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Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels, such as oil. Biofuel can be produced from plants or from agricultural, domestic or industrial biowaste. Biofuels are mostly used for transportation, but can also be used for heating and electricity. Biofuels are regarded as a renewable energy source. However, the use of biofuel has been controversial because of the several disadvantages associated with the use of it. These include for example : the "food vs fuel" debate, biofuel production methods being sustainable or not, leading to deforestation and loss of biodiversity or not.
Biodiesel is a renewable biofuel, a form of diesel fuel, derived from biological sources like vegetable oils, animal fats, or recycled greases, and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made from fats.
Ethanol fuel is fuel containing ethyl alcohol, the same type of alcohol as found in alcoholic beverages. It is most often used as a motor fuel, mainly as a biofuel additive for gasoline.
Biodiesel production is the process of producing the biofuel, biodiesel, through the chemical reactions of transesterification and esterification. This involves vegetable or animal fats and oils being reacted with short-chain alcohols. The alcohols used should be of low molecular weight. Ethanol is the most used because of its low cost, however, greater conversions into biodiesel can be reached using methanol. Although the transesterification reaction can be catalyzed by either acids or bases, the base-catalyzed reaction is more common. This path has lower reaction times and catalyst cost than those acid catalysis. However, alkaline catalysis has the disadvantage of high sensitivity to both water and free fatty acids present in the oils. August 10 is international biodiesel day
Bioenergy is energy made or generated from biomass, which consists of recently living organisms, mainly plants. Types of biomass commonly used for bioenergy include wood, food crops such as corn, energy crops and waste from forests, yards, or farms. The IPCC defines bioenergy as a renewable form of energy. Bioenergy can either mitigate or increase greenhouse gas emissions. There is also agreement that local environmental impacts can be problematic.
Pyrolysis oil, sometimes also known as bio-crude or bio-oil, is a synthetic fuel with limited industrial application and under investigation as substitute for petroleum. It is obtained by heating dried biomass without oxygen in a reactor at a temperature of about 500 °C (900 °F) with subsequent cooling, separation from the aqueous phase and other processes. Pyrolysis oil is a kind of tar and normally contains levels of oxygen too high to be considered a pure hydrocarbon. This high oxygen content results in non-volatility, corrosiveness, partial miscibility with fossil fuels, thermal instability, and a tendency to polymerize when exposed to air. As such, it is distinctly different from petroleum products. Removing oxygen from bio-oil or nitrogen from algal bio-oil is known as upgrading.
The United States produces mainly biodiesel and ethanol fuel, which uses corn as the main feedstock. The US is the world's largest producer of ethanol, having produced nearly 16 billion gallons in 2017 alone. The United States, together with Brazil accounted for 85 percent of all ethanol production, with total world production of 27.05 billion gallons. Biodiesel is commercially available in most oilseed-producing states. As of 2005, it was somewhat more expensive than fossil diesel, though it is still commonly produced in relatively small quantities.
Renewable Fuels are fuels produced from renewable resources. Examples include: biofuels, Hydrogen fuel, and fully synthetic fuel produced from ambient carbon dioxide and water. This is in contrast to non-renewable fuels such as natural gas, LPG (propane), petroleum and other fossil fuels and nuclear energy. Renewable fuels can include fuels that are synthesized from renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar. Renewable fuels have gained in popularity due to their sustainability, low contributions to the carbon cycle, and in some cases lower amounts of greenhouse gases. The geo-political ramifications of these fuels are also of interest, particularly to industrialized economies which desire independence from Middle Eastern oil.
GreenFuel Technologies Corporation (GFT) was a startup that developed a process of growing algae using emissions from fossil fuels to produce biofuel from algae.
Biofuel is fuel that is produced from organic matter (biomass), including plant materials and animal waste. It is considered a renewable source of energy that can assist in reducing carbon emissions. The two main types of biofuel currently being produced in Australia are biodiesel and bioethanol, used as replacements for diesel and petrol (gasoline) respectively. As of 2017 Australia is a relatively small producer of biofuels, accounting for 0.2% of world bioethanol production and 0.1% of world biodiesel production.
Vegetable oils are increasingly used as a substitute for fossil fuels. Vegetable oils are the basis of biodiesel, which can be used like conventional diesel. Some vegetable oil blends are used in unmodified vehicles, but straight vegetable oil often needs specially prepared vehicles which have a method of heating the oil to reduce its viscosity and surface tension, sometimes specially made injector nozzles, increased injection pressure and stronger glow-plugs, in addition to fuel pre-heating is used. Another alternative is vegetable oil refining.
