Dark green: Are environmentalists killing the world’s poor?
Apr
It’s hard to criticize environmental causes. When you do you’re automatically labeled as anti-earth, greedy, selfish or all three. Green movements have quickly become the white knight of society, perceived to be undoing the ills of a world stuck on consumerism and driven by short-term profits.
So what’s wrong with going green?
Nothing. As long as it really is beneficial to the planet and not just using the green ‘halo effect’ to disguise a more commercially-driven agenda. As with so many things that start out with good intentions, the green movement has been tarnished by businesses eager to cash in on the public’s love of all things eco-friendly, but in reality have no real concern for the damage done.
A classic example of this is the growing trend towards solar power. Businesses were quick to draw up plans for massive solar power farms in the deserts of California. On the surface it sounds like a great use of otherwise unused land and a boost for renewable energy but there is a dark side that some environmentalists would rather you didn’t know about. Solar farms can use a lot of water, a resource that is precious, particularly in arid regions. Many solar power companies, such as NextEra Energy Resources, have been embroiled in bitter wars, fighting for consent to use the millions of gallons of fresh water required to run their “green” power stations.
Biofuel – A wonder energy source?
In recent years, as the world’s environmental conscience developed, efforts were made to find alternative fuels to reduce the dependence on traditional fossil fuels. Research uncovered biofuels as a workable alternative, or at least an additive that existing petrol-powered vehicles could run on. In Curitiba, Brazil, they have been running cars on sugar cane for years. This is an environmental success story, mostly for two major reasons:
- The production process uses a relatively small amount of energy
- Brazil produces an excess surplus of sugar cane
In the rush to replicate this success in other parts of the world, corporate researchers have ignored these reasons and have in some cases contributed to an increase in food shortages and hunger-related deaths.
Biofuels overstated environmental benefits
In fact, the actual benefit of some biofuels is being seriously questioned. For example, ethanol, which is commonly used in the United States and blended with regular gasoline, is said to only reduce carbon emissions by just over 10 percent. This is partly due to the pollution created producing ethanol and that it only manages about 75% of the mileage gasoline achieves.
So while the actual environmental benefits of biofuels are under scrutiny, what is more worrying is how and where biofuel production is taking place.
Cars vs The world’s hungry
With the world population set to increase to 9 billion by 2050, demand for food will obviously increase by similar proportions. But those demands could face competition from farmers who are getting more for growing crops for biofuels instead of human consumption. With both the previous government and the current Obama administration pushing for more biofuel production, this issue is not going to be resolved any time soon.
But exactly how much of an effect is biofuel production having on the world’s hungry? It’s not just the scale of farmers who are switching to using arable land for biofuel grains but also the scope of diverting these foodstuffs to cars and not people.
Consider that the amount of grain needed to fill the tank of an SUV with ethanol just once can feed one person for an entire year.
While this disproportion of resources may seem like a major injustice, hungry people are simply unable to compete with the buying power of the average car owner.
No wonder food shortages are increasing in scale and severity, compounded by the developed world’s thirst for fuel and their willingness to pay top dollar for it.
Something better than biofuels
While biofuel provides a degree of false hope to people keen for sustainable solutions to the world’s energy needs, there is another option that is easy to implement, achieves immediate reductions in carbon emissions, and doesn’t require purchasing new vehicles or even upgrading existing engines. It also helps fleets become more profitable and can contribute to lower distribution costs for many industries including foodstuffs.
Route optimization software helps fleet owners convert their entire operations to what is known as ‘green fleet’, or minimized GHG (greenhouse gases) emissions. Route optimization software has saved firms thousands of dollars in wasted miles and time in traffic, and reduced their carbon output many times over.
Telogis Route takes all the relevant information on your drivers, vehicles and customers and suggests the most optimized routes for each day, highlighting potential cost savings (indicating fewer miles and reduced GHG) with your current routes.
While the world waits for better solutions to the looming fuel crisis, for sustainable fuels that don’t starve the world’s poor, route optimization is something you can do right now to promote a cleaner environment.
