Is bioethanol’s long-term sustainability undeniable?
The world’s ability to survive on fossil fuels is diminishing. The reserves are being tapped dry and we are having to work harder and harder to reach what’s left. Oil rigs across the world drill deeper and deeper at a higher and higher cost. Consequently, prices at the pumps keep rising, much to the public chagrin. Politicians argue over solutions; whether wind power is effective, whether “exploring” Alaska is a reasonable option, whether the nuclear risk is worth it.
Simultaneously, concern rises worldwide over the damage we are causing the environment. Spewing out excessive quantities of carbon dioxide is causing permanent harm as global temperature levels rise. Ironically, the rain-forests that might previously have been able to absorb a significant portion of it are, at the same time, being continually diminishing through deforestation. Entire ecosystems destroyed to make room for cattle fields and crops.
Bio-ethanol provides a solution. The renewable fuel is produced from sugarcane and can be manufactured in massive quantities. With only a minor adjustment, cars can run purely on this green fuel without any need for petrol. Because of its organic nature, each season brings a new crop, meaning society will never run dry, and, more importantly, this fuel instead of increasing the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, reduces the level of the greenhouse gas. It is a realistic alternative that the world should leap at.
As a country, Brazil could not be more ideal to produce bio-ethanol. The climate is perfectly suited to the crop. The high humidity, warm temperature and fertile soil match the plant exactly and the large expanses of unused space means that they have the volume of fallow land necessary to produce the quantity of fuel necessary to maximise the economies of scale. Brazilian bio-ethanol is the future of fuel. It’s renewable, sustainable and organic. It requires little technological adjustment and reduces the damage we have already done to the environment. Most importantly, its here today.
So goes the Brazilian bio-ethanol narrative. It’s all correct. It is a sustainable and realistic alternative to traditional fossil fuels. However, does the positivity over this new energy source mask the reality of the situation?
The quantity of sugarcane necessary to produce a sufficient amount of bio-ethanol is considerable and, in order to produce enough, many adjustments have had to be made. More land has been converted into agricultural fields leading to deforestation and waterway diversions. Communities have been moved in order to expand farms and nutritional crops replaced with more and more sugarcane. The desire for the highest possible yield has led to vast quantities of fertilisers being employed and soil becoming eroded through over-exertion, damaging fragile ecosystems both close and far from the fields. And beyond the farming practices, it’s possible that the process of converting Sugarcane into bio-ethanol might produce more carbon emissions than originally thought offsetting the positive reduction of greenhouse gases.
Therefore, is the resulting shift of land use in Brazil in order to produce this apparently more sustainable fuel really worth it?