A new report titled, Renewable Fuel Standard: Potential Economic and Environmental Effects of US Biofuel Policy,” on biofuels prepared and published by the National Research Council, questions several issues that need urgent attention. The committee represented by chosen persons from the academic circles and industry took over a year to prepare the report delving on intricate issues related to biofuels.
Kathleen Halvorsen, professor of social sciences and of forest resources and environmental science at Michigan Technological University. Credit: Newswise
Kathleen Halvorsen, who holds dual positions such as Professor of forest resources/environmental science and social sciences at Michigan Technological University, whose research deals with the twin issues such as the mental state of land owners who provide feedstock for biofuel production and attributes of the forest policy related to bioenergy production was included in the committee since her research deals with the subject issues related to the formation of the committee.
According to Halvorsen, production of biofuels is blended with attributes such as environment, agriculture and energy and they pose both technological and social significances, having a bearing on a range of eco-systems all over the globe and will have an effect on the landowners who produce and supply the feedstock required for biofuel production and the consumer who uses it. She called biofuel as a complicated energy source.
She has expressed her concerns about the development of the industry in the absence of any benchmark for such development in the US for the production of cellulosic biofuels on a large scale. According to her, those who advocate for the use of biofuels discuss about its benefits in bringing down the greenhouse gases while those who argue against it negate the biofuel production fearing its adverse impact of encroaching arable land for cultivation and the ensuing shortage for food products and the resultant cost escalation and worldwide hunger.
Halvorsen stated that the need for developing alternative fuels is growing because 55% of the crude oil consumption within the US is imported. She said that the framed government policies, changes in land usage and installation of the right type of biofuel manufacturing plants for efficient manufacture will assist in the growth of biofuel technology. She said that the evaluation report will outline the related issues and the expected results along with the questions on intrinsic ambiguities.