Peter J. Welling III Professor Brewer Assignment 1 3 October 2021 Environmental Impact of Straw Utilization
A major topic of concern is the impact of Straw Utilization in China. This has been a growing problem and has serious potential consequences. With China expanding their agriculture sector and now being the largest producer of wheat in the world, they have a major responsibility to alter the extermination of their remaining crops in a different fashion. China also happens to be one of the most polluted countries in the world and the topic of burning straw adds to that continuing problem. There are many issues that are a result of this process and also future solutions to limit the damage that has been made in the environment and human development.
The environmental impact of straw utilization in China has had a significant impact in numerous ways. Following the harvest seasons many of the farmers exterminate their remaining crops by burning them off, rather than recycling them. This has created an enormous environmental problem for China leading to lots of smog and pollution in Northern, Eastern and Northeastern China. According to “Burning in Agriculture Landscapes: an emerging natural and human issue in China”, energy producing regions including Shanxi province in Northern China have cheap energy sources available to the residents. This causes the farmers to burn off the remaining straw in the open field rather than recycling it. In the regions with sparse population, Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces, there is a great amount of straw to be burned. In these areas where the straw is being burned off, the air quality has significantly worsened and many harmful toxins are now released because of that. According to “Emission Characterization, environmental impact, and control measure of PM^2.5 emitted from agriculture crop residue burning in China” the harmful toxins of ethene, ethyne, propene, benzene, ethane, toluene, propane, alpha-pinene and 1-butene have all increased to significant levels that are dangerous and risk the result of climate change and poor health quality. According to a study in “Burning in Agriculture Landscapes: An Emerging Natural and Human Issue in China”, it investigated the summer and fall crop seasons during 2009 and 2010 and it found that the emissions from the burning were transported in various regions in China depending on the burning seasons. This had an immediate effect on visibility throughout the area and caused travel concerns. Even worse, when the temperature rises during the summer harvest, the organic matter in the soil is reduced and affects soil fertilization. This is due to the fact it reduces the soil water content and microbes, causing the soil to harden.
The problem of burning straw has great complexity as it pertains to the country of China. Due to the fact that burning off the straw is much easier in respect to time and labor, the process is utilized frequently after the seasons. Farmers prefer the most cost efficient method to deal with crop straw. The alternative process is very expensive and in most cases brings no benefit in potential profits. Heavy machinery and infrastructure would have to be invested and farmers simply don't view that as an option. According to “Burning in Agriculture Landscapes: An Emerging Natural and Human Issue in China”, utilizing the straw in a better environmental way would cost farmers thousands of dollars and in some cases that investment would not pay off as an end result. A poll was conducted of 630 farmers and 63% of farmers preferred burning due to the reasons of high transportation and labor costs associated with recycling straw.
In respect to human development, Amartya Sen describes it as expanding the freedoms for humans. This is directly related to the burning of straw in China. Focusing on improving the process of burning straw, there are many positives that would affect human life. These include the new emerging markets revolving around future solutions and better environmental quality. According to the article “Straw Utilization in China - Status and Recommendations”, the increased use of straw as a material and fuel requires new business and marketing strategies. With more than two thousand people in Anhui province in 2015, more people are expected to join in the near future. Another improvement is the air quality and the environmental impact. China has put forward the Renewable Energy Development Plan where they projected the annual production of biogas to be 8 billion cubic meters in 2020. This will significantly improve the air quality in China, resulting in healthier people who are affected.
The human development dimension of health is addressed by the authors’ research. In all the authors' research, the topic of emissions is elaborated in great length. Mainly because the result of burning the straw is directly related to the increase in emissions in China and has serious results. In the articles “Straw Utilization in China - Status and Recommendations”, Burning in Agriculture Landscapes: an emerging natural and human issue in China”, “Emission Characterization, Environmental Impact and Control Measure of Pm2.5 Emitted from Agriculture Crop Residue Burning in China” and “Controlling Air Pollution from Straw Burning in China Calls for Efficient Recycling” all have geospatial datasets to illustrate the effects of emissions. More specifically the geospatial data sets that are used are graphs, tables, charts and figure displays. They illustrate many topics in regard to emission concerns. Aside from visual data sets, in the article “Emission Characterization, Environmental Impact and Control Measure of Pm2.5 Emitted from Agriculture Crop Residue Burning in China” it discusses a study done and proves that the straw burning is greatly affecting the environment. In conclusion these articles all contain various types of support ranging from visual data sets to discussing studies that were performed.
There are many sustainable development goals that pertain to the topic of burning straw. One of the goals that pertains to human development is the rise in new markets as alternatives are being explored. As alternatives to burning the straw continue to be developed, the rise in new business would be a great support for the people in the areas. In the article “Straw Utilization in China - Status and Recommendations” it discusses the addition of new business opportunities to specifically expand the market to pellet fuel and have various companies become involved in the process. Another goal that can be considered is the goal of reducing emissions over a period of time. There are many ways in which this goal is achievable. In the article “ Controlling Air Pollution from Straw Burning in china Calls for Efficient Recycling” it states that this goal can be achievable the process of incentivising farmers with capital, using new equipment and technology to plow away the remaining straw away and using the straw for alternative purposes such as production of domestic fungus, clad plate and cellulosic ethanol by using straw as raw materials.
The scientific question the authors are trying to answer is what are the solutions to the problem of straw burning and how is it achievable. In all the articles, the authors discuss the problems that are caused due to burning the straw and the potential improvements it can have on society if solutions are implemented. There are multiple human development patterns the authors are investigating. They are studying the actions of the farmers following every harvest season and why they do it. The articles follow the amount of straw output after each year and the utilization rate to see how much is being burned off. For example, in the article Straw Utilization in China - Status and recommendations, it states that the production of straw in 2014 was 700 million tonnes and the utilization rate was approximately 80 percent. They also study the health of nearby citizens and discuss the complications that could affect them. In the article “Controlling Air Pollution from Straw Burning in China Calls for Efficient Recycling” it discusses the health of local people by saying “local residents were advised to stay indoors or wear protective masks when outdoors”.
Citations Shi, Tingting, et al. “Burning in Agricultural Landscapes: An Emerging Natural and Human Issue in China.” Landscape Ecology, Springer Netherlands, 20 July 2014, link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10980-014-0060-9. Ren, Jiqin, et al. “Straw Utilization in China - Status and Recommendations.” Sustainability, 23 March 2019 Zhang, Hefeng, et al. “Emission Characterization, Environmental Impact, and Control Measure of Pm2.5 Emitted from Agricultural Crop Residue Burning in China.” Journal of Cleaner Production, 12 February 2017 Qu, Changsheng, et al. “Controlling Air Pollution from Straw Burning in China Calls for Efficient Recycling.” ACS Publications, 23 July 2012