Identify and summarise two or three current proposed solutions to the problem of competition between land use for biofuels versus food crop production.

Growing concerns regarding climate change as well as increasing energy demands has resulted in a worldwide interest in alternative energy sources. One of the primary energy sources in focus is biofuels. Biofuels are renewable fuels predominantly derived from biological feedstock’s otherwise used for food crop production. This raises concerns because the competition between land use for biofuel production versus food crop production results in increased food prices and decreased food availability. In response to this, several proposed solutions have been put forward in order to refine the production of biofuels. These proposed solutions include the utilisation of algae as a biofuel source, the use of degraded land for growing biofuel crops, and the genetic modification of biofuel crops.

The essential idea behind genetic modification is to increase the amount of biofuel that can be extracted from biofuel crops (Amon et al., 2007). Therefore, less land is required for biofuel production facilities utilising genetically modified crops (Torney et al., 2007). This allows for more land to be used for food crop production, reducing the competition between land use for biofuels versus food crop production. Genetic engineering can be applied to the production of bioethanol. Bioethanol is a form of biofuel produced from the fermentation of starch or sugar rich crops, such as corn (Koh and Ghazoul, 2008). Genetically modifying corn crops to increase their starch content allows for more bioethanol to be extracted per corn plant, therefore, less land is required to be invested into bioethanol facilities. The genetic modification of crops can also be utilised to increase biofuel crops resistance to pests. This results in less crops being lost to pests, therefore, reducing the amount of land that needs to be invested in order to acquire the same amount of biofuel (Koh and Ghazoul, 2008). Another proposed solution to reduce competition between land used for biofuels versus food crop production is the use of degraded land for biofuel production.

Degraded land refers to land that has a long-term loss of biological productivity, resulting from human disturbances (Wiegmann, Hennenberg and Fritsche, 2008). The use of this land for biofuel facilities would reduce land competition with food crop production facilities. This is because crops produced for human consumption are unable to efficiently grow in degraded land (Fargione et al., 2008). However, this also means that traditional forms of biofuel crops such as corn need to be substituted for alternatives that are able to grow on the degraded land. These alternatives include such things as switchgrass or algae (Fargione et al., 2008). Not only is switchgrass able to grow on degraded land it requires minimal amounts of fertiliser and is only needed to be planted once, unlike other forms of biofuel crops (Perritano, 2014). This makes switchgrass an even more viable form of biofuel crop that would have minimal impact on the food crop industry. The use of algae as a biofuel crop would also reduce the competition between land use for biofuel production versus food crop production because algae are an aquatic species.

Algae are used in the production of biodiesel through the extraction of their fatty oils followed by the process of transesterfication (reaction with an alcohol group) (Roessler et al., 1994). In short, algae serve as a viable form of biofuel crop that has the potential to have minimal impact on food crop production. Given that algae are aquatic species their use for production of biofuels is ideal as they are not in competition with land otherwise used for food crop production (Koh and Ghazoul, 2008). Many species of algae are also able to tolerate wide range of temperatures and severe light intensities (Roessler et al., 1994). Because of this, algae are able to grow in areas where crop production wouldn't be able to take place, such as deserts. This further reduces the competition between land use for crop production and biofuel production.

In conclusion, the framework is in place for biofuels to become one of the world’s major energy sources. However, in order for this to happen the process that biofuels are produced needs to be refined in such a way that they don't impede with land used for food crop production. Exploration into three of the proposed solutions to problem of competition between land use for biofuels versus food crop production further highlights biofuels potential as a alternative energy source. Genetic modification allows for more biofuels to be produced without increasing the required investment of land. The utilisation of degraded land prevents biofuel facilities being located on land that is otherwise used for food crop production. The use algae as a biofuel source also allow for biofuel facilities to be situated in locations that aren’t in competition with land used for food crop production. Implementation of these proposed solutions would result in effective improvement the production of biofuels by minimising the competition with land use for food crop production.

References

Amon, T., Amon, B., Kryvoruchko, V., Zollitsch, W., Mayer, K., & Gruber, L. (2007). Biogas production from maize and dairy cattle manure—influence of biomass composition on the methane yield. Agriculture, Ecosystems \& Environment, 118(1), 173-182.

Fargione, J., Hill, J., Tilman, D., Polasky, S., & Hawthorne, P. (2008). Land clearing and the biofuel carbon debt. Science, 319(5867), 1235-1238.

Koh, L., & Ghazoul, J. (2008). Biofuels, biodiversity, and people: understanding the conflicts and finding opportunities. Biological Conservation, 141(10), 2450-2460.

Perritano, J. (2014). HowStuffWorks "10 Top Biofuel Crops". HowStuffWorks. Retrieved 19 September 2014, from http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/biofuels/10-biofuel-crops.htm#page=10

Roessler, P., Brown, L., Dunahay, T., Heacox, D., Jarvis, E., & Schneider, J. et al. (1994). Genetic engineering approaches for enhanced production of biodiesel fuel from microalgae, 566, 255-270.

Torney, F., Moeller, L., Scarpa, A., & Wang, K. (2007). Genetic engineering approaches to improve bioethanol production from maize. Current Opinion In Biotechnology, 18(3), 193-199.

Wiegmann, K., Hennenberg, K., & Fritsche, U. (2008). Degraded land and sustainable bioenergy feedstock production.