Extraterritorial Dimensions of Biofuel Policies †MyAssignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about the Extraterritorial Dimensions of Biofuel Policies. Answer: Introduction: Biofuel is a type of fuel that comes from the materials of the renewable biomass that is mostly employed alternatively with the source of cleaner fuel in burning fossils (Walker, 2017). This type of fuel is of low carbon intensity, and therefore, they do not have a direct impact on global warming (Puri, Abraham Barrow 2012, p.1623). Besides, research suggests that the formulations from these fuels have the capability of removing materials like cooking oil and logging waste away from the stream of wastes. Biofuels became known right from the time man discovered fire. Its first form was wood, which was used for heating and cooking. Afterwards, it started being utilized in the form of electricity as it was used to produce electricity. Biofuels were discovered even before the fossil fuels but when the fossil fuels such as coal, gas and oil came into existence, the biofuels faced a major effect on their production and use. The fossil fuels with their advantages enabled the biofuels to gain popularity. Nikolaus August Otto, a German, was among the first persons to convince people to make use of ethanol. Rudolf Diesel, however, managed to make his diesel engine work with peanut oil (Bastos Lima Gupta 2014, p.394). After that, between 1903 and 1926, Henry Ford managed to change one of his models to use hemp which comes from biofuel. Unfortunately, petroleum became very cheap because of the massive introduction of crude oil and further reduced the use of biofuels as most vehicles changed to a much cheaper and efficient form of fuel. Thereafter, between 1973 and 1979, a dire crisis of fuel hit most countries due to the geopolitical conflict. As a corollary, in the 20th century, people started shifting to the use of biofuels with claims of rising oil prices, greenhouse gas emissions and the development of the rural areas. There are three main types of biofuels: ethanol, biodiesel, and biobutanol. Ethanol is more of pure alcohol and possibly the most permeating of the different types of biofuels that go into peoples tanks of gas. It is commonly made from sugarcane and corn, among other sources. Its advantages are that it is renewable, it boosts the economies of rural farming as its production help to reduce peoples reliance on foreign fossils, and it is cleaner since it emits less percentage of the greenhouse emissions (Walker, 2017). However, it also has a number of disadvantages: (1) It competes with the food supply industry since it is generated from sugarcane, corns and beets, which in turn increases the cost of these kinds of food. (2) It erodes soil and contaminates water supplies. (3) Compared to gasoline, its stored energy is less, which in turn reduces fuel mileage up to 30 percent. (4) In case it is used on engines or pipelines that are not designed for it, it can corrode them. Biodiesel is similar to the petroleum-based diesel fuel. It is derived from animal oils or vegetables. It is also renewable, boosts rural farming economies and can be recycled. Aside from that, it reduces tailpipe emissions, it has no sulfur and eradicates sulfur dioxide emanations. However, it is disadvantageous as it is quite costly, does not work with standard gasoline engines, and it is prone to cold weather since when the temperature goes down, it can gel up. Lastly, biobutanol is a type of biofuel that is derived from algae or bacteria. This type of biofuel is not well-known but it has an outstanding beauty since it can be directly used in standard gasoline engines even without being modified. Additionally, it is also renewable, has high octane level, and be distributed through the supply chain infrastructure and the existing pipeline. Unfortunately, its cost of production is quite high, making it a disadvantage (Walker, 2017). Biofuel in Australia In Australia, biofuel is available in two forms: biodiesel and ethanol. These types of fuels can be produced from sugarcane, grains or sorghum. Australia has three commercial producers of ethanol, whom are all found in the East Coast. According to the law, the fuel ethanol blends have 10 percent market capitalization except others like the E85 which have higher concentration. There are blends available through service stations like Shell, BP, Caltex, United and other independents. These blends are known as E10, having concentrations of unleaded petrol at 90 percent and ethanol at 10 percent. They are mostly found in New South Wales and Queensland. By 2010, the government of Australia set forth a goal to sell 350 million liters of the blend each year (Analyzing the Biofuel Industry in Australia, 2014). The average annual production of biofuels in Australia in 2014 was circa 800 million liters, including the new ventures in algae-based and biodiesel biofuels. Carbon follows a certain route known as the carbon cycle illustrated in the figure above. It makes up organic matter and thus an important element on earth. Aside from making all the living things, it is also a part of the rocks, air and ocean (Willeit, Ganopolski, Dalmonech, Foley Feulner 2014, p.1699). Now, since the earth is dynamic, carbon is also on the move. It is the oxygen in the atmosphere from the carbon dioxide gas. Plants, on the other hand, make use of the carbon dioxide gas and light from the sun to grown and make their own foods. However, if plants do not make it and instead die, they get buried and may turn into fossil fuels with coal and oil, which are carbon components. In turn, these fossils fuels are used by human beings. When they are burnt, the carbon gets back into the atmosphere in form of carbon dioxide gas. Carbon dioxide is one of the greenhouse gases. This gas traps heat in the atmosphere and in case it is not there, the earth can freeze. However, the kinds of fuels that humans burn cannot allow that since the percentage of carbon in the atmosphere is increasing compared to what it was years ago (Eo.ucar.edu, 2017). As a corollary, the earth is even becoming warmer as days go by. References Bastos Lima, M., Gupta, J. (2014). 'The extraterritorial dimensions of biofuel policies and the politics of scale: live and let die?', Third World Quarterly, 35, 3, pp. 392-410. Eo.ucar.edu. (2017). The Carbon Cycle. [online] Available at: https://eo.ucar.edu/kids/green/cycles6.htm [Accessed 30 Aug. 2017]. Puri, M., Abraham, R., Barrow, C. (2012). 'Biofuel production: Prospects, challenges and feedstock in Australia', Renewable Sustainable Energy Reviews, 16, 8, pp. 6022-6031. Research and, M. 0012, 'Research and Markets: Analyzing the Biofuel Industry in Australia (2014). Business Wire (English), September, Regional Business News, EBSCOhost, viewed 30 August 2017. Walker, K. (2017). What is Biofuel?. [online] AZoCleantech.com. Available at: https://www.azocleantech.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=329#1 [Accessed 30 Aug. 2017]. Willeit, M., Ganopolski, A., Dalmonech, D., Foley, A. Feulner, G. (2014). 'Time-scale and state dependence of the carbon-cycle feedback to climate', Climate Dynamics, 42, 7/8, pp. 1699-1713.