Biofuels And Alternative Sources Of Energy

B. (2016, October 06). Methanogenesis - Boundless Open Textbook. Retrieved April 30, 2017, from https://www.boundless.com/microbiology/textbooks/boundless-microbiology-textbook/microbial-metabolism-5/anaerobic-respiration-49/methanogenesis-316-7648/

Carbon dioxide, the chief byproduct of fossil fuel combustion, is a potent greenhouse gas that remains in the atmosphere indefinitely. In the U.S., the burning of coal for electricity pumps more than 2.4 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year, according to the Energy Information Administration. People ask what about the cars? How do they affect the environment? The average American passenger car spits out 11,450 pounds of carbon dioxide every year. There are 246 million cars in the U.S. To cut down on carbon dioxide emissions, governments, car manufacturers and utility companies have been seriously pursuing alternative energy sources. Among the leading contenders are biofuels - renewable, clean-burning fuels made from plant- and animal-based source materials like corn, soybeans, discarded vegetable oil or animal fat. We hear a lot about biofuels and fossil fuels in the news, but sometimes the two terms can get tangled in our minds. Are fossil fuels really made from fossils? Can a regular car fill up on biofuels? Are there any clean-burning fossil fuels, like natural gas?.

Jevanni CousinsProfessor ReidSCC 101 Biofuel’s Future in the U.S. and the WorldOne of the major problems confronting the United States and the World today, is the growing lack of fossil fuels and the accrual emissions of carbon into the atmosphere. The United States is still dependent on fossil fuels today such as coal despite numerous efforts to decrease that dependency, and are also relying on imported oil from multiple foreign countries particularly in the Middle East. The use of fossil fuel has generated great anxiety in greenhouse gas emissions and governments from all over the world, including the United States which is leading the effort in combating this issue. The problems have grown so huge in this century that President Barack Obama made it a major initiative during his administration to overcome it. He once said “we cannot drill our way to energy but must fast-track investments in renewable sources of energy like solar power, wind power and advanced biofuels” (Obama). In this paper, I will discuss biofuels, the types biofuels, along with its potential and challenges that it may face in our growing society. In recognition of the issues that exist due to fossil fuels, the United States elective bodies has been preaching the encouragement for the uses of biofuels, which has prompt an increase in

Biotechnology has played a vital role in reducing the green house effect and in producing a cleaner planet. Because of the worldwide economic and environmental concerns regarding the use of petro-chemicals, extensive research has been conducted on residual biomass. Significant progress has been made in the field of lignocellulose biotechnology. Lignocellulosic waste materials have been used in the production of bio-fuels, enzymes, chemicals, the pulp and paper, animal feed and composites (Iqbal, 2013). Moreover, algal biomass has received huge attention in producing biofuels due to their relatively high growth rate, great

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.

Due to energy and environmental concerns, producing fuels from renewable energy sources has seen advancements, especially through collecting biofuels produced from microbes. Many of the biofuels produced from microbes are done so by different pathways in order to generate fatty acid branched-chain esters (FABCEs) and branched fatty acid branched-chain esters (BFABCEs), which are promising isopentenols. These can be produced via multiple pathways, the leucine and valine pathway as well as the fatty acid pathway. Another and main source pathway producing biofuels, which produces isopentyl diphosphate (IPP) and dimethylallyl dipho-sphate (DMAPP), are the 2-methyl-(D)-erythritol-4-phosphate (MEP) and mevalonate-dependent (MVA)

Fuels have dominated the way the world operates for decades; with a rising demand for fuel becoming constantly more predominant. Their uses are vast, making them versatile and in high demand around the world. But since most common fuels like diesel and petrol are fossil fuels, the availability of such fuels is decreasing rapidly. Hence alternatives to these fuels are being developed and used worldwide. These alternatives include biofuels. Biofuels are defined as “a hydrocarbon that is made BY or FROM a living organism that we humans can use to power something.” (biofuel.org.uk, 2010) Most biofuels are made using forms of biomass, including algae, sugar cane, seeds, oil, fats etc. (biofuel.org.uk, 2010) Biodiesel is a biofuel alternative to

