Biofuels As A Fuel Source

Cellulosic ethanol is a biofuel produced from the waste of corn, and its potential for minimalizing pollution is huge. The first company to find the breakthrough, DSM, gained recognition, but was met with obstacles in the production of this biofuel in the form of rocks, which contaminated the corn waste and clogged the machinery. However, DSM soon overcame this obstacle and now produces truckloads of cellulosic ethanol every week. This environmentally friendly biofuel is everywhere, ranging from animal feed to solar panels. DSM is aimed towards “improving the planet and the lives of people on it”. Feike Sijbesma, the CEO of DSM, states that the company values “People. Planet. Profit” and is geared towards addressing malnutrition and climate

In the words of Lester Brown, “We are witnessing the beginning of one of the great tragedies of history.” Numerous people just like Brown believe the urge the United States has to reduce foreign oil will soon cause a major shortage of food. In 2011, the United States used 45% of that year’s corn crop to produce ethanol. With such a high percentage of corn used for ethanol, it causes a shortage of corn for food. The Untied States is not as efficient at making ethanol compared to feeding people. A bushel of corn can produce 2 .77 gallons of ethanol. With the same amount of corn, America can feed 1.4 persons for a day.

The ethanol production process starts with growing corn, on average an acre of corn yields close to 7,110 pounds of corn that require 140 gallons of fossil fuels to grow through the use of liquid fertilizer and powering machinery (Ethanol Fuel from Corn par. 4). The corn is harvested and transported to an ethanol refinery where it is ground, then water is added to create a mash in which enzymes break down the corn into sugar, afterward the sugar is mixed with yeast and fermented to produce ethanol (Ethanol Fuel: is ethanol par. 9-10). During the process of growing and processing the corn needed to manufacture one gallon of ethanol, it requires 131,000 British Thermal Units (BTU) to generate a gallon of ethanol while a gallon of ethanol produces only 77,000 BTU (Ethanol Fuel from Corn par. 5). The net ratio of energy for ethanol production is undesirable because ethanol has barely over half of the total energy needed to produce ethanol. Other materials can produce ethanol, such as switch grass or wood biomass, however, their energy returns are just as atrocious, needing forty-five percent and fifty-seven percent more energy to produce ethanol than it provides, respectively (Lang par. 5). This net

First, the production of corn ethanol negatively impacts the U.S. food supply. That is, within the last few years, there has been a decline in corn-based food. As Kripke notes, “In 2008, the USDA estimate that 3.1 million bushels of U.S. corn will be used to produce biofuels. That’s an increase of nearly 50 percent over 2.1 million bushels last year.”

Biofuels are fuels that are produced by a biological process. A biofuel is a mixture of organic substances that are used as fuel in an internal combustion engine. Derivative of biomass, organic matter originated in a biological process, spontaneous or provoked, usable as an energy source.

To solve the rigorous threat to earth from global warming, bio-fuels serve as the most feasible source of energy all over the world. The environmental and economical performance of bio-fuel as compared to fossil fuel was analyzed by full Life Cycle Analyses (LCA) in Spain. The Spanish government CIEMAT, carried out two LCA’s so as to compare ethanol-ethanol mixtures with gasoline, and biodiesel-biodiesel mixtures with fuel oil according to ISO 14040-43 standards, these standards evaluate energy and mass balance for two or more objects. It was concluded that carbon dioxide emission during utilization of bio-fuel are lower than fossil fuel and bio-fuel requires less primary energy to be processed than fossil fuels. Bob Dinneen, President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association submitted the letter to the editor of The Gazette in which he marked that “On an environmental level, conventional ethanol is reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 34% compared to petroleum, including hypothetical land use change emissions” (qtd. in renewable fuel association). As the raw material for

