Today's production of biofuels derived from corn or from palm oil crop

Question

Today's production of biofuels derived from corn or from palm oil crops threatens global food supplies—the United States' push for ethanol has already contributed to rising world market prices for corn—and furthermore prompts eager farmers to carve out new farmland from dwindling rain forests. For these reasons, experts now recommend cultivation of the jatropha plant, whose seeds contain up to 40 percent oil. Jatropha and jatropha oil are inedible, so using this oil to manufacture a biofuel will not diminish current global food supplies. And, because the plants favor hot, dry conditions, they are unlikely to threaten rain forests.

Which of the following would, if true, most undermine the rationale provided above for recommending cultivation of jatropha for biofuel manufacture?

A. Cultivation of jatropha plants in wet climates, though possible, is costly.
B. Some people believe that jatropha oil has medicinal value.
C. One acre of jatropha plants yields 20 percent less oil than one acre of palm trees.
D. The growing conditions favored by jatropha plants are ideal for a number of food crops.
E. The world market price of petroleum-derived fuels has fluctuated widely, sometimes falling below the world market price of any biofuel.

gmatophobia · Accepted Answer

This is a plan-goal type of question.

Story  : 
  Production of biofuels derived from corn or from palm oil crops threatens global food supplies as corn is used to produce biofuels rather than as a source of food. 
 To increase the production of corn, farmers are carving out new farmland from dwindling rainforests.

Plan  : 
  Promote cultivation of the jatropha plant

Support given
  The seeds contain up to 40 percent oil 
 Jatropha and jatropha oil are inedible, so using this oil to manufacture a biofuel will not diminish current global food supplies 
 The plants favor hot, dry conditions, they are unlikely to threaten rainforests

Goal  :
   To reduce the burden on edible food supplies, such as corn or palm oil, that are used for the production of biofuels. 
  To reduce the decrease in farmlands that are being carved out of rainforests to meet the global demand for food crops.

We have to weaken the likely hood of the success of the plan.

A. Cultivation of jatropha plants in wet climates, though possible, is costly.

Cost is not a factor in the plan. Hence, this option is not in scope. Also, while the cultivation of jatropha is costly, we don't have any information on the other costs associated with the production process. If the production costs of the biofuel from jatropha plants are significantly less, the cultivation cost is likely to get offset. Hence, this option doesn't provide a strong reason to weaken the plan.  We can eliminate A .

B. Some people believe that jatropha oil has medicinal value.

While this option provides an alternate use of jatropha oil, the goal is to reduce the burden on food supplies. Hence, this option doesn't provide a reason to weaken the plan.  We can eliminate B.

C. One acre of jatropha plants yields 20 percent less oil than one acre of palm trees.

This option is a mild weakener if we consider the fact that we might need more acres of land to produce the same amount of oil from jatropha plants than from palm trees. However, we do not know the type of land on which the jatropha plant grows. If the plant grows on marginal land, which cannot be used for agricultural purposes, the fact that one requires more land wouldn't weaken the plan.  We can eliminate C.

D. The growing conditions favored by jatropha plants are ideal for a number of food crops.

This option tells us that food crops and jatropha plants share the same growing conditions. So, it is likely that a number of farmers who currently grow food crops start growing jatropha plants instead of food crops. Hence, the production of food crops is likely to decrease, thereby threatening global food supplies. This option gives us a reason to doubt the success of the goal.  We can keep D.

E. The world market price of petroleum-derived fuels has fluctuated widely, sometimes falling below the world market price of any biofuel.

This option is out of scope at best. The price variance of petroleum-derived fuels is not related to the plan that we are evaluating.  We can eliminate E.

Option D

achloes · Answer

GMATNinja   MartyTargetTestPrep   AndrewN

How might one go about rejecting option C?

I was able to reject C by reasoning that even though it appears to mildly weaken the rationale for using jatropha, we do not know how jatropha's oil yield stacks up against that of corn, which is the other source of biofuels. Maybe corn is the main source (let's say, 99% of biofuels are extracted from corn and 1% from palm trees) and jatropha produces double the amount of oil produced by corn. Is this logic sound?

Thanks in advance!

AndrewN · Answer

I would say so,  achloes . In fact, I came up with the same idea when I saw answer choice (C). Just because one plant yields less oil does not mean the oil extracted from each plant is equally usable. I would also say that   gmatophobia   brings up an excellent point above: we have no information in (C) about the type of land on which each plant is grown, so an acre-to-acre comparison might not be meaningful.

Thank you for thinking to ask, and good luck with your studies.

- Andrew

advancebiofuel · Answer

Today's production of biofuels derived from corn or palm oil crop varies depending on geographical location, agricultural practices, and market demand. Both corn and palm oil are used in the production of biofuels, particularly biodiesel, but the prevalence of each feedstock can differ by region.

In the United States, for instance, corn-based ethanol is a common biofuel produced in large quantities, with numerous biodiesel plants that utilize corn as a primary feedstock. This is due to the abundance of corn crops and the established infrastructure for its processing. Corn-based ethanol is widely used to blend with gasoline and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

On the other hand, palm oil is a significant feedstock for biodiesel production in regions where palm trees are cultivated, such as Southeast Asia. Palm oil biodiesel has gained popularity in these areas due to its high energy content and efficiency in biodiesel production. However, the environmental impact of palm oil cultivation, including deforestation and habitat destruction, has led to concerns and calls for sustainable practices.

