year in the USA(6). Depending on the type of biofuel used, and what it is produced from, biofuel can introduce jobs in places that are lacking job opportunities (9). Biofuel use can reduce reliance on unstable countries like Russia (8). As I have said before, newer generations of biofuel rely on waste products instead of food crops. Waste such as algae is easy to produce, creating a cheap supply, and thus, a large profit can be devised from the biofuel economy (7). A major problem with biofuel however is that in the majority of cars biofuel is not rated to be put into the engine on its own (9). So, biofuel in the long run will likely improve the economy, even with the hardships the industry currently faces.

While we are focusing on transitioning away from fossil fuels to help our environment and to reduce reliance on unstable countries for energy, we should focus on transitioning to clean, renewables like solar, wind and nuclear instead of biofuels. Not only is biofuel bad for the environment, which is the main reason biofuels are even considered, renewable energy like solar and wind is both cheaper, cleaner, but also easier to maintain, produce, and use (10). We should focus on turning to electricity instead of green washing ourselves with energy that will likely cause more harm than good. With the increased usage of renewable energy that is clean and safe to procure, we can all help make the world a better place to live in for future generations.

Citations:
1. Skor, Emily, “More Biofuels Means Lower Gas Prices”, Ethanol Producer Magazine, (2022)
2. Bioenergy Technologies Office, “Biofuel Basics”, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, (2021)
3. Phillips, Ashley, “Biofuel: Bad for the Environment?”, ABC News, (2009)
4. United States Environmental Protection Agency, “Economics of Biofuels”, EPA, (2022)
5. Chakravorty, Ujjayant, et al, “The Long-Run Impacts of Biofuel on Food Prices”, Resources for the Future, (2015)
6. Biotechnology Innovation Organization, “U.S. Economic Impact of Advanced Biofuel Production”, Bio.org
7. Hill, Jason, et al, “Environmental, economic, and energetic costs and benefits of biodiesel and ethanol biofuels” , PNAS, (2006)
8. SG Biofuels, “Top Ten Uses for Biofuel”, SGBbiofuels.com,(2016)
9. Biofuel Industry News, “What is Biofuel?-Definition, Advantages, Examples, and Uses”, Petro Online,(2021)
10. Viaspace, “Biomass Compared to Fossil Fuels, Solar and Wind”, viaspace.com,(2022)
11. US Energy Information Administration, “Biomass Explained”, eia.gov, (2022)