Bioprospecting is the investigation for diverse organisms that are capable of producing enzymes, biochemicals, or other compounds that can be intuitively useful in which commercial valuable compounds for humans can be obtained. For instance, bioprospecting can aid the research to find sustainable biofuels. A biofuel is a fuel produced from organic material, including biomass, plants, or ethanol. Ethanol consists of fermenting plant fibers such as cellulose. Therefore, discovering new microbial communities that are capable of degrading cellulose establishes a potential of creating biofuels such as ethanol. Additionally, the abundant availability of cellulose makes this compound an attractive, raw material alternative for fuel. For instance, this would allow the decrease in the dependence on fossil fuels, such as oil, while benefitting the environment by reducing harmful emissions into the atmosphere. If a microbe were discovered that could rapidly break down cellulose, biofuel production could increase, having a positive impact on the environment. Cellulose is composed of a polysaccharide consisting of glucose

“It’s not easy being green.” This jeremiad of Kermit the Frog rings all too common in today’s energy production crisis. Now more than ever the US needs its energy to be derived from natural, renewable resources. As George W Bush, an oil supporter, even stated, “America is addicted to oil” (Ratliff, 2012). It’s now become evident to those in authoritative roles in the American government that oil will not be able to sustain our nation unceasingly. Attempts at funding alternative energy sources have included exploration of various types of ethanol - sugar, corn and cellulose. Out of these three, the most promising is the possibility of ethanol derived from cellulose. Cellulosic ethanol is a source of energy from fibrous plant material that may

A biofuels is a fuel that is produced through biological processes, such as agriculture rather than a fuel produced by geological processes. Hence a biofuel is a fuel which is gained from the living matter. A biofuel is a hydrocarbon that is made from a living organism hence we humans end up using this to power something. In a short amount of time, if a hydrogen fuel is produced from organic matter hence this is known as a biofuel being produced. Biodiesel is an fuel which is similar to fossil diesel. Therefore biofuel is any fuel from which energy is gained through a process of biological carbon fixation. Biodiesel can be produced from vegetable oil, animal oil/fats and waste cooking oils. A well known process used to convert these oils

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?.

Increased energy demands, the need for dependence on oil imports, and rising oil prices have created a new found interest in renewable, biomass fuels. The U.S. Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) added onto the Renewable Fuel Standard that required that all U.S. transportation fuels contain at least 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels by 2022. Algae biofuels have the potential to make a significant contribution to achieving these goals and having our nation become an energy independent country. The U.S. federal government has invested over $800 million in biofuels research as part of the American Recovery and Renewal Act. These funds have been given to the Department of Energy - Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Biomass Program to invest in research, development, and finding ways to create an algae-to-biomass a commercialized farm and product. A few private companies are also making substantial investments in the algae to biomass area. With all the interest in algae as biomass, it is possible that algae could become the best sustainable oil option for the United States.

Biofuel powered automobiles are an example of humans developing new technology to improve life. Automobiles and plants, which are both capable of being engineered by humans, have immensely impacted the United States of America and the world. The connection of automobiles and plants demonstrates the significance of human innovation and ingenuity.

Corn, also called maize, is mainly grown throughout North and South America. Maize ranks third in world production following wheat and rice (Olaniyan, 2015). “In the United States, maize is a principal feedstock for ethanol production and is expected to contribute approximately 42% of the target annual use of biofuels in the country by 2022” (Woli & Paz, 2015) Its high consumer use has driven a large

Dry-mill, the more common and standardized of the two processes, utilizes the four basic processes of ethanol production, “clean corn is ground and mixed with water to form a mash… enzymes are added to convert starch to sugar… yeast is added to ferment… then distilled and dehydrated to create fuel-grade 99-percent ethanol” (Shapouri 2). The Wet-mill process commonly referred to as a “biorefinery” process approaches ethanol from a more atomic level. In Wet-mill ethanol production “grain must be separated into is components including starch, fiber, gluten, and germ” (Shapouri 2). Nevertheless Wet-mill production still uses the three processes above to create ethanol, the difference between Wet and Dry-mill is the quality of their byproduct. Through Dry-milling you avoid the complexity of multiply biochemical disseminations, which save energy and money through lower skill labor and lower tooling costs. However Wet-mill production makes more efficient use of mass and higher quality byproducts that will have greater market value. In the end the net cost of either method is variable, yet on the average the cost to produce a gallon of ethanol is less for Dry-milling than for Wet, yet when you consider the sale of extra byproducts this figure is reversed (SEE Table 2).

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