Another advantage of biofuels is that they are "biodegradable and far less toxic than fossil fuels," meaning they are arguably less damaging to the environment (1). It has been argued that they will help with the problem of global warming, but evidence has been collected that contradicts this statement. Sadly there are many problems with biofuels, including how they affect the already damaged environment, which proves that they should not take the place of fossil fuels. .
Biofuels are said to reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses polluting the ecosystem, however this fact is not supported by strong enough evidence. Crops are used to make biofuels, so when crops are taken for the use of fuel on one source of land, more crops must be planted as a source of food in another location. This process of clearing out land is known as "indirect land use change" (7). This action leads to more carbon emission because more land is being cleared. The amount of greenhouse gasses being released is actually higher with biofuels in cases such as these. Farmers may also start growing more crops since their crops are going towards fuel and to counter the rising food prices biofuels produce (4). In certain cases, biofuels were reported to release less greenhouse gasses than current fossil fuels, but not by a sufficient amount. The amount was so small that it was concluded switching to biofuels wouldn't make a substantial difference. Biofuels were intended to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions and slow the progress of global warming, but unfortunately that is not the outcome.
Switching to biofuels will cause an increase in the price of certain foods. Corn is main resource used in the production of biofuels. Corn is being taken away from the food supply and being used to make fuel, so farmers are going to have to grow more corn. Growing more corn requires more land and more money, so farmers may be in a tough situation.
