Posts
Suitable Biofuels crop: Palms Nursery in Southern Cameroons (Courtesy of the Cameroon Development Corporation Inc)
By Louis Egbe Mbua
The two hundred year match from the barely primitive to economic susperstardom by human is grudgingly screeching to a humiliating halt if energy figures are to be believed. What made this industrial miracle happened is, ambivalently, what will bring down man's civilisation. Ironically, Fossil fuels, that have powered this industrial miracle have the double edged; and unenviable position of putting a stopper on the overheating economic race to space.
China, India and what is today called the Asian economic Tigers are now demanding what they consider their fair share of energy so as to power their way into the Premier League of nations; and all the privileges that come with it -- high standards of living, prestigious Space exploration and Space Tourism; the fanciful, and perhaps misguided expectation to be given a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council. But the trouble is that fossil fuels will run out; and there is a large body of evidence strongly suggesting that they will not be present in any discernibly viable quantities, in half a century's time span, to sustain these massive economic appetites and conspicuous consumption that will ensue.
Fossil fuels in the form of crude oil, gas and coal are at an exhausting point. That they are non-renewable adds another equation into this grave and intractable crisis; further precipitating the problem with oil now reaching $100 per barrel. In addition, two hundred years of rapacious utilisation of this primary commodity to advance society was done at a great price to the environment; and more devastatingly, at the expense of the warming of the earth as a result of the green house effect from accumulations of excess carbon oxides under the protective earth shield. This has given rise to the Global Warming Phenomenon that has caused now caused the Climate Change terror.
Climate Change itself, although discovered in the 1800s, is a new phenomenon to the modern world. Its effects are now felt but its long term social and climatic impacts on the earth have been predicted to fall under the category of the encapsulating cataclysmic. On the other hand, humans need fuel to advance and live; while at the same time, this acceptable act appears to have become unacceptable in light of environmental concerns and Climate Change. This has caused scientists and policy makers to suggest and research on alternative, renewable and sustainable source of energy that eliminates or minimises environmental damage and Climate change. Alternatives have included wind power, Hydro-electric technology, nuclear power, Hydrogen conversion from water, tidal wave power and geothermal energy utilisation. However, these energy technologies are not sustainable nor are they safe and reliable enough to compete with the enormous energy released be harnessed from Fossils when they are burned.
Biofuels are turning out to be powerful and sustainable competitors to fossil fuels because they are extracted and produced from normally grown crops. Two kinds of Biofuels exist: Biodiesel which is a blend of fuel from oil rich crops such as palm, soy, rape and groundnuts; Bioethanol acts for petrol and is made from high yielding starchy and carbohydrate crops such as sugar cane, bananas, wheat, maize, millet and cassavas. Thus a local farmer and a shrewd investor can be overnight transformed from subsistence worker into a Biofuel millionaire. The Biofuels are the New Black Gold.
The next publication on this subject will look at: how Biofuels are produced locally and at an industrial scale; their potential as a fuel to rival crude oil; which countries stand to benefit; and the environmental, political, social and economic implications on these massive shifts of paradigm.
Climate Change itself, although discovered in the 1800s, is a new phenomenon to the modern world. Its effects are now felt but its long term social and climatic impacts on the earth have been predicted to fall under the category of the encapsulating cataclysmic. On the other hand, humans need fuel to advance and live; while at the same time, this acceptable act appears to have become unacceptable in light of environmental concerns and Climate Change. This has caused scientists and policy makers to suggest and research on alternative, renewable and sustainable source of energy that eliminates or minimises environmental damage and Climate change. Alternatives have included wind power, Hydro-electric technology, nuclear power, Hydrogen conversion from water, tidal wave power and geothermal energy utilisation. However, these energy technologies are not sustainable nor are they safe and reliable enough to compete with the enormous energy released be harnessed from Fossils when they are burned.
Biofuels are turning out to be powerful and sustainable competitors to fossil fuels because they are extracted and produced from normally grown crops. Two kinds of Biofuels exist: Biodiesel which is a blend of fuel from oil rich crops such as palm, soy, rape and groundnuts; Bioethanol acts for petrol and is made from high yielding starchy and carbohydrate crops such as sugar cane, bananas, wheat, maize, millet and cassavas. Thus a local farmer and a shrewd investor can be overnight transformed from subsistence worker into a Biofuel millionaire. The Biofuels are the New Black Gold.
The next publication on this subject will look at: how Biofuels are produced locally and at an industrial scale; their potential as a fuel to rival crude oil; which countries stand to benefit; and the environmental, political, social and economic implications on these massive shifts of paradigm.
No comments:
Post a Comment