User:Mmacmillan1/sandbox

Reflective Essay
The Impact of Wikipedia and Reliable Information

In today's society, it can be at times difficult to acquire information that is reliable and trustworthy. At first glance, many people might put Wikipedia into the unreliable category: anyone can add information to articles on Wikipedia, which can make some people question the legitimacy of the content. However, behind the scenes, there is a community of dedicated users that siphon through the articles, attempting to make Wikipedia the number one resource of accurate information by reviewing, researching, and improving content in articles. Furthermore, I learned that contributions made by the community can make an everlasting impact as created content can remain on the site for a long period of time, helping users gather information that piques their curiosity/interests. Assignments that are usually done in school are graded, then no one else generally sees the work. With Wikipedia, it's different.

Wikipedia can improve the public's understanding of a field by being a starting point during research. I would not recommend citing directly from an article found on this site, however sources used in the articles can be used to direct the public to information that will enhance their understanding of a topic. This is important as it will provide the user with ideas on how to proceed in the next steps of their research and understanding of a topic.

Critiquing Articles

During the article evaluation assignment, I learned that there are many components that go into making a Wikipedia article. Clarity, structure, balanced coverage and neutrality are just a few of the components that make up the quality of an article. I was open-minded in the manner that I approached the critiquing of the article. I did not know what to expect initially, however after looking at the article a little more in-depth, I thought that the quality of the article was better than expected. The main sticking point for me was the quality of the sources. Many of the chosen sources that the article used were not from published journals, which rendered some of the information more or less unreliable. Using credible sources, either from journals or textbooks, can make an article reliable. When I was deciding what to write for the article, I initially wanted to create an article discussing biofuels in Canada. I wanted to discuss the importance and potential that the industry could have in Canada, and the policies that the government have put in place to help the industry blossom. That was the reason why the economic and production values were added.

Summarizing your Contributions

The article that I plan on adding to is Renewable energy in Canada. This article discusses renewable energies in Canada, and has a section describing bio-energy which essential is a synonym for the word "biofuel". The existing information lacks coverage concerning the different ways of creating biofuels, funding that government departments are currently providing the industry and the concerns that the industry is now facing. These concerns are mostly environmental and include water usage, land usage and habitat loss. I discussed the ways that biofuels are produced, with ethanol being a major biofuel. Furthermore, Canada has great potential as a biofuel producer. If the government provides more help to this sector, it can expand rapidly.

Peer Review and Feedback

The peer review process was very insightful. When an individual is working on content, it is very easy to make mistakes or to miss an important concept. When a fresh set of eyes looks over your work, it can help with these issues. Also, having your peers voice their opinions can give you ideas on how to better your work.

I made recommendations to my peers after reading their articles. The major downside of this peer review was that the review happened very early in the writing process, so it made it difficult to make recommendations based on little work some individuals had made up to that point. However, I tried my best to provide my peers with honest opinions to better their articles. This included mentioning how well they have done in certain aspects of the article (i.e. neutrality of the information, clarity, etc.). I found it difficult to come up with areas to work on as it was early in the writing process, and the articles that I reviewed mentioned what they planned on contributing already. Therefore, repeating these concerns would have been redundant.

When it came to my article, my peers made some suggestions on how I can go about improving my article. This included the adding more sources to the article, and adding more ways of creating biofuel other than ethanol. I did not receive any feedback from Wikipedia editors as of yet.

Article Evaluation
Article: Biofuels by region

Clarity, Structure, & Balanced Coverage

Information on biofuel production and policy is limited for several regions (e.g. Canada, UK, Israel). The possibility exists for the creation of articles that look into biofuel production/policy for nations such as Canada. Some other countries already have dedicated articles about biofuels such as the United States, and Sweden.

The information presented in the article is relevant and clear, however is beginning to be outdated. Most of the references date back to the late 2000s. The biofuel industry is rapidly changing, therefore some of the information contained within this article might be in need of updating. Pictures and graphs can be added to make the page more engaging/interesting for the reader. Graphs can include a global map showing hotspots for biofuel production and use. Pictures can depict the process of creating and the benefits of the use of these fuels in regions around the world. The article is structured/organized in a good fashion, with nations being organized into regions such as Americas, Europe, Asia, and developing countries. This enables the reader to quickly find information pertaining to a specific nation. There is a lack of balanced coverage. Some nations contain much more information (e.g. United States) when compared to others (e.g. Canada, Israel).

Talk Page

The previously mentioned ideas should also be brought up on the Talk Page. There needs to be more elaboration on several regions founds in the article. As mentioned earlier, it would be a good idea to create new articles on biofuel production. More specifically, Canada would be an ideal nation to have its own dedicated biofuels page describing recent trends and the future outlook of this resource.According to the Talk Page, the article is rated as Start-Class on the quality. There are two WikiProject groups giving this article mid-level importance. These WikiProjects are: WikiProject Environment and WikiProject Energy. There are no major/recent conversations currently being discussed on the talk page. The most recent conversation was regarding minor edits that a user made back in 2017.

Neutrality

The article attempts to use a neutral tone, however most of the information presented in this article is slanted towards the benefits and long term goals of using biofuels. (e.g. The Canadian government is looking to have 45% of gasoline consumption consist of 10% ethanol by 2010). There is very little scrutiny of biofuels within this article, with the exception of the mentioning of deaths related to the use of biofuels while cooking indoors in developing countries. Another exception is concerning a 2008 study released by the Royal Society in the UK, describing the need for government policies against the potentially damaging effects of biofuel production/use. This article is predominantly fact-based.(e.g. It mostly states long term goals/policies from governments around the world.) There opportunity exists to add more information on the process on how biofuel is made in different regions and the reasons behind it.

