Rowshon Begam - My Blog
Fossil fuel, when burnt, releases CO2 in to the atmosphere and so does bio-fuel. But we call bio-fuel safer because fossil fuel unleashes the CO2 which is trapped below the ground and adds more to the atmosphere whereas bio-fuel recycles the existing amount of CO2. Therefore, bio-fuel production is set to increase by nearly 90 percent over the next 10 years to reach 192 billion liters by 2018. The production of bio-fuel needs crops/plants as raw material. Corn is a major candidate to be used in bio-fuel production which is also a major food grain in many part of the world.
Another scenario of the world is food crisis in developing countries. World population is currently 6.7 billion which is predicted to reach 9 billion by 2050. In 2009, 1.02 billion people have been undernourished worldwide. To feed the increased population, food production needs to be increased by 70% by 2050. If I add up the increased demand of crop production for both food and bio-fuel, crop cultivation needs to be almost doubled or more than that.
Crop cultivation heavily depends on supply of nitrogen fertilizer. With increased crop production, application of nitrogen fertilizer is being increased rapidly. The annual application of nitrogen has increased from 1.3 million metric ton (MMt) in 1930 to 10.2 MMt in 1960 worldwide and this is predicted to increase up to 240 MMt by the year 2050 (I’m not sure if bio-fuel issue was considered in this prediction). Research has shown that 50-70% of the applied nitrogen is being lost from the plant-soil system. This nitrogen, escaped from the farming system, is causing eutrophication worldwide. Many of our lakes, streams and marine eco systems are already badly affected. Nitrogen fertilization also causes emission of N-ox (oxides of nitrogen) to the atmosphere. N-ox as a green house gas is worse than CO¬2.
Looking at these statistics, I myself wonder whether we need to change the type of fuel we use or change our lifestyle!!!
(Some of the statistics were taken from FAO official website).
Another scenario of the world is food crisis in developing countries. World population is currently 6.7 billion which is predicted to reach 9 billion by 2050. In 2009, 1.02 billion people have been undernourished worldwide. To feed the increased population, food production needs to be increased by 70% by 2050. If I add up the increased demand of crop production for both food and bio-fuel, crop cultivation needs to be almost doubled or more than that.
Crop cultivation heavily depends on supply of nitrogen fertilizer. With increased crop production, application of nitrogen fertilizer is being increased rapidly. The annual application of nitrogen has increased from 1.3 million metric ton (MMt) in 1930 to 10.2 MMt in 1960 worldwide and this is predicted to increase up to 240 MMt by the year 2050 (I’m not sure if bio-fuel issue was considered in this prediction). Research has shown that 50-70% of the applied nitrogen is being lost from the plant-soil system. This nitrogen, escaped from the farming system, is causing eutrophication worldwide. Many of our lakes, streams and marine eco systems are already badly affected. Nitrogen fertilization also causes emission of N-ox (oxides of nitrogen) to the atmosphere. N-ox as a green house gas is worse than CO¬2.
Looking at these statistics, I myself wonder whether we need to change the type of fuel we use or change our lifestyle!!!
(Some of the statistics were taken from FAO official website).
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