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A Word on Biofuels
Biofuels are defined as any liquid, gaseous, or solid fuel that has been derived from biological materials that have died relatively recently. The difference between biofuels and fossil fuels is simply the length of time involved, fossil fuels come from biological material that died upwards of millions of years ago, and biofuels are more recently deceased biological materials. In theory, biofuels can be derived from any biological carbon source, but the most common of these sources is photosynthetic plants. This covers various plant derived materials and plants. On a global scale, biofuels are most often used to power automobiles, cooking stoves and for heating homes. However, the technology continues to grow by leaps and bounds, and many other countries are expanding their biofuel industries. There has even been a breakthrough recently that allows renewable bio fuel to be converted from pollution. Bio fuels that are produced from specific crops instead of recycled vegetable oil, or landfill off-gassing are known as argofuels.
There are two main methods that are used to produce argofuels. The first is to grow specific plants that are rich in vegetable oil, such as soybean, jatropha, algae, or oil palm. These oils can be directly burned in a diesel engine or chemically processed to produce biodiesel or other fuels. The second method is to grow plants that contain high sugar levels, such as sugar beets, sweet sorghum and sugar cane, or plants high in starch such as corn, and then utilize yeast fermentation that produces ethyl alcohol. Wood, as well as wood byproducts can also be used to produce biofuels such as methanol, ethanol fuel, and wood gas. While it is difficult to produce economically, cellulosic ethanol can also be produced using the non-edible parts of the plants.
Biofuels may also have significant roles in many different international issues including the food vs. fuel debate, impact on water resources, deforestation and soil erosion, mitigation of carbon emission levels, as well as efficiency and energy balance. The production and use of biofuels also enhances energy security and reduces the dependence on petroleum. It should also be noted that biofuels are able to produce energy without having the side effect of an increased amount of atmospheric carbon, a direct opposite of fossil fuels, that release their carbon right back into the atmosphere. Bio fuels have this ability because as we grow new plants for the purpose of fuel production, they absorb and remove the same amount of CO2 that they will return back into the atmosphere upon their use as fuel. There are also studies that have suggested that specific biofuels made from certain crops and plants may produce even more harmful greenhouse gasses that just CO2.The bottom line is that biofuels are important not only to our environment, but also to our economy. The further use of fossil fuels could be reduced by converting biomass waste into energy. It could also greatly reduce waste management and pollution problems as well as the deadly greenhouse gasses that could be pushing us into a state of global warming.