Biofuel Proposal
Executive Summary: The power and prosperity of The United States of America will be severely hindered if changes are not taken within the next few years to reduce its dependency on oil and improve its usage of biofuel. The process to become less dependent on foreign energy sources will be crucial for the stability and growth of the nation in the upcoming years. Re-examining subsidies and tariffs are essential if any positive change is to be made.
A Shift Away From Oil Is Crucial
The consequences of the United States’ reliance on oil have brought together the nation’s leaders in ways that few issues have in decades. The call for action to deliver advanced biofuels and efficient flex-fuel vehicles now comes from national security experts and business leaders down to consumers. They have all come to the conclusion that as each day passes, more of the nation’s wealth is lost and complacency thwarts critical national policy changes that are urgently needed1. The advantages of biofuels are widespread. First and foremost, the United States must move away from traditional oil consumption. Oil is the largest sole contributor to our trade deficit. Records state that more than $1 billion a day in funds are sent to oil exporting countries1. Compounded with ongoing conflicts in the Middle East as well as other oil producing nations, this has left America indebted to much of the world. By transitioning from fossil fuels to biofuels, the United States can liberate itself from foreign dependence.
Aside from the dependence on foreign nations, bio-fuels pose environmental advantages to producers and consumers. They are a relatively clean burning source of energy unlike oil, which accounts for more than 32 percent of...
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...ncreasing day by day7. The third factor, relating and supporting industries explains that when local industries compete against one another, this spurs the emergence of cost effective and innovative inputs. This very well indicates that in the future biofuel demand will lead to more innovative, cheaper production. The last factor, firm strategy, structure, and rivalry states that over the long run more local rivalry is better since it puts pressure on firms to innovate and improve.
In addition to the diamond model, the Leontief Paradox has proven that even though the U.S. is relatively abundant in capital compared to other nations it still exports less capital intensive good and imports more of it. So even though the U.S may fall short on corn supply it can find new ways to produce biofuels. The problem right now is that new technology has not been innovated.
The United States has had several scares throughout its history in terms of oil, most turn out to be over exaggerations of a small event. However, these scares highlight a massive issue with the U.S. and that issue is the U.S.’s dependence on foreign oil. Why does it matter that our oil should come from over seas? In a healthy economy this probably wouldn’t be as relevant, but the U.S.’s economy is not exactly healthy at the moment. There are 4 things that I would like to address: what the problem is, how it affects us, what some solutions are, and what solutions I feel are best.
...e has become misleading, for it is used oil to justify subsidies for pork-barrel projects or mere sops to the industry, such as drilling for oil in the Alaskan wilderness. Given that America consumes a quarter of the world's oil but has barely three percent of its proven reserves, it will never be energy-independent until the day it stops using oil altogether.
Our dependency in foreign oil is reflected in our pocket and every time we visit the gas station. We are a war, a tyrant or natural disaster away from a $5 gallon gas. The Gas Replacer will liberate you from the fear of when, and not what if, we’ll have a gas crisis. The price of biofuel is more constant than gas, and there are little surprises, because we can control the source of production.
“All Biofuels Are Not Created Equal” is a very informative article that everyone should be aware of. The authors of this article show how biofuels can be made to benefit Earth. Our ecological footprint is so big that everyone requires 2.5 Earths to maintain the same lifestyle. What does this reveal? It reveals that Earth’s resources are being diminished. This means that the world needs to do something to prevent this so Earth can last for future generations. The way that biofuels are being made is not very effective in helping this problem. This is because it either requires deforestation or the burning of fossil fuels, which the world is trying to stop. Instead of using corn or sugar cane as ethanol, alternative crops should be used because it will benefit our environment the most.
Biofuels, fuels that provide energy using relatively recent organic sources, have been around just as long as cars have. In fact, the first cars ran on peanut oil. Henry Ford, founder of a multimillion dollar American car company, planned to fuel his massively successful Model T’s with ethanol (National Geographic 2013.) However, this revolutionary idea was swept under the rug when the discovery of massive petroleum deposits kept gasoline and diesel cheap and affordable. As 2014 rolls around, consumers are starting see that the amount of petroleum in the Earth is shrinking and the same story goes for their wallets (Avro 2012.) Not only does burning gas and diesel empty out the wallet, it is also slowly covering the Earth with a warm carbon dioxide blanket that causes global warming. Transportation, which is the third largest emitter of greenhouse gasses (Biofuel Association of Australia 2013), is dependent on finite amounts of gas and diesel for its energy needs so it is very important we move towards a more renewable and sustainable fuel source. Biofuels, both ethanol and biodiesel, have the potential to fuel transportation efficiently and drastically reduce the carbon footprint, thus reducing the warm blanket of carbon dioxide on the Earth.