Production of biofuels by virtue of yeast fermentation has long been the center of debate in the scientific research community for many years now. It also has currently positioned itself as one of the most viable alternatives to reduce the carbon footprint and to develop environment-friendly fuels made directly out of natural ingredients. The term biofuel essentially implies the energy sources that have been developed from a variety of crops (Tabatabaei et al. 2015). The term biofuel was coined as a direct outcome of rising environmental problems and radical climate change attributed to an exposure to the environment to a variety of harmful gasses on a routine basis. Not only is fossil fuel limited in terms of quantity, but has also resulted in incurring several harmful impacts to the environment on a global scale (Stanbury et al. 2014). Yeast fermentation is among the most commonly used and widespread methods of biochemical conversion for the purpose of production of biofuels (European Biofuels, 2016). In the present day, a vast majority of vehicles, which is approximately 90%, run on petroleum as a fuel while only 10% of vehicles make use of alcohol as a biofuel (Explore Yeast, 2016).

The United States government, as well as many others around the world, have relied on fossil fuel as an energy source for a long period of time. The extraction, production, and development of these sources have contributed to the many issues with the environment. In addition to this, fossil fuel will not exist forever because there is a limited amount on earth and it cannot be restored. For this reason, the United states should consider substituting fossil fuel with alternative sources of energy. Switching to alternative source may save the Earth and may pose as a more sustainable source of energy.

The use of biofuels as mandated by RFS.2 has a net positive impact on environmental quality. One of the key reasons for the adoption of this program was to provide an alternative to fossil fuels that could offer better energy efficiency and lower green house gas emissions. The environmental quality has been analyzed through four criteria much like in the report by Ackom, Mabee and Saddler (2010). These are: Greenhouse gas emissions, Energy use, Water use and Land Use Change.

The use of microalgae in carbon-neutral biofuel production is a promising technology for the sustainable diversification of energy resources and fuels (US DOE, 2010). Despite the popularity of biofuels from other agricultural products, these biomass sources are inferior to algae in terms of productivity, reliability, sustainability, and sheer magnitude of yield (Wigmosta, et al., 2011). According to National Research Council, an assessment of land requirements for algae cultivation that accounts for climatic conditions; fresh water, inland and coastal saline water, and wastewater resources; CO2 abundance and sources; and land availability is needed to inform the potential output of algal biofuels that could be produced economically in the

Concept: Continued use of petroleum sourced fuels is now widely recognized as unsustainable because of depleting supplies and the contribution of these fuels to the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the environment. Renewable, carbon neutral, transport fuels are necessary for environmental and economic sustainability. Biodiesel derived from oil crops is a potential renewable and carbon neutral alternative to petroleum fuels. Biodiesel from oil crops, waste cooking oil and animal fat can realistically just satisfy a small fraction of the existing demand for transport fuels. Microalgae currently seem to be a promising source of renewable biodiesel that is capable of meeting the large volume demand for transportation fuels. Like plants, microalgae use sunlight to produce oils but they do so more efficiently than crop plants.

It’s no secret that there is an imminent energy crisis looming, the price of energy is growing at an exponential rate. Our energy stores are shrinking as the demand increases by the day, and the fuels we use are not unlimited, we can only produce what we can extract from the earth. The countries with the highest demand in a petroleum energy are not the richest in these natural resources.

liquid fuel. H.C.V of a fuel is defined as the energy liberated per kg. of

Bioenergy is a form of energy that is taken from biological sources known as biomass. Materials like manure, wood and wood manufacturing wastes and other biodegradable by-products from the agricultural industry are some examples of biomass. Biomass can also be derived from waste products from industrial, commercial and domestic activities (EECA, 2014).