Biological Sciences
Biofuel
Biofuel refers to renewable fuels derived from organic materials such as plants and animal waste. These fuels are used as an alternative to traditional fossil fuels and are considered more environmentally friendly. Common types of biofuels include ethanol, biodiesel, and biogas, which can be used to power vehicles and generate electricity.
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10 Key excerpts on "Biofuel"
eBook - PDFBiofuels and Bioenergy
Processes and Technologies
- Sunggyu Lee, Y.T. Shah(Authors)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
1 1 Introduction to Biofuels and Bioenergy 1.1 Definition Bioenergy is energy derived or obtained from any fuel that is derived or originated from biomass which includes recently living organisms and their metabolic by-products. Similarly, Biofuels are defined as fuels made from biomass resources, or their processing and conversion derivatives [1]. Biomass is defined as all plant and animal matter on the Earth’s surface. Therefore, harvesting biomass such as crops, trees, or dung and using it to generate heat, electricity, or motion, is bioenergy [2]. Biomass is a very broad term that is used to describe materials of recent biological origin that can be used as an energy source or for their chemical ingredients. According to this definition, biomass includes crops, trees, algae, and other plants as well as agricultural and forest residues. It also includes many other materials that are regarded as waste by most people, including food and beverage manufacturing efflu-ents, sludges, manures, industrial organic by-products, and organic fraction of household waste [2]. The word “recent” in the defining statements of bio-mass is of significance, because it eliminates any logical ground for fossil fuels to be considered as such. Biomass has a number of different end uses such as heating (thermal energy), power generation (electrical energy), and transportation fuels. The term bioenergy is usually used for biomass energy systems that produce heat or electricity, whereas the term Biofuels is typically used for liquid fuels for transportation [2]. For example, Biofuels include corn ethanol, cellulosic ethanol, biodiesel, algae diesel, biomass-derived methanol, biomass-derived Fischer–Tropsch fuels, and more. Historically speaking, biomass is the oldest fuel known to humans in all regions of the world. In the current world, biomass is a clean and renewable fuel source that can produce heat, power, and transportation fuels.
eBook - PDF- Prerna Pandey(Author)
- 2019(Publication Date)
- Arcler Press(Publisher)
Introduction to Biofuels 1 CONTENTS 1.1 An Introduction ................................................................................... 2 1.2 History of Biofuels ............................................................................... 3 1.3 Biofuels and Light in the Early Years ..................................................... 6 1.4 1890 – 1916: Biofuels in Germany ...................................................... 7 1.5 1906 Repeal on Biofuel Tax in The US ................................................. 8 1.6 1907 − 1930S: British and The Biofuels .............................................. 9 1.7 Biofuels Programs 1900 − 1930S in France ........................................ 10 1.8 Biofuels and its Categories ................................................................. 10 1.9 Case Study: The Smallholder Model of Biofuel Production in Tanzania ..................................................................................... 20 References ............................................................................................... 23 Biotechnology for Biofuels 2 Fossil fuels are declining at a faster rate and current energy demand is rapidly increasing. To meet this demand, alternative sources need to be searched. Climate change and pollution are the environmental concerns related with the use of fossil fuels. Bioenergy can be a good solution to these issues. Bioenergy is a type of energy resource which is obtained from agricultural waste. The benefits of these bioenergy include renewable and sustainable fuel, low carbon dioxide emission, etc. Currently, Biofuels are produced from those sources which are directly or indirectly competing with food crops. Biomass used in Biofuels production can be burnt directly to generate power or heat. The main emphasis is on vehicle fuels. Wide variety of biomass sources are present which is used to produce Biofuels are known as feedstocks.
