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According to the bill, by 2020, the American automobile industry must reduce automobile fuel consumption by 40% from the current level, so that the vehicle can reach an average of 35 miles (1 mile and 1.6093 km) per gallon of fuel. This is the first time that the U.S. Congress passed legislation to increase automobile fuel consumption standards since 1975. In addition, the bill also encourages a substantial increase in the use of biofuel ethanol, making it to 36 billion gallons by 2022.
In signing the bill, Bush said that the most serious long-term challenge facing the United States is its dependence on oil, and the new bill has effectively responded to this weakness of the United States. It marks a "big step" in the United States in reducing oil dependence, coping with global warming, and increasing renewable energy.
However, academics are much more cautious about their attitude towards biofuels. For the biofuels currently produced on a large scale, such as corn ethanol and biodiesel, the academic community currently holds two very different perspectives. Some experts believe that the use of corn-ethanol fuel for automotive use has 40% lower greenhouse gas emissions. However, some experts have pointed out that the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions from biofuels is even higher than that of gasoline from the entire life cycle of the product. 50%.
Unlike fossil fuels, biofuels are renewable. The two biofuels that people are most familiar with are bioethanol and biodiesel. Bioethanol usually refers to an alcohol made from corn, wheat, sugar cane and other plants. Biodiesel is usually made from soy, palm oil, other vegetable oils, or animal oils. These fuels are not only renewable, but because they are plant-based, they can absorb carbon dioxide from the air. However, on the other hand, these biofuels generate more greenhouse gases during the production process and are released into the atmosphere.
Some experts said that the production of bioethanol requires a lot of energy. First, bioethanol production equipment and processes require coal as a power source. Moreover, the production of corn and other crops requires the application of chemical fertilizers, and the production of chemical fertilizers requires fossil energy. The use of gasoline for the tractor to harvest these crops is also required. In other words, the conversion of corn into ethanol not only requires fossil fuels as energy sources, but also emits large amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
In addition, if forests are cut down to open up new land for growing biofuel crops, the absorption of carbon dioxide will be greatly reduced. Experts from the University of Berkeley in the United States pointed out that if one hectare of forest land becomes a plant land for biofuels, the greenhouse gas emitted in the past 30 years will be up to 150 tons of carbon.
In addition, the use of corn, soy, and palm oil as raw materials for biofuels may also create another problem. Crops that were originally used to produce food are under-supplying due to the production of fuel and are bound to cause price fluctuations. In recent days, as more and more palm oil has been used to produce biofuels, palm oil prices have nearly doubled in the international market, rising to about US$900 per ton.
Some people also advocate the application of second-generation biofuel technology, that is, the use of straw, forage and other raw materials to produce biofuels to meet the needs. However, there are still researchers who disagree: Using non-food crops to produce biofuels is not universal. First, the cost and efficiency of fermentation are far from the requirements. Second, if forests are planted or land is occupied for the cultivation of these crops, more serious greenhouse gas pollution will be caused, or the food supply will become even more in short supply. Controversies in the academic community may end when a major breakthrough in technological innovation is achieved in the future.
U.S. New Energy Law Fuels Biofuels
The academic community is worried that it will affect the environment and increase greenhouse gas emissions. On January 2, New York crude oil futures jumped to $100 a barrel, a record high. The shortage of fossil resources has become an issue that people cannot avoid. In many people's minds, biofuels have become an effective "remedy" to resolve resource crises and global warming. The newly enacted U.S. New Energy Act is a strong testimony.