Final answer:
Heavy reliance on biomass for energy needs is not sustainable due to the limited biological capacity of Earth compared to our vast energy demands and the low EROEI for biofuels, which require substantial energy input for processing.
Step-by-step explanation:
So many plants are required to pour smaller biomass of consumers because of the significant energy disparity between the biological resources on Earth and our current energy demands. The enormous energy appetite of humanity cannot be sustained solely by biomass such as plants and biofuels, without severely impacting our natural ecosystems. Producing biomass energy on a large scale can lead to habitat displacement, competition for resources with food production, and contribute to pollution due to lack of emissions control in individual use scenarios.
The Energy Return On Energy Invested (EROEI) is particularly low for biofuels as it takes a considerable amount of energy to process materials like plant biomass into ethanol. Moreover, Earth's total biological capacity is not substantially more than the current scale of human energy use, meaning that even utilizing all available biomass would not meet our energy needs, especially when accounting for EROEI limits.
In essence, global biomass use is a reflection of the disparity in energy resources between developed and developing countries, with the latter often reliant on traditional biomass for basic needs such as heating and cooking. The limited efficacy of biological energy sources, compared to our reliance on them, points to the need for a diverse array of energy solutions and a significant reduction in overall energy consumption.