The United States as well as the rest of the world are dealing with the issue that the world supply of oil is dwindling. Ever since our peak consumption year in 2005 the United States has been a major consumer of crude oil and petroleum products. As of 2012 according to the U.S Energy Information Administration “The United States consumed 18.6 million barrels per day of petroleum products, making us the world’s largest petroleum consumer.” The U.S. has long been dependent on foreign petroleum products to meet our ever growing energy demands and consumption. With the revolutionary and controversial rise of fracking it is now possible for the United States to become a self energy sufficient country. With fracking, the proper technology and economic
As stated earlier, the burning of fossil fuels to produce energy is one of the largest contributors to global warming. This non-environmentally friendly energy source has to be replaced in order to keep the world going. There is a type of energy source that seems easy to create and doesn’t require radical changes: Biofuels. Biofuels are a greener version of diesel and oil. They are any solid, liquid, or gas fuels produced from organic matter; the range of organic materials used for biofuel production includes plants such as corn, sugar cane, soy, and wheat; vegetable oils and animal fats; ...
The reliance on other countries for fossil fuels that produce energy have put the United States of America at risk of being pulled into unstable regions around the world jeopardizing international relationships and putting its own citizens in harm’s way. America needs to balance both the pursuit of alternative energy solutions and reduce energy usage. Our military runs on fossil fuels produced by other nations who do not have similar interests or values as the United States, ultimately adding unwanted risk that becomes difficult to manage. There are advantages to alternative energy solutions that could allow for America to become an independent energy nation that would eliminate the need to support and stabilize various regions around the world. The U.S. Military needs to reduce its overall energy usage by taking advantage of breakthrough technologies that could be integrated onto current systems.
The United States spends billions of dollars on importing oil. This is represented as almost two-thirds of the country’s entire annual trade deficit. Now that there is more access to gas deposits, there is no need to rely on other countries around the world for fossil fuels. America can instead rely on their own resources to provide energy for the residents. America is already the world's largest producer of natural gas thanks to shell drilling and the country's sits on 2 of the world's largest gas fields gas production has soared 20 percent in five years in the United States now should have enough gas to last generations soon the nation will begin exporting gas and unimaginable possibility just a few years ago when energy supplies look set to run out in the construction of gas importing facilities was considered a matter of national urgency (Zuckerman, G.,
Indeed, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) predicts that domestic petroleum consumption will increase to 60 Btu by the year 2025. This statistic, in and of itself, is a matter of concern with respect to the greenhouse gas emissions that result from petroleum combustion. However, perhaps more disconcerting is the fact that U.S. oil production peaked in 1970 and has continued to fall since then (Campbell et. al., 1998). Therefore, the American public has turned to foreign oil, in particular Middle Eastern oil, to supplement its increase in demand. In an age where terrorism is at the forefront of people's minds, we still continue to import oil from the same nations that supposedly harbor so-called terrorist groups. The fact is that we are unwilling to responsibly face our energy future and instead choose to maintain a policy of increasing oil supply through importation.
Significance: The United States must face the fact that the world is running out of oil and with today’s rising oil prices, economic and political instability in regions where the United States gets the majority of its oil, this country must begin looking into alternative means of energy to replace oil and end our dependence on foreign powers.
...ss with other countries. Instead of importing oil, the U.S should invest in clean-energy technology innovation, which would boost growth and create jobs. Investing in a clean-energy economy is the clear path toward re-establishing our economic stability and strengthening our national security. (Content, T. 2011).
The current world dependence on oil leaves much to be said about the impact of Saudi Arabia and the Middle East on foreign policy and international politics. Presently the world's largest consumer of oil, the U.S. depends on Saudi Arabia and much of the Middle East for the energy to run its businesses, its homes, and most importantly, its automobiles. In the past few months U.S. consumers have felt the pressures of increasing gasoline prices as they struggle to commute and live their daily lives. This leaves the U.S. with important decisions to be made on behalf of its citizens and its position in the international realm.
"Reduce Oil Dependence Costs." Fuel Economy. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 18 Oct. 2011. Web. 18 Oct. 2011. .
More farmers are now planting crops for biofuel, resulting to an intense drop in food production. According to experts this promising alternative energy source is seemingly causing a global decrease of food supply. As the demand for biofuels increases, more industrialized countries are offering encouragements and subsidizing farmers to grow crops for fuel rather than for food. The biofuel production method was also anticipated to be carbon neutral, as the crops would absorb the carbon dioxide released when the biofuel was burned. However crops for fuel are now grown at such a rate that they need more energy to cultivate, grow and harvest. By the time it reaches households, it would have consumed more energy and released more greenhouse causing substances than the feared fossil fuels would have. The fact that emissions are released during production, processing, fertilizer application and as a result of land use change is highly ignored. Somehow biofuels can sidetrack less harmful and clean resources like renewable energies such as solar and wind energy. Large scale cultivation of biofuel crops, unlike small scale, locally produced and biofuel owned farms are commonly challenged by problems such as severe use of water, chemicals, fertilizers and pesticides. These also often lead to pollution, depleting and degrading available water resources which can cause famines. According to contrary believe of analysts, it has also shown that there is not enough farming land on earth to produce biofuel crops to meet the huge energy needs encouraged by our current and unmaintainable ways of living. http://www.greenerideal.com/science/0516-biofuels/ &