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.
To present a counter argument on this issue, there are various advantages of using biofuels as well such as preserving the natural environment and saving the planet from harmful gaseous omissions. Ethanol,
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.
However, despite its many advantages biomass still has many disadvantages. Firstly it is not as efficient as fossil fuels, for example the ethanol produced for cars via biomass is not even close to the efficiency of petrol and does damage to engines over time. It also has the potential to harm the environment through increase of methane gases which are produced as a bi-product if animal and human waste is used. Biomass also requires a large distance away from residential areas in order to burn it and a large amount of fuel in comparison to other energy sources which can have dramatic effects if large portions of forests are cut down to provide lumber.1
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.
Ethanol did not become such a staple addition to gasoline until the 1970s due to fuel shortage scare. Its use became even more prevalent in the early 2000s with the increase in global warming awareness. The Renewable Fuels Association reports that the United States alone produced over 15 billion gallons of ethanol, a 14 billion gallons increase from its production in 1999 (Industry Statistics, 2017). While ethanol is a clean energy when use, however, its production is not quite as clean clean as it appears to be. Ethanol is considered renewable since the heartland of the United States grows so much corn annually to supply the plant. The corn growing process is quite damaging to the environment. Farming equipment runs on diesel fuel, which directly contributes to the greenhouse gas production. The use of fertilizer and insect repellent chemical is harmful to soil and atmosphere. The transportation of crops relies heavily on semi-tractors that still heavily rely on fossil fuel, thus exacerbate the problem. Not to mention that ethanol plants require electricity primarily generated by coal-fired power plants since it is much more efficient and a lot cheaper. All these factors contribute to the global warming problem, the very problem that ethanol is supposed to
Hence, biofuel is a recent scientific research undertaken in Australia and will be the greatest benefit towards society and the environment. As biofuel can help contribute environmentally through lowering levels of pollution, it also benefits the society by offering economic stimulation as well as
Through anaerobic digestion, methane gas is produced, which can then be refined for use as fuel. Biomass can also be converted into ethanol or biodiesel, which can serve as substitutes for currently used transportation fuels, decreasing the reliance on fossil fuel. Crops such as sugar cane or corn can be fermented to produce ethanol, while natural oils from palms or soybeans can be used to create biodiesel. Another way to harness the energy of biomass it to burn it. Even though the combustion of solid biomass may not be as environmentally sound as fermenting and refining it to make fuel, combusted biomass still emits less pollution than the combustion of other fuels such as oil and coal. The combustion of biomass can be used domestically to heat homes in place of oil or gas heaters, or even industrially to provide electricity to run machinery. With less of a negative impact on the environment, the use of biomass to create energy can decrease the world's reliance on fossil fuels, and decrease pollution through the conversion of waste into a usable energy source.
“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.
Biofuels have been used as a source of energy for thousands of years. Wood was the first biofuel to be used as a means to create fires for cooking. Since that time we have discovered numerous ways to use them and the various forms of biofuels that are available for use. Presently our use of biofuels consists largely of additives to gasoline in the form of ethanol. Ethanol is found in almost all of our gasoline products today, in which about 10% is typically mixed as an additive. Some gas stations are now offering nearly pure ethanol fuel known as E85 which is 85% ethanol. This makes ethanol the most common biofuel used worldwide. In response to this, farmers around the world have increased biofuel plant production as a means to meet the new growing demand for it. As time goes on, more modern farming practices are expected to continue to increase the output at which farmers can grow corn and other ethanol producing plants thereby “fueling” the biofuel gas industry. With more resources available to use, ethanol will be an even cheaper additive than it is now.
Over time there has been a growing focus towards the environmental consequences that the world faces at present due to the constant global use of fossil fuels. Increasing fuel prices and the high cost of fuel imports have caused the issue of depleting Crude Oil supplies to become a global concern. Determining whether Biofuels deliver benefits over fossil fuels requires thorough investigation into factors such as direct and indirect inputs and outputs for their full production and life cycles. Throughout this report current and well supported public data will be presented on focusses covering; fuel prices, production plant efficiencies, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and other environmental effects.
With the commercialization of bioenergy, it has provided an effective way to fight against the problem of petroleum scarce and the influence on environment. Today, fossil fuels take up 80% of the primary energy consumed in the world, which 32% is consumed by the transport sector.
Recently, the idea of using food crops as a possible substitute for petroleum fuels was reintroduced. Any carbon-based molecules (food, waste products etc.) can have ethanol extracted from them, which can then be used as energy. These plant-based biofuels were initially a competitor to petroleum fuels, in the beginning of the 20th century, before their progress was
Bio-Oil is an organic fuel that contains energy that is made from natural living organisms. They are produced from lipids which are merged with other ingredients which chemically produces Bio-Oil.