subject: What Biofuel Means For Us, The Economy, The Ecology, And The Future Of Our Civilization [print this page] It's very easy to look at the world around us and assume that it's always going to provide us with what we need. After all, it's done it so far, right? We haven't run out of anything yet. Mother Nature was meant to be self-sufficient, we don't really have to worry about that.
Here's the catch, though. Mother Nature was, in fact, designed to be self-sustaining. Had the environment been allowed to grow and thrive the way it was intended, we wouldn't have a problem. Natural predatory systems would be in place. Plants and animals would be abundant. The earth itself would overflow with the precious natural resources we take for granted, including the oil we need to make our fuel.
Mother Nature did not know about how we would commercialize her resources or visualize the speed with which we lap them up. She didn't see that the population would explode while still relying heavily on these natural resources - this population that would eventually deplete nature's resources at a far greater rate than they could be replenished.
In short, when the earth's natural ecological rhythms evolved, it didn't count on us stepping in and messing things up.
The Need for Biofuel
The earth has taken millenniums to replace natural resources used in the production of petroleum. It takes far less time than that to grow and convert natural oils which are capable of replacing fossil fuels in specific testing environments. This process is not unusual throughout the European continent.
The conventional biofuels are produced from sugar, starch and vegetable oils, normal commodities found in everyone's kitchen. As a matter of fact, there are currently programs underway to transform restaurant food waste into biofuel. This is how common and simple it can be to find resources we need for a sustainable energy solution.
The Advantages of Biofuel
"We should increase our development of alternative fuels, taking advantage of renewable resources, like using corn and sugar to produce ethanol or soybeans to produce biodiesel." - Bobby Jindal, Governor of Louisiana
Right now, we find ourselves in fierce competition for the natural resources needed to create conventional fuels with countries overseas. This competition drives up the price, limits the availability of the product and generally makes it a non-sustainable form of energy.
The raw materials for biofuel can be grown domestically rather than having to be imported, which means that we have a longer-lasting supply in a more sustainable system than we have right now. Biofuel is cleaner. It dramatically reduces the amount of damage present-day transportation systems are doing to our air supply. Did I mention production is much cheaper, too?
So Why Hasn't Biofuel Taken Over the Fuel Business Yet?
With that many benefits in its corner, why isn't biofuel owning the transportation market in this country? There are a number of reasons biofuel hasn't run traditional oil companies out of business, yet. Many of those reasons have to do with the way we're making cars these days. Many biofuel techniques are still in the testing stage.
In short, while we don't see biofuel taking over the oil industry just yet, it's only a matter of time. When that day comes, everyone's going to feel the benefits. Starting with Mother Nature.
