Biofuels

Question 0

Give 5 advantages of jatropha

Answer 0

• can be grown on non arable land
• leftover material can be used as an organic fertiliser or as biomass
• relatively drought resistant so can be grown on a variety of landscapes
• trees live for 30yrs and stabilise soil
• good as a jet fuel

Question 1

A secondary biofuel that is being largely considered is

Answer 1

Jatropha

Question 2

Give 5 disadvantages of jatropha

Answer 2

Marginal conditions-> marginal yields

• need infrastructure and energy to mill and process seeds
• 2 times the area of France would be needed to grow enough to power the worlds jet fleet
• grows in tropical LEDC counties so competition between food and profit may lead to hunger

Question 3

Jatropha culture in India has lead to

Answer 3

Paddies and village commons being reclassified at ‘wasteland’ by the government to plant the crop

Question 4

2 main environmental disadvantages of biofuels are

Answer 4

Destruction of habitats and biodiversity

Destroys carbon sinks (draining pest bogs)

Question 5

Customary right land and community forests in Indonesia has been cleared and taken over by palm oil companies. This land would

Answer 5

Provide a livelihood for 40 mill people

Question 6

EU targets to use biofuels in cars. To meet these targets for one year,

Answer 6

the land used could feed 127 million people

Question 7

In India, the government announced plans in

Answer 7

2009 to subsidise an intensive programme to plant jatropha on 27 million acres of ‘wasteland’

Question 8

An example of businesses taking advantage of local people is

Answer 8

Kisarawe District, Tanzania when 1/4 of villagers land was acquired by a British biofuels company in 2008 and 700 jobs were promised. Company went bust and now problems are landless and jobless