"You know the final products as biofuels - mostly made from food crops like sugarcane and corn, and endorsed by everyone from agricultural lobbyists to activists and billionaires. Biofuels were developed decades ago to be cheaper, greener alternatives to planet-polluting petrol. As adoption has expanded - now to the point of a pro-biofuel agenda being pushed this week at COP30 in Belém, Brazil - their environmental and food accessibility footprint has remained a source of fierce debate."
"Though the text of the pledge itself is vague, as most COP pledges tend to be, the target embedded in an accompanying International Energy Agency report is clear: expand the global use of so-called sustainable fuels from 2024 levels by at least four times, so that by 2035, sustainable fuels cover 10 percent of all global road transport demand, 15 percent of aviation demand, and 35 percent of shipping fuel demand."
Plant stalks are harvested, shredded, and crushed. Extracted juice is combined with bacteria and yeast in large bioreactors where sugars are metabolized into ethanol and carbon dioxide. The liquid is typically distilled to maximize ethanol concentration before blending with gasoline. Biofuels are mostly produced from food crops such as sugarcane and corn and were developed as cheaper, greener alternatives to petrol. Adoption of biofuels has expanded and a pro-biofuel agenda has been pursued at COP30, while environmental and food-accessibility impacts remain contested. Several governments are spearheading a pledge to rapidly expand sustainable fuels to decarbonize transportation energy.
Read at Truthout
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