If you are looking for biodiesel plant manufacturers, you can search for them online or contact industry associations and directories related to biofuels and renewable energy. These manufacturers design and build biodiesel plants, providing equipment and technology for the production of biodiesel from various feedstocks, including corn and palm oil. It's essential to consider the sustainability and environmental implications of the chosen feedstock when planning a biodiesel production facility, as this can have a significant impact on public perception and regulatory compliance.

Raman109 · Answer

Understanding the argument - 
Today's production of biofuels derived from corn or from palm oil crops threatens global food supplies—the United States' push for ethanol has already contributed to rising world market prices for corn—and furthermore prompts eager farmers to carve out new farmland from dwindling rain forests. - Background info. It highlights two issues:
a. Threatens global food supplies
b. Prompts farmers to carve out new farmland from dwindling rainforests.

For these reasons, experts now recommend cultivation of the jatropha plant, whose seeds contain up to 40 percent oil. - So, to counter the two issues, experts recommend cultivating the jatropha plant (by the way, Jatropa's plants contain up to 40% oil).

Jatropha and jatropha oil are inedible, so using this oil to manufacture a biofuel will not diminish current global food supplies. And, because the plants favor hot, dry conditions, they are unlikely to threaten rainforests. - So, in these two sentences, the author counters the two issues by the Jatropha plant. How?
a. Threatens global food supplies - Jatropa and Jatropa oil are inedible. 
b. Prompts farmers to carve out new farmland from dwindling rainforests. - They favor hot and dry conditions.

Which of the following would, if true, most undermine the rationale provided above for recommending cultivation of jatropha for biofuel manufacture?

Question - What rationale? The reasons provided to counter the two issues.

A. Cultivation of jatropha plants in wet climates, though possible, is costly. - Touches neither of two issues. Out of scope.

B. Some people believe that jatropha oil has medicinal value. - First, "some" can be at least 1. But that's not the problem here. It touches neither of the issues, i.e., it Threatens food supplies, and further dwindles the rainforest. Out of scope.

C. One acre of jatropha plants yields 20 percent less oil than one acre of palm trees. - While this option talks about an important point in general that points towards needing more land to plant Jatropha, we know nothing about the kind of land used - marginal or non-marginal. The additional problem here is that neither of the two issues is discussed. It doesn't discuss "threatening global food supplies because it is inedible" and "prompting farmers to use dwindling rainforests because it favors dry conditions."

D. The growing conditions favored by jatropha plants are ideal for a number of food crops. - This directly weakens the first issue (threatens the food supplies even if they are inedible) because it says that the growing conditions, land, climate, etc., are similar to many food crops. Farmers can stop producing those large numbers of food crops and shift to Jatropha, a strategy detrimental to food supplies.

"The phrase "a number of" is commonly used in English to indicate that there are several, many, or multiple instances of something. It's used to refer to an unspecified but significant quantity or amount. The exact number is not specified and can vary widely based on the context. For example, saying "a number of people attended the event" implies that there was a sizable but unspecified group of attendees."

E. The world market price of petroleum-derived fuels has fluctuated widely, sometimes falling below the world market price of any biofuel. - out of scope. Talks about neither of the issues.

SohiniSengupta · Answer

I was badly stuck with this question but it became all clear to me now.
I chose C and was not able to eliminate it. This is how I finally understood why C is wrong.

The conclusion/ conclusions -
1. Jatropha and jatropha oil are inedible, so using this oil to manufacture a biofuel will not diminish current global food supplies. 
2. And, because the plants favor hot, dry conditions, they are unlikely to threaten rain forests.

Now, we have to find an option to weaken these 2 or any one of them atleast.

Option C - One acre of jatropha plants yields 20 percent less oil than one acre of palm trees.
 On careful observation, this choice has no effect on the conclusion. But may affect the premise.

But look at option D - The growing conditions favored by jatropha plants are ideal for a number of food crops.
  This directly affects the conclusion of "not affecting global food supply" -  mostly no other major crop production.

Hope this helps.

djangobackend · Answer

CONCLUSION - JP will not diminish food supplies and will not threaten rainforest.

I marked C but its incorrect since it talks about JP using more land area for same amount of production BUT we know that JP grows in hot and dry conditions which is opposite to conditions in rain forest so it will anyways not affect the rain forest so it infact has NO IMPACT on this portion of conclusion.

Whereas correct answer D says that conditions for JP is same as for a number of food crops, if its so then its possible that JP production MIGHT affect the food production hence it weakens the conclusion that "JP will not diminish food supplies" it might do so.

thereule · Answer

I came up with the idea that in the last line of the passage it is said that "And because the plants favour hot dry conditions, they are unlikely to threaten rain forests" So technically rain forest are safe which was a concern in the passage, so it doesn't weaken that. And that's how I eliminated it, but still it was a mild weakener as it still threatens other land.

gullyboy09 · Answer

But how come being a similar condition mean that it might affect production of other food crops? It might, similar to option C, where also it might! How to choose?

Today's production of biofuels derived from corn or from palm oil crop

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Today's production of biofuels derived from corn or from palm oil crop

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

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