Biofuels probably aren't going to save the planet and may end up causing as many problems as they solve. More research is needed to gauge their value as a green energy source, according to NUI Maynooth BSc student, Jennifer Keane.
Keane won the 28th annual Whittaker Awards with a talk entitled, Fuel's Gold - the Race to Save the Planet. Named in honour of former head of biology Peter Whittaker and his wife Lynn, the competition challenges students to present a topic in biology using ordinary language while retaining the subject's scientific content.
We shouldn't be in too big a hurry to bring biofuels to market as a way to reduce oil consumption, she says.
"We need to examine biofuel production more thoroughly before rushing headlong into production," she told The Irish Times. "One of the reasons they haven't done a lot of work on this is because it is easier to get ethanol from corn [ maize]."
At face value, using food crops such as maize and sugar cane to produce ethanol seems like a good idea.
Derived from fermentation, the ethanol is mixed into petrol to reduce demand but it has unwanted economic impacts, says Keane.
Its use in the US has driven up the cost of corn, a staple and protein-rich food crop. "The last thing we need after a fuel crisis is a food crisis," she says.
Maize and sugar cane are also relatively inefficient at ethanol production.
Europe collectively would have to use 72 per cent of its arable land for maize production to produce just 10 per cent of its liquid fuel requirement, she points out.
Oil is also very important as a feedstock for other products, notably plastics. Bioethanol can't substitute for oil in this area.
She referred to some of her own research into two fungi species that can convert plant material directly into ethanol, a better bet environmentally.
Keane is a final year BSc double honours student in computer science and biology. Further study in computing had been top of the agenda but her Whittaker Award has made her think again about biology.
As winner of the competition Keane received a cheque for €1,000 sponsored by Enterprise Ireland. Second place was taken by Conor Meehan with a talk on genetically modified food. He received €200 from the event's organisers, the Biology Society.
Third place went to Emma Cantwell with a talk on methods used by bacteria to communicate with one another. She received €100 from the Biology Society.