Second-generation biofuels, also known as advanced biofuels, are fuels that can be manufactured from various types of non-food biomass. Biomass in this context means plant materials and animal waste used especially as a source of fuel.
Algae fuel, algal biofuel, or algal oil is an alternative to liquid fossil fuels that uses algae as its source of energy-rich oils. Also, algae fuels are an alternative to commonly known biofuel sources, such as corn and sugarcane. When made from seaweed (macroalgae) it can be known as seaweed fuel or seaweed oil.
Hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) is a biofuel made by the hydrocracking or hydrogenation of vegetable oil. Hydrocracking breaks big molecules into smaller ones using hydrogen while hydrogenation adds hydrogen to molecules. These methods can be used to create substitutes for gasoline, diesel, propane, kerosene and other chemical feedstock. Diesel fuel produced from these sources is known as green diesel or renewable diesel.
Biogasoline is a type of gasoline produced from biomass such as algae. Like traditionally produced gasoline, it is made up of hydrocarbons with 6 (hexane) to 12 (dodecane) carbon atoms per molecule and can be used in internal combustion engines. However, unlike traditional gasoline/petroleum based fuels, which are mainly composed from oil, biogasolines are made from plants such as beets and sugarcane or cellulosic biomass- substances normally referred to as plant waste.
An aviation biofuel is a biofuel used to power aircraft and is said to be a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The International Air Transport Association (IATA) considers it a key element to reducing the carbon footprint within the environmental impact of aviation. Aviation biofuel could help decarbonize medium- and long-haul air travel generating most emissions, and could extend the life of older aircraft types by lowering their carbon footprint. The jargon synthetic paraffinic kerosene (SPK) refers to any non-petroleum-based fuel designed to replace kerosene jet fuel, which are often, but not always, made from biomass.
There are various social, economic, environmental and technical issues with biofuel production and use, which have been discussed in the popular media and scientific journals. These include: the effect of moderating oil prices, the "food vs fuel" debate, poverty reduction potential, carbon emissions levels, sustainable biofuel production, deforestation and soil erosion, loss of biodiversity, effect on water resources, the possible modifications necessary to run the engine on biofuel, as well as energy balance and efficiency. The International Resource Panel, which provides independent scientific assessments and expert advice on a variety of resource-related themes, assessed the issues relating to biofuel use in its first report Towards sustainable production and use of resources: Assessing Biofuels. In it, it outlined the wider and interrelated factors that need to be considered when deciding on the relative merits of pursuing one biofuel over another. It concluded that not all biofuels perform equally in terms of their effect on climate, energy security and ecosystems, and suggested that environmental and social effects need to be assessed throughout the entire life-cycle.
Algenol, founded in 2009, headquartered in Fort Myers, Florida, Algenol is an industrial biotechnology company that is commercializing patented algae technology for production of ethanol and other fuels. The technology enables production four of the most important fuels using a proprietary process involving algae, sunlight, carbon dioxide and salt water.
Algae fuel in the United States, as with other countries, is under study as a source of biofuel.
Bioliquids are liquid fuels made from biomass for energy purposes other than transport.
References
- ↑ http://www.brteam.ir Biofuel Research Team homepage
- ↑ "Home". algaecluster.eu.
- ↑ "What are – and who's making – 2G, 3G and 4G biofuels?". Archived from the original on 2010-05-21. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
- ↑ "3rd and 4th Generation Biofuels Through 2015 | Wood Mackenzie". 22 June 2010.
- ↑ "greenfuelonline.com". greenfuelonline.com. Retrieved 2010-07-14.
- ↑ Kalita, D (2008). "Hydrocarbon plant—New source of energy for future". Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 12 (2): 455–471. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2006.07.008. ISSN 1364-0321.
- ↑ K. G. Ramawat (2010). Desert Plants: Biology and Biotechnology. Springer. pp. 37–. ISBN 978-3-642-02549-5 . Retrieved 23 August 2010.
- ↑ "What are – and who's making – 2G, 3G and 4G biofuels?". Archived from the original on 2010-05-21. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
- ↑ "Six Japan-based companies establish Research Association of Biomass Innovation for Next Generation Automobile Fuels". Green Car Congress. 2022-07-20. Retrieved 2022-07-24.