by Matthew Zimmer

Created on: April 25, 2008   Last Updated: May 07, 2008

Most people agree that it is important for mankind to find another way of making his cars go forward. As fossil fuels run out and the global climate's temperature rises, we are having it made abundantly clear to us that unless we switch fuels now, the world will fall apart either by the collapse of the economy when the oil runs out or by the rising of the sea. And it isn't just cars; we have to find an alternative way to fuel industry efficiently as well.

One alternative is bio-fuel, a renewable energy resource that recently is becoming more and more popular. Bio-fuel comes from recently dead biological matter, most commonly photosynthesizing plants. They can be manufactured as liquids, making them more compatible with cars and airplanes.

Any keen motorist will roll his eyes on seeing the words pop up, but bio-fuel may in fact surprise you. Despite the fact that obviously the waste produced from using bio-fuels is far cleaner than petrol and diesel, bio-fuels are surprisingly energy efficient. Even more surprising is the fact that bio-fuels actually contain more energy than fossil fuels, so if you think you'll miss the sound of a revving engine, don't panic; bio-fuel cars are even more powerful than the cars of the present.

So, bio-fuel cars are cleaner, more efficient and more powerful. In Britain and other European countries, most petrol stations are equipped with bio-fuel pumps, usually only one or two. Everything is not, however, sorted; there are several problems with bio-fuel.

Generally, these problems filter down to the less economically developed countries, the crop growers. In plantations that previously produced food for the local populous, the bananas, rice and mangoes are being replaced by bio-fuel crops that produce nothing edible whatsoever. As land is deforested to make way for BF crops, locals have less and less food, and pesticides used to grow the crops leek into local rivers and lakes, poisoning the water supplies and causing eutrophication.

Unlike fossil fuel, which only needs to be drained, bio-fuel must be created by us, and we need a lot of it to keep the cars going forward. Therefore, it seems more likely that bio-fuels are little more than the bridge we must cross to get from the modern-day gas guzzlers to the energy-efficient and eco-friendly cars of the future.

Alternatives to bio-fuel also exist; the famous electric car and the hydrogen car for example. These are also cars in production that will give-off eco-friendly waste, but at the moment it is not possible for these cars to take over. The future is not yet clear.

Similar is the situation in industry; bio-fuels are currently not available in large enough amounts to fuel global industry. There are also alternatives to this. Today, fossil fuels are not the only means of supporting industry; we have geothermal energy, hydrological power, solar energy, nuclear power, tidal power and wind energy.

SOURCES

www.wikipedia.org
http://biofuel.org.uk /

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