At the turn of the twentieth century, the streets of major cities stank from the manure produced by the hundreds of thousands of horses used for moving goods and providing personal transportation for the wealthy. Not only was this an environmental problem, it was also a huge health problem as the putrid mess in the streets also led to disease. When fossil fuel powered trucks and automobiles first appeared, these horseless carriages seemed to be a great solution for this rather crappy situation.
Now, a century later, the use of fossil fuel powered vehicles has far exceeded what the pioneers of the auto age could ever have imagined. The scale of problems created by the overuse of the automobile far exceeds those created by horse-based transportation. The extraction of fossil fuels has ravaged vast areas of the planet. Global warming is likely to cause unprecedented disasters around the world if use of fossil fuels is not dramatically reduced.
Motivated by genuine environmental concern, technological challenge, or merely an opportunity for profit, many are joining in the search for alternatives. Stories of people driving across the country in buses powered by the waste vegetable oil from deep fat fryers are certainly captivating. Unfortunately, beyond this novel use for waste fat, the biofuel industry is off to a rather rocky start, both environmentally and socially. Price increases and shortages of corn due to production of ethanol have led to riots in Mexico. There is also great concern that millions of hectares of virgin tropical forests could be lost due to the production of biodiesel from palm oil, and ethanol from sugar cane. These forests are not only vital carbon sinks but also very important for biodiversity.
Development of biofuels needs to take place without the reckless abandon that marked the pursuit of petroleum. Without strict regulation and standards, the production of biofuels could lead to greater environmental and social problems than the production of fossil fuels. The use of food crops (or land needed for them) for the production of biofuels will lead to food shortages and high food prices. Even worse, beer prices will go up.
The production of biofuels from wood and agricultural waste is less problematic but still poses challenges. So far, the production of ethanol from such waste products has not been efficient on an industrial scale; whether or not this industry can ramp up quickly enough to make a difference in the battle against climate change remains in doubt. Such products will likely prove best suited for electricity and heat production, and not as biofuels for vehicles.
Regardless of what powers the world of the future, it is clear that we must all use much less energy in our daily lives. The climate crisis provides an opportunity to transform our transportation systems. Even if it is possible to use biofuels to power the majority of vehicles, it makes sense to provide people with practical and efficient alternatives to driving everywhere for everything. Biofuels cannot solve congestion, land-use problems caused by automobile use, nor will they lead to fewer vehicle injuries or fatalities. They also do not address the environmental problems caused by automobile production.
Much of the interest in biofuels is driven by the perception that people will never give up their cars. The reality is that people do what it is easy for them to do. It’s no surprise that almost everyone drives in North America, where for the last 80 years or so, cities were designed around the automobile and hundreds of billions of dollars were invested in roads and highways, at the expense of transit and cycling. In cities with excellent transit such as New York, London, and Zurich, the majority of people take transit. In cities with excellent cycling facilities such as Amsterdam and Copenhagen, more people cycle than drive.
Public transit and cycling are proven energy-efficient solutions used by hundreds of millions of people each day. In the Vancouver area, there is great demand for improved transit service. Far too many people are waiting while packed buses and trains pass them by. In 2006, 19,000 such pass-ups were reported by bus drivers. After a century of under-funding and neglect, it is obvious that the provincial and federal governments need to invest much more in public transit and cycling. Producing enough biofuel in a responsible matter to power buses is a much more feasible task than producing enough to power private automobiles.
A city that smells like popcorn instead of horse poop: perhaps that is progress.
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