ABSTRACT
The expansion of the biofuel industry leads to the shift of planted acreages. Large amounts of farmland are converted for biofuel purposes. Biofuels compete with food for farmland, and push up food prices and impose a severe threat to global food security. The loss of farmland substantially decreases global food production, intensifying world hunger and malnutrition. Large amounts of farmland are being lost to the residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation pressure that attend metropolitan expansion. Pollution, drought, desertification, soil erosion, and energy production also result in the loss of cropland. Environmental protection laws and policies associated with efficient enforcement and monitor mechanisms must be available in order to control existing pollution, and to prevent further pollution. Almost all plant mattersuch as agricultural forestry residues, industrial waste, municipal solid waste, trees, and grassesproduce cellulose, and can serve as raw material for biofuels. The biggest obstacle to large-scale cellulosic biofuels development is technology, as previously mentioned in the US switch grass plan.
