Impact of covid-19 on biofuels global market and their utilization necessity during pandemic

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Biosystems Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran

2 Department of Biosystems Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

In late 2019, the outbreak of a deadly Coronavirus shocked the world. Following the Covid-19 pandemic, governments were forced to enact a series of restrictive laws, including road and urban transportation. As a result of these restrictions, the consumption of fossil fuels in the world decreased and reduced the price and demand of these fuels. Because of the decline in this area, alternative fuels also faced serious challenges. Declining demand for alternative fuels has raised concerns about the development and future of these clean fuels. In this study, after presenting a quick look at biofuels' global markets, associated challenges ahead being examined in light of the declining demand and price of fossil fuels and biofuels. The results in this section showed that some social and economic constraints in the world are temporary due to the prevalence of Covid-19. As many countries reduced these restrictions in the second quarter of 2020, these limitation may be minimized shortly to zero with the discovery of vaccines and Covid-19 treatment. If it is supposed that the production of biofuels returns to its initial level in 2021, the development of biofuels should not be ignored because of the Covid-19. Obviously, in this case, the demand for biofuels will increase. According to new findings, the spread of coronavirus increases with air pollution. Therefore, the effects of coronavirus on air pollutants specifically NO2 and CO2 are investigated. The results revealed that the spread of coronavirus in 2020 has reduced NO2 emissions by 40-50% and CO2 emissions are also expected to be declined by 8%. This value is probably the largest reduction in CO2 emissions since 1900.  An effective solution to reduce air pollution is to develop the use of biofuels. At this time, the air pollution has been reduced due to a decrease in urban and road transportation. However, this pollution can be reduced by more development of biofuels to mitigate the spread of this deadly virus. Reduction in emissions is a result of declining social activity, rising unemployment, and severe economic problems.

Keywords


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