After reading the Green Dreams article, the best biofuel is the cellulose-produced biofuel. This is primarily because the production is not dependent on food crops like other ethanol production processes that use corn, soybeans, or sugarcane. Accordingly, rather than use the kernels to produce ethanol, it is possible to use the cellulose that is found in corn plants. As such, cellulose-focused biofuel production does not compete with food crops. Accordingly, the production of ethanol using cellulose is safer because it reduces the rate of global warming considerably taking into consideration that it involves use of heat and acid then fermenting the resultant dark brown goo. On the other hand, the use of corn to produce biofuel requires the use of chemicals such as nitrogen fertilizer and herbicide. Also, corn contributes greatly to soil erosion and the production of corn ethanol use up just about the as much fossil fuel as the amount of fossil fuel that the ethanol deposes.
Consequently, the use of corn, sugarcane, or soybeans to produce biofuels causes considerable rise in prices for these crops. This scenario would trigger expansion of the corn fields to cover wildlife and other conservation areas. The expansion of such fields may contribute to an increase in carbon emission or other harmful gases such as nitrous oxide and methane when sugarcane fields are burnt. In contrast, production of cellulose requires considerably less space and efforts. This is precisely because it requires different raw materials that comprise use of byproducts from other production processes and cellulose energy sources from nature.
As compared with sugarcane, cellulose can produce the same amount of ethanol per acre as sugarcane, which is more than what corn produces. For instance, the amount of biofuel from produced from an acre of sugarcane is estimated to be 19,000 liters per year as compared to one acre of corn that produces 1,135 liters per year. Cellulose and sugarcane are estimated to produce equal amount of biofuel per acre (Bourne 2007). Hence, considering all the factors, the use of cellulose to produce biofuel is far better than the use of sugarcane and corn.
Work Cited
Bourne, Joel. Green Dreams: Making fuel from crops could be good for the planet—after a
breakthrough or two. National Geographic Magazine, 2007.
