Biofuels Essays

used called “biofuel”. Biofuel is a fuel derived directly from living matter, for example, it can sometimes come from the use of food and waste products. Biofuel is most commonly known as ethanol(Monbiot). Now, given all of the facts about biofuels, they seem like a good idea; however, they are not the most effective tool for kicking the oil addiction as they seem. Contrary to popular belief, facts have proven that show biofuel is unreliable, wasteful, and undependable. Although biofuel has been successful

fossil fuel it brings up the question, should the use of biofuels or fossil fuels be what powers the future of America? In order to answer this question, one must understand what biofuels and fossil fuels are and how they work. Biofuels are fuel resources that come from biological things, such as, plants, corn or even recently algae. These types of fuels are becoming more and more common. Especially, as many gas stations start offering a biofuels that are derived from corn as an option over normal

point on whether biofuel is the best way to reduce United States dependency on foreign oil. To begin with, is biofuel the best way to reduce United States dependency on foreign oil? First of all, biofuel offers a lot of benefits. Anne Steckel, reporter for Roll Call Newspaper states that biofuel creates 90% less emissions than petroleum fuel (Steckel).

What is biofuel? List at least three advantages of biofuel over fossil fuel. Biofuel is fuel made from plant materials through carbon fixation. Three advantages that biofuel has over fossil fuels are; it reduces greenhouse emissions, it helps countries reduce the oil supply trouble by creating a more secure stock, as well it advertises environmental sustainability. 2. Why microalgae hold a great promise as a source for biofuel? Microalgae hold a great promise as a source for biofuel because the

OF BIOFUEL AND ITS PROS AND CONS Biomass 1. Biomass can be defined as “the amount of living matter as in a unit area or volume of habitat” . Use of biomass to generate energy is not new and dated back to ancient times. Woods, animal dung and peat are few of the examples used since ancient times. It is estimated that total biomass of the earth is 560 billion metric tons (approximately) out of which 146 billion tons of biomass is generated by plants . This is a common term used by the biofuel industry

Is biofuel a good replacement for fossil fuels? Fossil fuels are a fuel made from plant and animal matter that have been compressed over millions of years. These fuels consist of coal, oil and gas and when burnt to create energy, they produce gases that damage our atmosphere. To cut down on these gases other types of fuels have to be used one of these replacements for fossil fuels is biofuel. Coal has to be crushed then burnt whereas oil and gas can be directly burnt. The process of burning fossil

Introduction: Synthesis of biodiesel is an example of a transesterification reaction. In a transesterification reaction, the alkoxy part of the ester is exchanged for a different alkoxy group. Biodiesels are fuels that are produced from renewable plant or animal wastes. It is a mixture of methyl esters of long chain carboxylic acids that are produced from naturally occurring oils. For this experiment, vegetable oil will be used to synthesis biodiesel. The mechanism for this reaction is a nucleophilic

only run on ten to fifteen percent ethanol, and that ethanol is not as efficient as the eighty-five to ninety percent gasoline mixture that is used (Sojka, 2011). Corn is the best producer of ethanol among crops commonly considered to produce the biofuel, with a theoretical yield of around 124 gallons of ethanol produced per dry ton of corn (US Dept. of Energy, 2016). There are impacts for the nation and for the world, if ethanol was to replace fossil fuels as gasoline. In the United States, many

renewable resource causes the most harm to the planet and the bank? The contributions of materials are used to create biofuel, biodiesel, bioethanol and waste energy. The United States currently produces a total of 35,779k t in biofuels. Biofuel is a resource equivalent to oil; the only difference is the production. The U.S produces 5.5bn L of biodiesel, 35.78m mtoe of biofuel and 56.2bn L of ethanol a year. Energy crops are crops that are not food that produces