Sources

As was previously mentioned, the sources found within article are beginning to be outdated. There is also the need to add more reliable sources, including information from literature reviews and textbooks.The quality of the sources in this article varies. One example is reference #25 found at the end of the article. The source is simply listed as "Scientific American", with no mention of the issue number, date, author of the article or website (if the article could be found online). When the author fails to provide the reader with detailed and accurate sources/references, it undermines the credibility of the information. Another issue with the sources are that several links are not working/broken. For example, source #21 "Sustainable biofuels: prospects and challenges" and source #22 "Ethanol India" redirects users to unavailable pages. There are some interested sources from BBC concerning the use of biofuel and the need to better policy, e.g. sources #17 and 21. There is a need to add more scientific sources to this article. A potential article that can be used as a source that I've found describes current biofuel policy around the world, with an in-depth scientific look into regional production/use and the rationale behind it. It also provides readers with tables and graphs, which makes the article more engaging and informational, unlike the Wikipedia article.

Suggestions for Improvement

There are many possible improvements that can be made to this article. First of all, many sources need to be updated and/or added. Many of the sources are broken or are outdated. Also, there needs to be more scientific information included in this article. This can be done through the adding of scientific journal articles as sources (e.g. Such as the article that I suggested).The article attempts to cover the topic on a global/regional scale however, there needs to be more balance in the way the information is presented. For example, some nations have very limited information concerning biofuel, while others contain much more. This demonstrates that there is plenty of potential to add to this article. Finally, there exists the possibility for several nations/regions to have their own dedicated articles concerning biofuels. Major producers such as Canada do not have a dedicated article, and it would be interesting to have accessible information on the latest policy, production, and usage trends/outlooks on this resource.

Add to an Article
Create An Article: Biofuel in Canada

Production of renewable energy such as biofuels contributes CAD$2 billion annually to the Canadian economy. Crops grown in Canada produce approximately 120 million tonnes in biomass. Of the 120 million tonnes produced annually, 5 million tonnes are grown specifically for biofuel production.

Biofuel in Canada
Main articles: Biofuel and Renewable energy in Canada

Biofuel is a renewable energy that is made from biological material, which is known as biomass. Biomass from agricultural waste, and crops are predominantly used to make biofuel. Biofuel may be classified into two categories, dependent on their source. Primary biofuel are made from unprocessed, natural materials (e.g. wood chips). Secondary biofuel are made from processed primary energy sources to better adapt them to a broader range of applications (e.g. ethanol). Canada is considered to be a major biofuel producer in the world. Canada produces over 250 million L per year. In recent years, the Canadian government has begun funding the research and development of biofuel production. A 5% biofuel mandate was implemented with coordination between federal and provincial governments back in 2010. Agriculture Canada has provided funding for the sector as well, totalling CAD $10 million through the Biofuel Opportunities for Producers Initiative (BOPI). These funds will aid developers gather the necessary capital to commence biofuel projects nation-wide. Today, production of renewable energy such as biofuels contributes CAD$2 billion annually to the Canadian economy.

Ethanol
Fossil fuels account for the majority of energy consumption in Canada Petroleum and natural gas account for 56.2% of the country's total energy consumption The depletion of non renewable energy and its increasing costs have been fueling Canada's shift towards finding sustainable and environmentally-friendly alternatives. Biofuels are considered to have many benefits when compared to more traditional fuels. Biofuel reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) and also reduce the reliance on fossil fuels. Canada is well-placed to become one of the top producers of biofuel in the world, however has experienced a relatively slow start to biofuel production. Canada's potential growth as a global leader in biofuel production exists thanks to a robust agricultural sector, which can produce significant amounts of biofuel feedstocks. Canada produces about 1.4hm of ethanol per year The implementation of the Environmental Protection Act by the Canadian government in 2008 requires that gasoline in the country consist of at least 5% biofuel. There are additional mandates in place that require at least 2% ethanol in biodiesel and heating oil. That would require that Canada produce at least 2hm of ethanol per year, therefore opening the door to a significant increase in ethanol production in the coming years This would equate to an additional 1.9 billion liters of ethanol that is needed to be produced to meet demand. Ethanol in Canada is produced from cereal grains. Corn and wheat account for virtually all ethanol output. Quebec has been shifting from ethanol being produced by corn to cellulose ethanol from forests and household waste. The federal government started the Ethanol Expansion Program back in 2008, with an objective to kick-start its production across the country. Subsidies were given to producers to entice them in continuing ethanol production, while reducing GHG emissions. The developments in the biofuel sector will have major impacts on the Canadian economy, especially the agricultural sector in the years to come.

Other
Canola's usage in biofuel production has been growing in recent years and now accounts for 14% of biodiesel production.

Concerns
There are environmental concerns that are brought about by biofuel production in Canada. These concerns include: water usage, land usage and habitat loss, and nitrogen runoff. The biofuel mandate that was put in place by the government requires that it reviews the environmental impacts of biofuel production every 2 years. However, the reviews that are being conducted are not strict enough to yield a credible result. There are also concerns the multi-billion dollar funding for these environmental reviews is being wasted by the lack of thorough assessment. Ethanol and biodiesel are often cited as ways to reduce our GHG emissions, however there are several other alternatives that can work as well. These include the use of electric cars, and the development of more efficient engines. Furthermore, R&D tax incentives and carbon taxes can ignite energy innovation in Canada, and might demonstrate that biofuel is not the only answer to our sustainable energy needs.

Planned Contributions
I plan on looking into further taxation and policy that exists in Canada for biofuel production. I also want to look into all the sources that are used in Canada to produce biofuel, along with how they are used in Canada. Environmental impacts and other concerns will also be expanded upon to ensure the neutrality of the article. References