The Pros And Cons Of Synthetic Biology And Using Renewable Resources

Any young adult in today’s world could provide a long list of social and environmental issues that plague humankind. Among these issues would be climate change, hunger, poverty, and social injustice. To many, these problems seem impossible to solve due to their overwhelming impacts; any small steps taken by the individual are simply not enough. However, all of these issues share a common thread, as they are all exacerbated by human population growth. The World Population Balance calculated in 2017 that if the entire world population experienced “a European standard of living - which is about half the consumption of the average American - the Earth could sustainably support only about 2 billion people” (World Population Balance, 2017). Fortunately,

The existence of biofuels is now familiar to many people as an alternative to fossil fuels, but little is understood about the true sustainability of these fuel sources. According to Ryan Georgianna and Stephen Mayfield, professors specializing in biotechnology at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), biofuels will have the most success if they can compete economically with fossil fuels (Georgianna & Mayfield, 2012). This competition will drive people to weigh the benefits and drawbacks of biofuels as compared to fossil fuels. Supported by their extensive research in biofuels, Mayfield and Georgianna state that using fossil fuels “drives climate change, exhausts finite reserves and contributes to global political strife” (Georgianna & Mayfield, 2012). These issues are already influenced greatly by the growth of the human population, so increased demand and decreased supply of fossil fuels compounds a negative effect on both society and the earth. The two UCSD professors go on to synthesize information about different fuel sources, concluding that algae biofuel would be the most successful. The major benefit of algae that sets it apart from other biofuel sources is its ability to create the oils used for fuel based on very limited amounts of easily accessible natural resources. The authors support their findings using data gathered by the United States Department of Energy and the United States Energy Information Administration, which demonstrates that algae requires a minimal land area compared to other sources of biofuel such as soy and palm oil. This data shows that algae crops take up around 0.01% of the land area occupied by soy crops (Georgianna & Mayfield, 2012). Furthermore, the authors explain that algae’s only needs are sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water. The crop can be grown with