Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 5
E
NVIRONMENTAL
,
H
EALTH AND
F
OOD
I
SSUES
R
ELATED TO
S
UGAR
B
EET
B
IOETHANOL
P
RODUCTION
Rok Fink
1
, Sebastjan Filip
2
and Sašo Medved
3
1
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2
University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty, Ljubljana, Slovenia
3
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Ljubljana, Slovenia
A
BSTRACT
Energy sources of mankind are changing due to intense research, technology and
serious global consequences. The present energetic paradigm of our society, based on the
massive use of fossil fuels, has to be changed rapidly, due to the serious influence on the
environment. Since mobility is essential to our modern industrialized society, the known
oil reserves are limited and consumption is still growing, liquid biofuels can represent
potential substitute for fossil fuels. Bioethanol from sugar beet is one of the candidates
among first generation liquid biofuels as feedstock grows on wide geographical regions
and implementations do not demand special engine modification.
Some biofuels can lead to substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emission when
compared to fossil fuels. Nevertheless, there are also other environmental considerations
like acidification, eutrophication, photo smog, ozone depletion, loss of biodiversity and
impact on ground water. Moreover, there are also some concerns based on liquid biofuel
security, such as whether the production of biofuels will meet the projected energy
consumption. The world population growth is increasing exponentially as the famine in
both developing and developed countries. Sustainable development must balance
environmental, economic, and social concerns at multiple scales, which includes also the
health impacts. The by-products of biofuels combustion include carbon dioxide and water
vapour, along with a variety of trace gasses and aerosol emissions that have many
impacts on air quality and consequently on human health. Several studies indicate that the
combustion of biofuels can result in adverse health.
Biofuels have attracted considerable attention in the past decade as renewable,
biodegradable, and nontoxic fuels.
