by Jocelyn-19, 26 June 2007

“Fruit could make powerful fuel,” reports BBC’s environmental reporter.

“In both the European Union and the United States, politicians have heartily embraced biofuels as a way of reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and dependency on imported oil.”

It is found that fructose in fruits can be converted into an important source of fuel. It can store 40% more energy than ethanol, which is obtained from corn. Given that it does not evaporate as easily and can be conveniently obtained from fruits, plants and glucose, how can we not get excited that this natural “fuel” might be taking over carbon-emitting ones?

Ultimately, wouldn’t it be ironic if the solution to the oil crisis and the climate change crisis is delivered once again from nature? It wasn’t enough that Newton discovered gravity itself as a result of an apple falling on his head, or biblical Eve before that causing us all to be banished from Paradise eating from the fruit tree!

Hopefully, the switch to biofuels will provide cheap and clean energy services to people who lack them around the globe. It will also create job opportunities and generate more income streams for people in developing countries.

“The impact on society we’re hoping will be far wider than simply ‘we can give you a fuel now with a tenfold reduction in its carbon footprint’. … Imagine now if chemicals that we use in the chemical industry also came from the same feed stock; and that the aircraft we fly to New York in also run on this? There’s the big potential,” said Jeremy Tomkinson of the UK’s National Non-Food Crops Centre to the BBC News.

Critics and the UN warn countries on the impacts of using biofuels:
The growing demand for fruits, they say, people may have to clear more lands for plantation. Increased deforestation means there are less trees to absorb carbon in the atmosphere. The switch to biofuels may in turn hamper the ecosystem. Besides, farmers will be encouraged to re-allocate farmland resources to fuel production, bidding up food prices and leading to social instability.

“… the price of food, land and agricultural commodities could be driven up… on the environmental side, the demand for biofuels has accelerated the clearing of primary forest for palm plantations, particularly in SE Asia. Use of large scale mono-cropping could lead to significant biodiversity loss, soil erosion and nutrient leaching,” states the UN report, Sustainable Bioenergy: A Framework for Decision Makers.

Well, the use of biofuels has its drawbacks in the absolute sense BUT COMPARATIVELY speaking, isn’t it much more environmentally friendly than using carbon-fuels?
Nevertheless, can’t those potential problems be avoided as long as the government define in legal terms the percentage of natural reserves farmlands should retain?

I would rather have blue skies without turning to the alternative - nuclear energy!

Click here for iCubed.us’ article on Alternative Fuels

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