Bugs to Make Biofuel Production More Efficient

Biofuel is in one respect the oldest form of man-made fuel in the world; long before industry boomed and the industrial period began, biological organic matter was the cheif source material for fuels. It was only until the relatively more powerful use of fossil fuels became dominant that biofuel found its admirers dwindling; in the age of industry, it has suffered relatively low popularity, though that point stands for most alternatives to fossil fuels, which is the source material for over 80% of annual energy production across the world.

With the rising interest in climate change affecting governments, individuals and the world's media, though, fossil fuels are seemingly on the decline; whilst more than three quarters of energy production has conistently come from the source for a number of years, this has gone hand in hand with dangerous levels of carbon emissions, of which it is reported that fossil fuels contribute more than 20 billion tonnes anually. With experts suggesting that global natural resources can only induce half of that figure, and global warming increasingly becoming a world concern, investment into alternative energy has risen by over 140% in the two years.

Of these alternative energy types, biofuel is one of the most prominent, and it seems that man-made fuels have come full circle. Though production of the fuel is substantially lower than solar power and even hydroeletricity, it remains one of the most important examples of alternative energy.

And indeed, research into the field has reaped rewards, with new developments granting the industry a potentially greater fuel efficiency.

Experts have now suggested that the use of a bug that thrives on detritus will increase the speed at which the original biological matter is broken down and converted into fuel. It will originally be used in the production of ethanol, but it is hoped that the bug can increase efficiency of biofuels across the industry. Indeed it is beleived that the bug can also increase then range of material included in the conversion process; more hardy, it is beleived to be able to break down tougher plant and animal life that current conversion techniques cannot.

It will certainly strengthen the case for a return to biofuel as renewable energy types gain momentum, and it could perhaps do with the positive press after some controversial statistics have begun an increasingly polemical debate on the ethical standards of biofuels; the World Bank reported that the consumption of crops across the world for biofuels has resulted in a rise of 75% in world food prices.

The debate does not simply centre around economics. On their website, Friends of the Earth have questioned the actual environmental impact of biofuel production, claiming that they could actually produce more green house gases than the process reduces; it is generally argued that CO2 emissions from biofuels are offset by the consumption of carbon during the source supply's lifetime, but the orginsation claims that the combined energy cost of planting, production, conversion and transport negates the theory.

On a similar agenda as the World Bank, they take the rising food price to be an indication that biofuel production could directly affect food supply levels for some of the earth's most poverty stricken populations.