Bio-Fuels Are Better than Fossil Fuels

Two interconnecting critical issues present in societies globally is the declining supply of fossil fuels and the growing emissions of carbon released into the atmosphere.

Our world is finite. That means that there is only a limited amount of air, water, rock, plants and animal material. Earth is like a spaceship with only so many resources. There are no supply ships to drop in and give us a refill of resources. It make us (as global citizens) the caretakers or stewards aboard the spaceship. So, as global citizens we have to take care of our planet and make sure that it has enough resources for its own well being, the other biodiversity living on Earth and even humankind. We must preserve and wisely use what we have. Using renewable resources and energy is one way to do just that. Biofuels are a type of renewable resources. In this report I will be talking about, what are biofuels, what can they do, how biofuels are made, are they available around the world? Should biofuels be used to replace fossil fuels? Why or why not, how do biofuels impact the food supply in 3 rd World Countries, who uses biofuels? Also the cost, pros and cons and environmental benefits or concerns.

For over forty years now, scientists and researchers have been tirelessly searching for an alternative to fossil fuels. Biofuels have become an interesting contender in the search for the replacement of the non-renewable energy source. Biofuels have been used throughout history for over thousands of years. There is a large debate over biofuels and its true impact on the environment. Those involved in the discussion debating whether biofuels have any real overwhelming benefits compared to fossil fuels could argue for its usage. According to recent research performed by the University of Michigan, biofuels may not be the best alternative for fossil fuels. Regardless of its impact on the environment, biofuels are becoming more popular particularly when the price of oil rises.

In the world of global warming, all kinds of pollution and fuel shortages going on, renewable and clean/ green energy is increasingly the ideal solution of energy related problems we have to solve one way or another. Biofuel is one of the mainstream and highly supported solutions nowadays, an idea to make renewable fuel by living organisms such as fiber, corn, vegetable oil or sugar cane. Unlike nonrenewable fossil fuels over extracted by people causing various environmental problems like generating a considerable amount greenhouse gas, current technology already lets renewable fuel like biofuels to shrink a certain amount of greenhouse gas production, making it a more ‘clean’ source of energy.

Our world is finite. That means that there is only a limited amount of air, water, rock, plants and animal material. Earth is like a spaceship with only so many resources. There are no supply ships to drop in and give us a refill of resources. It makes us (as global citizens) the caretakers or stewards aboard the spaceship. So, as global citizens, we have to take care of our planet and make sure that it has enough resources for its own well-being, the other biodiversity living on Earth and even humankind. We must preserve and wisely use what we have. Using renewable resources and energy is one way to do just that. Biofuels are a type of renewable resources. In this report I will be talking about, what are biofuels, what can they do, how biofuels are made, are they available around the world? Should biofuels be used to replace fossil fuels? Why or why not, how do biofuels impact the food supply in 3 rd World Countries, who uses biofuels? Also, the cost, pros and cons and environmental benefits or concerns.

In present scenario the cost of conventional energy is increasing day by day and demand for such energy sources is also rising so it has become necessary to utilizing bio-gas as a fuel for domestic and industrial purpose is the most economical reliable and time tested method for conserving energy.

　　　 To date, when issues related to environment, GHG(Green House Gas), sustainability are gradually concerned, increasing people is pursuing new ways to lower down the negative effect exerted by modern industry. This also attracts government’s attention upon encouraging utilization and production of alternative energy and offering financial aid for some newly high-tech companies. One solution to deal with this global concern is finding or develop alternate fuels to replace the fossil fuels such as biofuels. The utilization of biofuels as energy for transportation is mainly driven by the over-depletion of oil, the concerns about energy consumption and the emission of Green House gas. However due to some barriers, the most recently used biofuels will replace around 10% to 15 % of fossil fuels in the field of transportation[2]. The merits and demerits of adopting corn Stover as a feedstock to produce biobutanol, bioethanol and biodiesel[2] as well as diesel, soybean biodiesel, gasoline and corn ethanol are studied based upon LCA[3](Life Cycle Assessment), a new method to analyze the influence of the ecosystem output in the life cycle. LCA is commonly used for measuring environmental influences of a product system, including different life cycle period[4] and [5].

Bio-fuels are fuels derived from sustainable and renewable biological sources (ABC’s). These sources, commonly referred to as Biomass, usually consists of either food crops (corn, sugar cane, wheat, and potato’s), various biological oils (peanut, sunflower, algae, and soy oil), or biological waste (waste vegetable oil, wood-chips, corn leaves and stalks, and yard waste) (Biofuels)(Biomass). Bio-fuels are often touted as a viable carbon-neutral replacement for carbon based fossil fuels. The hope of many Bio-fuel advocates is that the domestic production and use of these various fuels will help too reducing our dependence on foreign oil thus securing our energy Independence and strengthening our economy (Cleveland).