eBook - PDF- Robert Schlögl(Author)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- De Gruyter(Publisher)
2.1 Biofuels Derived from Renewable Feedstocks Regina Palkovits and William R. H. Wright 2.1.1 Introduction Today ’ s economy is dominated by fossil fuels including oil, natural gas, and coal as feedstocks for production of heat, energy, and chemicals. Various studies discussing the potential availability of remaining fossil resources present rather different results. Nevertheless, current studies estimate natural gas and coal can be utilized for another 100 years or even longer, while depletion of crude oil is expected to occur within 40 years [1]. Consequently, solutions for the sustainable production of energy in the future need to be established, and promising technologies that include water and wind power, solar thermal energy, and photovoltaic systems already exist. How-ever, alternative carbon sources for the future production of chemicals and liquid fuels are indispensable. Although electromobility via high-performance batteries or fuel-cell systems are suitable for application in short-distance individual transporta-tion, future air traf fi c and heavy duty vehicles will inevitably rely on liquid fuels, which possess the high energy density required to guarantee suf fi cient cruising range and performance. Herein, an account on recent developments in the fi eld of Biofuel production is given, and technological challenges with regard to conventional Biofuels such as bio-diesel and bioethanol are discussed. Advances in the fi elds of syngas and Fischer-Tropsch technology are only illustrated brie fl y. Instead, major emphasis is given to novel approaches aimed at the controlled (chemo-)catalytic transformation of ligno-cellulose into potential alternative Biofuel compounds as energy storage media for mobile applications. 2.1.2 Sources of Biomass Plant material presents a potential alternative carbon source for the production of liquid fuels and as feedstock for the whole chemical industry.
- NAM Centre(Author)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- Daya Publishing House(Publisher)
However, the first generation bio-fuels have some limitations. The major one is that they cannot be produced beyond a threshold level without threatening food security. They are also not cost-competitive with the existing fossil fuels. The combating of these problems led to the search for second generation bio-fuels which are more sustainable, affordable and environment-friendly. These comprise ligno-cellulosic materials, including vegetative grasses, trees, waste products from crops and wood processing facilities, and municipal solid wastes; these can be converted to fuel alcohol. Recently, technologies for converting algae into ethanol have also been developed. But the process is more complex relative to the processing of sugars and grains. Techniques are being developed to convert the cellulosic crops and crop wastes to ethanol. Similarly, biodiesel produced from organic waste materials, including used cooking oils and biogas produced from animal manure and organic household wastes can be categorized under second generation bio-fuels. Technologies are also under development for commercial production of bio-fuels like biohydrogen, biomethanol, butanol and isobutanol etc. produced from different types of biomass feedstock. Bio-fuels offer a number of environmental, social and economic advantages, apart from being a renewable alternative for fossil fuels. This ebook is exclusively for this university only. Cannot be resold/distributed. Bioethanol Bioethanol is an alcohol made by fermentation, mostly from carbohydrates produced in sugar or starch crops such as corn or sugarcane. Cellulosic biomass, derived from non-food sources, such as trees and grasses, is also being developed as a feedstock for ethanol production. Ethanol can be used as a fuel for vehicles in its pure form, but it is usually used as a gasoline additive to increase octane and improve vehicle emissions. Ethanol Production Production of ethanol requires two steps: fermentation and distillation.
eBook - PDF- Ashok Pandey(Author)
- 2008(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
There are several reasons for Biofuels to be considered as relevant technologies by both developing and industrialized countries. These include energy security, environmental concerns, foreign exchange savings, and socioeco-nomic issues related to the rural sector (Demirbas 2007). 1.4 BiofuelS FOR THE TRANSPORTATION SECTOR The transportation sector is one of the major consumers of fossil fuels and the big-gest contributor to environmental pollution, which can be reduced by replacing the mineral-based fuels with bio-origin renewable fuels. There are a variety of Biofuels potentially available, but the main Biofuels being considered globally are biodiesel and bioethanol for the transport sector. Bioethanol can be produced from a number of crops, including sugarcane, corn (maize), wheat, and sugar beet. Biodiesel is a fuel that can be produced from straight vegetable oils, edible and nonedible, recycled waste vegetable oils, and animal fat. 8 Handbook of Plant-Based Biofuels In the past few years, Biofuel programs have gained new momentum, as a result of rising prices of petroleum fuels as well as the advent of flex-fuel vehicles which can utilize different percentages of ethanol blended with gasoline. The governments of many countries grant subsidies and tax reductions to promote the assimilation of bioethanol. The cultivation, processing, and use of liquid fuels emit less climate-rele-vant CO 2 than the fossil fuels. Biofuel also has the advantage of being biodegradable. The seed oils are combustibles that have great potential to be used as Biofuels. They essentially comprise the triglycerides of the long chain saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. Pure ethanol is rarely used for transportation; instead, it is usually mixed with gasoline. The most popular blend for light-duty vehicles is E85, which is 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline.