Ethanol is a grain alcohol fuel that is concentrated from plant materials. A common use for ethanol is gasoline; Ethanol is blended with gasoline and used in automobiles. Ethanol is brewed from sources of starch. Corn is large in supply in the United States, making corn a recurrent source used to produce ethanol. To produce ethanol, corn kernels are grounded into miniature pieces. Water and enzymes are then added to the corn to convert the starch for fermentation. This mixture, which some call mash

out to find a “biofuel which would compete with fossil fuels but did not compete with agriculture for water, fertilizer or land” (Trent). This shows how his invention will have a significant impact on the source from which humanity will derive its energy. Trent includes vague explained results from his experiment. Granted that this is a TED talk, the results he includes give one insight to the productivity of the invention. For instance, “it would produce 2,000 gallons [of biofuel from microalgae

materials from plants and animals. Biomass stores energy that can be burned to release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, in the form of heat.Biomass can be used to produce electricity( using things such as garbage,wood chips, and corn), and other biofuels that power cars, trucks, and tractors. Pros and cons Pros (Pros)-Biomass energy is a renewable source Doesn't depend on fossil fuel Carbon neutral (doesn't produce carbon) Widely available Has many forms Reduces waste Cons Not clean when burned

will drive up the cost for water. Smog is harmful to the environment, animals and humans and can even cause death. Another alternative fuel is cellulosic biofuels. “Cellulosic biofuels, meanwhile, are made from grass, municipal waste or the woody, non edible parts of plants all of which take less land and energy to produce” (Fahey). Biofuels are better than ethanol because “There is no doubt that the use of fossil fuels harms the environment in numerous ways” (Nakaya 18). Fossil fuels are also

even be grown in murky water and waste water where not even fish can survive. The great thing about algae is it acts as a natural filter and will actually eat the waste in the water cleaning it. Algae also has a higher yield per acre than any other biofuels (such as corn). To top it all off, after 50 years of research on algae in the U.S. it is starting to scale up and is getting to be a more and more popular fuel.

is partly caused by corn ethanol. Only around 26% of corn is left over after the biofuel and animal feed is taken away. The majority of that is exported while about 11% is used for human consumption in the U.S. This means we use way too much of our corn on fuel, and not for the consumption of our people and animals. Today, there is increasing pressure to redevelop conservation lands for high-priced food and biofuel crops, but this is terrible for the animals. Animals need their ecosystems to survive

Science and technology are the fastest growing industries in the world and will always be. Reason for this is that human beings are constantly seeking ways of making life easier and function efficiently while producing quality work and leading a high standard of living. Much improvement has been seen in the agricultural sector with more genetically modified foods been produced to meet the overwhelming demand for food coming from the rapid growth of the world’s population. This investigation, was

Introduction Corn ethanol is made from corn which is utilized as biomass. The methods of making corn ethanol involve ethanol fermentation and distillation. Corn ethanol is primarily used as an oxygenate in gasoline to produce a low-level blend. To a lesser degree, it is used as fuel for E85 flex-fuel vehicles. This research paper will describe the process of producing corn ethanol. Production Process There are two primary kinds of corn ethanol generation: dry processing and wet processing. Each

Ethanol Emissions Another goal of the ethanol mandate is to reduce harmful emission released into the atmosphere to preserve the environment. The Alternative Fuel Data Center (AFDC), a branch of the DoE claims that corn-based ethanol helps reduce anywhere between 19-48 percent, subject to the source of energy used during the production (n.d.). The claim only represents the reduction of emission in vehicles; it does not encompass the emission produced by households, factories, heavy equipment, and

2015). In Brazil, sorghum is used primarily for animal feed production, and secondarily as forages, such as silage, grazing, and hay (Tabosa et al. 1993; Dykes et al. 2005; Rooney 2007, Silva et al. 2015). Recently, with the growing demand for biofuel, sweet sorghum has emerged as a relevant biomass resource for ethanol production (Ratnavathi et al. 2011; Han et al. 2012; Zegada-Lizarazu and Monti 2012; Zhao et al. 2009). Sweet sorghum contains significant amounts of sugar, which can readily be

A variety of plant resources jointly referred to as “biomass” is made into a renewable fuel called Ethanol. Over 95% of U.S. gasoline contains ethanol, normally E10 (10% ethanol, 90% gasoline), to reduce air pollution and oxygenate the fuel. (Ethanol Fuel Basics, 2014) Ethanol is a clean burning, high-octane, high-performance fuel that reduces carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon tailpipe emissions. (KAAPA Ethanol, 2015) The return on an ethanol stock is greater than return on an oil stock because the