Environmental Issues Surrounding The Use Of Biofuels

Biodiesel and diesel are made of up many different things. The most commonly known way biodiesel is formed is from fryer grease. Vegetable oil, or other types of oils can also be used to make biodiesel. Alcohol that comes from burning grains is called ethyl alcohol (Roos). This is also a source of biodiesel. “The production of biodiesel starts with any of the above items and then these are mixed with alcohol and a catalyst. This mixture is then heated which changes the fat into biodiesel. Sometimes this is purified even more before it is sold” (“Benefits and Concerns”). This all means that biodiesel fuel comes

Anything containing oil has been an increasing problem to the environment and to people. The toxicants that the oil produce harms people with their health. In the film Fuel, the director Josh Tickell talks about how crops can produce fuel, which produces cleaner air and is safer for the public. There are also other ways that Biofuel could be produced, such as adding human waste onto algae. The way that society utilizes oil is hurting the world, which in fact is affecting the human population and environment, but people only realize it until it is too late. With biofuel people would not be in danger and it could be produced without struggling to find oil.

Bio diesel is good for the economy because it is a fuel which can be created from locally available resources such as vegetable oils, coffee grounds, and animal fats. Biodiesel production and use

Since it is of plant origin it does not have sulfur. Diesel fuel has a considerable amount of sulfur in it and it gets converted to sulfur dioxide which is very harmful to the atmosphere and can cause acid rains and also lung problems for all americans. Since biodiesel is ultimately derived from animals or plants, it is renewable, unlike fossil fuels. The fact that it can be homegrown also could lessen dependence on foreign oil and support local farmers.

Initial research has shown that biodiesel, liter for liter, generates about 90 percent of the heat of traditional fossil fuels, and the resulting air emissions are significantly lower in sulphur, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons. Burning these fuels also does not contribute to global warming. Fossil fuels increase the amount of carbon in the atmosphere because the carbon they release upon combustion has been locked away for millennia. The carbon released by the combustion of biodiesel first had to be removed from the atmosphere by the plant that produced the oils it was derived from. Thus, no net gain occurs when said carbon is released. Biodiesel is also safer for people and the environment since it is non-toxic and biodegradable. Oil spills will no longer be multi-million dollar environmental catastrophes.

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.

Biofuels are fuels made from biomass, which is the organic physical material of an organism that is or was alive. Biomasses can be separated into two categories - liquids and solids. Liquid biomass fuels include biodiesel and ethanol. Solids include charcoal, garbage, wood, and manure. The majority of organic matter contains carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, the same elements that make up fossil fuels such as petroleum and coal. Biomass can be burned as is or converted into a different fuel that burns more efficiently. The use of biomass for fuel is not a new idea, as humans long ago used whatever could help them survive. Solid biofuels like wood, manure, and charcoal have been used ever since man discovered

In the United States biofuel production has grown a lot over the last two decades. In 1995 production was at 500,000 gallons, by 2005 it was 75 million gallons, and by 2006 it was at 224 million gallons [Biofuels ‘13]. The main plant used in the United States biofuel production was the soybean [Biofuels ‘13]. Currently 4 percent of the world’s demand for primary energy comes from biofuels. The more popular and more well-known hydropower only provides 2 percent of the world’s primary energy demand [Maugeri ‘10]. Most modern cars can use up to a 10 percent biofuel mix in their engines without any modifications, though some cars called flex-fuel can use 100 percent biofuel or gasoline [Maugeri ‘10]. One big advantage to using biofuel is that it produces a higher octane rating than gasoline which helps improve engine performance [Maugeri ‘10]. Biofuels currently cost a little more to make compared to gasoline at about a ten to eight ratio respectively [Sanders ‘10]. Hopefully with more farms producing the components for making biofuels hydroponically it can help drive the price down to where it can be competitive with gasoline and one day completely replace it.

An important similarity between production of biodiesel and production of ethanol is that at some point during processing both systems require an input of either fossil, hydro, electric, solar, or wind energy. Thus, in order to determine if the use of biofuels for mobile transportation purposes is more efficient than using fossil fuels, net energy analyses must be considered (Malca and Freire, 2006).

Claim of definition: Biofuels are energy sources made from living things, or the waste that living things produce and can be produced from a wide variety of sources such as sugars, starches, oil, and animal fats.

Biofuels are better than traditional fuels because they decrease the national dependency on foreign fuel. The Minnesota biofuel association provides the article “ETHANOL AND REDUCING FOREIGN OIL DEPENDENCY” expressing how the dependency of fuels decrease due to biofuels. “ethanol has helped America lessen its dependency on foreign oil. In fact, increased production of renewable fuels such as ethanol were key components of the Energy”(1). Biofuel contains materials that are found locally. Therefore, there would be no need to find fuels in foreign places. There would be no need to go underground or under the sea to find fuels. It would also decrease the dangers many people put themselves through in order to find the fuel. Also the article “what

“All Biofuels Are Not Created Equal” is a very informative article that everyone should be aware of. The authors of this article show how biofuels can be made to benefit Earth. Our ecological footprint is so big that everyone requires 2.5 Earths to maintain the same lifestyle. What does this reveal? It reveals that Earth’s resources are being diminished. This means that the world needs to do something to prevent this so Earth can last for future generations. The way that biofuels are being made is not very effective in helping this problem. This is because it either requires deforestation or the burning of fossil fuels, which the world is trying to stop. Instead of using corn or sugar cane as ethanol, alternative crops should be used

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.

Unlike gasoline or diesel, biofuels release little pollution. It can also be used to produce electricity by heating water using biofuels and using the steam produced to rotate a turbine. Another method is to allow the biofuel to decay and produce methane. Methane is commonly used as fuel for car, heating, cooking, and producing electricity.

Biodiesel is a cleaner diesel fuel for diesel engines in many types of vehicles. It is safer for the environment and is a cleaner version of diesel. It is made from soybeans and other vegetation. It is made with a process called transesterification it seperates glycerin from fat or oil and then methyl esters and glycerin is what is left over and used for the fuel.