How Biofuels Affect Our Society
Health Impacts of Biofuel
The term biofuels is no more used in simple term, as it has become a matter of government policy and business. Earlier, it was due to government initiatives and policy matters that the support to the growth of biofuels was provided by the governments worldwide, but things have become complicated with biofuels affecting populations on the health, social, and environmental aspects, which need urgent attention. It requires good policy-making with a clear goal. According to Lawrence (2010), the present U.S. biofuels authorizations are not loaded with exact and efficient tools to fulfil a policy-specific aim. This gives an inkling that any type of impact from biofuels, be it health, social, political or environmental, needs to be studied for taking correct policy-level decisions to reduce the negative impacts from biofuels.
Various government departments, including the Department of Health & Human Services, are concerned with health impacts of biofuels. Being energy related issue, the health impacts of biofuels cannot be sidelined. It requires enough attention to be made not only from health aspect but from environment impact appraisal of biofuels as well. Health has been the most ignored area of environmental impact assessments (EIAs) although it is mandatory under the National Environmental Policy Act (Institute of Medicine, 2014).
Laxity at the government level has been the leading cause of ignoring health aspects from biofuels, as the recommended procedure has not been followed regarding data-gathering and appraisal to derive evidence-based suggestions. More research needs to be conducted over health impacts from biofuels to the society (Institute of Medicine, 2014). Nevertheless, from the health perspective, similar to any energy source, biofuels being crop-based are relatively beneficial to other energy sources. Like any other crop, if its demand is higher, it can be grown on bigger land mass but it has its down side also. If crop is not enough, it cannot meet expected production. For instance, the production of ethanol in the US in 2012 went short of the expectations of the Renewable Fuel Standard because of poor harvest. According to the U.S. Energy Information Agency, the production of corn ethanol was good enough between 2006 and 2012 but drought of 2012 hit the production, forcing producers to depend on credits earned in the past years (Journalist’s Resource, 2014).
Impact of Biofuels on Political and Social Arena in Monetary Terms
In monetary terms, price volatility in the food and agricultural markets affects the production of biofuels. Production of biofuels is linked to the demand for food and feed crops, an important element of the monetary aspect. Stats can help better in understanding the money connection, for example, biofuels had contributed worldwide in the production of sugarcane (20%), vegetable oil and coarse grains (9%), and sugar beet (4%) during the years 2007- 2009. Future indications from these past trends suggest wider impacts on price increase due to biofuels production. Additionally, government mandates such as mixing definite parts of biofuels with fossil fuels or holding aims for parts of biofuels in energy consumption burdens the price inelasticity of demand, resulting in volatile price variations (OECD, 2011). Previous land use also impacts price, the type of cultivation done before the biofuels. It affects production, leading to shortage of the product, which finally becomes the cause of jump in prices, as per the law of supply and demand. Land use change happens at the government policy level, decision taken by the government, leading to price increase (Harald et al. 2013). Speaking of public response towards biofuels, Cacciatore et al. (2012) research the political connection, as informed by media. Democrats view media content more positively, impacting their opinions regarding biofuels, finding favour due to its technological aspect, while the Republicans in the U.S. react adversely to politically motivated media content over biofuels.
Environmental Impacts
White & Selfa (2013) study farmers’ interest, impacting their decisions to follow a new trend. They seem to be less worried about environmental issues from biofuels than showing keenness to know the benefits of novel practices, so that they may leverage from the information attained through available social networks. Farmers are more interested in knowing the government policies, providing them greater independence and adding to the greater societal good. Poudel et al. (2012) approximate future food needs to check the availability of land for biofuels production, keeping the 2050 food consumption scenario in view. Research reveals that biotechnology, research and development funding, irrigation, and cropping intensity can play a major role in increasing food production and saving more land for biofuels production from future perspective. Considering the ecological impression of biofuels, Fargione (2010) estimation of food-based biofuels is quite positive. As per the economic model estimates for land-use change (LUC) linked with food-based biofuels, these will increase greenhouse gas emissions for decades relative to routine business scenario. Biodiversity is affected; reduction is nearly 60% in U.S. corn and soybean fields compared to unchanged habitat. Solution to this risk factor can be possible by shifting biofuels production to degraded and waste land and cultivating wildlife-friendly crops.
References
Cacciatore, M. A., Binder, A. R., Scheufele, D.A., & Shaw, B. R. (2012). Public attitudes toward biofuels: Effects of knowledge, political partisanship and media use. Politics and the Life Sciences, 31(1-2), 36-51. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2990/31_1-2_36
Fargione, J. E., Plevin, R. J., & Hill, J. D. (2010). The ecological impact of biofuels. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 41, 351-377. doi: 10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-102209-144720
Harald, G., Deppermann, A., & Marquardt, S. (2013). Biofuels: Effects on global agricultural prices and climate change. Retrieved from https://www.oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org/files/biofuels_disk_papier2.pdf
Jordaan, S. M., Anadon, L.D., Mielke, E., & Schrag, D. P. (2013). Regional water implications of reducing oil imports with liquid transportation fuel alternatives in the United States. Environmental Science and Technology, 47 (21), 11976-11984. doi: 10.1021/es404130v
Journalist’s Resource. (2014). Biofuels, energy security, the environment and human health: Research roundup. Retrieved from Journalist’s Resource.org: http://journalistsresource.org/studies/environment/energy/biofuels-energy-environment-health
Lawrence, R. Z. (2010). How good politics results in bad policy: The case of biofuel mandates. Harvard Kennedy School, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Center for International Development, Working paper No. 200. Retrieved from http://belfercenter.hks.harvard.edu/publication/20354/how_good_politics_results_in_bad_policy.html
OECD. (2011). Price volatility in food and agricultural markets: policy responses policy. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/tad/agricultural-trade/48152638.pdf
Poudel, B. N., Paudel, K. P., Timilsina, G., & Zilberman, D. (2012). Providing numbers for a food versus fuel debate: An analysis of a future biofuel production scenario. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 34 (4), 637-668. doi: 10.1093/aepp/pps039
White, S.S., & Selfa, T. (2013). Shifting lands: exploring Kansas farmer decision-making in an era of climate change and biofuels production. Environmental Management, 51(2), 379-391. doi: 10.1007/s00267-012-9991-6