A biofuel is a renewable fuel that is produced from vegetable and animal fats. The process that converts these oils into fuel is known as transesterification or esterification. in transesterification, the fatty acids and triglycerides that are within animal and vegetable oils react with methanol with a catalyst such as sodium hydroxide which results in the formation of fatty acid methyl esters. Structurally, both biodiesel and petrodiesel contain hydrogen and carbon atoms, however petrodiesel is a pure hydrocarbon compound whereas biodiesel has two oxygen atoms, an ester group (Goshen.edu). Biodiesel differs from petroleum as environmentally, as biodiesel is biodegradable and non-toxic, and is more environmentally friendly compared to conventional diesel which is considered to be an environmental hazard as it is not renewable and contributes to the weakening of the ozone layer and global warming due to its carbon, sulphurous and nitrogenous dioxides, due to incomplete combustion. Biofuels can be a progressive move in society due to its environmental benefits in reducing harmful emissions into the atmosphere, however the fuel does require more processes to be converted to fuel and by using food crops as a possible biofuel source, this could create a shortage in crops. However, by making biofuels the prominent fuel, more jobs could be created which would be beneficial economically but biofuels are more expensive to produce and purchase than normal petrodiesel so if

The American philosopher, ecologist and scientist, Aldo Leopold introduced in his book ‘A Sand County Almanac’ in 1949 the idea of ‘thinking like a mountain’. This basic and simple phrase was later analysed and further explored by environmentalist philosopher Arne Naess. He stated that thinking like a mountain consisted mainly in realizing that humans are part of the biosphere, therefore, mankind should be able to recognize several responsibilities towards all other living things, thus individuals must think first in the long-term interests of the environment (Buckingham et al., 2011). Thinking like a mountain is how enterprises, industries, nations, communities and even individuals should approach the realization of projects that could impact the environment. One must ask the fundamental question of knowing exactly what are the necessities of the habitats in a long-term time so that the right decision will be taken. However, probably and quite certainly, environmental aspects were not considered as a priority back in the 20th century when industries increased their profit by using cheap and efficient resources (compared to other sources of energy) such as coal, oil and gas to supply the energetic demand. Unfortunately, the uncontrolled and unsupervised exploitation of fossil fuels drove mankind to a period of time where climate change is one of the environmental threats humanity will face in a close future. Climate

Humans are directly responsible for global warming. Our lives involve the emission of theses dangerous greenhouses (Bushnell 25). Carbon dioxide has increased to 381 parts per million in the last century. Heavy usages of Coal, petroleum, and natural gas release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Every day we use these fossil fuels to meet our power, heating and transportation needs. Vehicles account for about 20% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. Deforestation has also affected great deal towards higher greenhouse gas level.

Energy consumption is universal to all, in spite of the location in the world. Different countries and people consume different amounts of energy at any given time. Energy consumption ranges from small-scale to large-scale uses for different purposes. However, what is common to all despite the amount used is the impact of the consumption that cuts across every region. Among the most fundamental sources of energy used on regular basis, include oil, natural gas, and coal, which are fossil fuels. The generation of energy from fossil fuels requires combustion to take place, which, as a resultant, causes pollution to the atmosphere. An increase in the pollutants in the atmosphere causes environmental issues in the specific locale and the globe on a larger scale. The main pollutant to the environment due to fossil fuel combustion is the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide. Climate change is accelerated by the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere; there have been efforts from around the world by governments to reduce the emission of this greenhouse gas. Some measures put in place has reduced the emission of the said gas, however, some are yet to yield the desired result. Different countries consume different amounts of energy, and therefore, the emission of carbon dioxide into the environment varies greatly from one country to another.

The first advantage of biofuels is that it can reduce the carbon emissions by 50 to 60%. This is a great advantage due to the fact that the world is currently facing major climate change issues, which is becoming a problem, as carbon dioxide is part of the gases on earth. Every day we release an amount of carbon dioxide. As we burn certain substances to create Energy they release are harmful amounts of gases. The earth then starts to warm up as when the sunlight reaches the earths surface it's either reflected back into space or it can be absorbed by the earth, as it is absorbed it releases some energy back into the atmosphere as heat. This is then how are the earth is slowly heating up and makes it clear as to why biofuels are a better source

To answer the call of this crisis, the world may turn to other energy sources like biofuels, which are a relatively developed, yet innovative alternative to fossil fuels. Biofuel is a cleaner and renewable source of fuel that is able to combat fossil fuel price increases in relation to the limiting supply of fossil fuels with many existing and currently developing biofuel technologies to lower greenhouse gas emission and environmental damage. Biofuel technology derives from organic biomass which may include trees, grasses, plants and aquatic plants. From the photosynthesis of these biomass materials, plants convert carbon dioxide (CO2) and water into carbohydrates (simple sugars) and lignocellulose.

Gasoline dominates in today’s industry and has a significant impact on the face of the earth in terms of climate change and economy. Some of the important and practical alternatives to current option – fossil fuels-primarily gasoline and diesel, and the Issues related to them are discussed in the following text.