Fuel The World
What is Biofuel and Biomass?
[1]
[2]
Biofuel provides many solutions to today's problems. As a renewable fuel, biofuel does not have the problem of limited supply as fossil fuel. The fuel crops can be grown locally, supporting agriculture, reducing dependency on imported fossil fuel, and providing stable supply. The plant used to produce biofuel is called feedstock. The feedstocks for biofuel absorbs the CO2 that the fuels emits when the plants are growing. This creates a carbon cycle where no additional CO2 in the atmosphere is produced, which greatly reduces the greenhouse gas emissions compared to those of fossil fuel.
While biofuel seems like a future concept that we see in science fiction movies, it has already been commercialized and is available in many gas stations today. The IEA has predicted that in 2030, biofuels will be able to meet 4 percent of world’s demand for transportation fuel.
Biofuel is hydrocarbon fuel produced from renewable organic matter grown in a short period of time. The organic materials such as plant material, vegetation, or agricultural waste used in biofuel production are called biomass. Plants that are turned into biofuel generally are sugar rich(such as sugarcane, sugar beet, and sweet sorghum), starch rich (such as corn, wheat, and cassava), oil rich (such as canola, soybean, cottonseed, algae, and palms), or high cellulose plants (such as switchgrass).
[3]
[4]
{1}
Primary and Secondary Biofuel
Some biofuels can be used directly without much processing, such as wood. The type of biofuel that can be burned directly as raw material to produce heat is considered a primary biofuel and is mainly used for heating or cooking. The secondary biofuel, such as bioethanol and biodiesel, is processed biofuel. These secondary biofuels generally have a wider range of application, including transportation and industrial application.
The secondary biofuel can be generally separated into four generations depending on the type of biomass used in the biofuel production.
[5]
© 2015 by Van Hsieh
Sponsored by Mrs. Moriarty and Davis Senior High