No longer available |Learn more- (Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Learning Press(Publisher)
____________________ WORLD TECHNOLOGIES ____________________ Chapter- 1 Biofuel Information on pump regarding ethanol fuel blend up to 10%, California Bus run on biodiesel ____________________ WORLD TECHNOLOGIES ____________________ Biofuels are a wide range of fuels which are in some way derived from biomass. The term covers solid biomass, liquid fuels and various biogases. Biofuels are gaining increased public and scientific attention, driven by factors such as oil price spikes, the need for increased energy security, and concern over greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels. Bioethanol is an alcohol made by fermenting the sugar components of plant materials and it is made mostly from sugar and starch crops. With advanced technology being developed, cellulosic biomass, such as trees and grasses, are also used as feedstocks for ethanol production. Ethanol can be used as a fuel for vehicles in its pure form, but it is usually used as a gasoline additive to increase octane and improve vehicle emissions. Bioethanol is widely used in the USA and in Brazil. Biodiesel is made from vegetable oils, animal fats or recycled greases. Biodiesel can be used as a fuel for vehicles in its pure form, but it is usually used as a diesel additive to reduce levels of particulates, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons from diesel-powered vehicles. Biodiesel is produced from oils or fats using transesterification and is the most common Biofuel in Europe. Biofuels provided 1.8% of the world's transport fuel in 2008. Investment into Biofuels production capacity exceeded $4 billion worldwide in 2007 and is growing. Liquid fuels for transportation Most transportation fuels are liquids, because vehicles usually require high energy density, as occurs in liquids and solids. High power density can be provided most inexpensively by an internal combustion engine; these engines require clean burning fuels, to keep the engine clean and minimize air pollution.
eBook - PDF- John E. Smith(Author)
- 2004(Publication Date)
- Cambridge University Press(Publisher)
The current ‘energy crisis’ that is reverberating throughout the world has focused attention on the finite nature of fossil-fuel reserves. Taken in associa- tion with the dramatic increase in industrialisation in many developing coun- tries, this has generated growing economic and trade pressures for cheaper and reliable supplies of energy. The only alternative regenerable supply of feed- stocks for the chemical industry will be from the products of photosynthesis, i.e. sugar, starch and lignocellulose. Biomass can be considered as a renewable energy source, and can be converted into either direct energy or energy-carrier compounds by direct combustion, anaerobic digestion systems, destructive distillation, gasification, chemical hydrolysis and biochemical hydrolysis. 6.2 Sources of biomass There are three main directions that can be followed to achieve biomass sup- plies (Fig. 6.1): 104 Biological fuel generation Fig. 6.1 Options for the conversion of biomass to energy. (1) cultivation of so-called ‘energy crops’ (2) harvesting of natural vegetation (3) utilisation of agricultural and other organic wastes. Many woody crops such as alder, willow and birch, which can be readily coppiced, can be grown to offer direct fuel sources to be used in power sta- tions. Some success has already been achieved in Scandinavia. In other parts of Europe with considerable redundant farmland resulting from reductions in cereal cultivation, this land could be used for the cultivation of woody perennials or coppiced trees for fuel-energy production. The conversion of biomass to usable fuels can be accomplished by biological or chemical means or by a combination of both. The two main end products are methane or ethanol, although other products may arise depending on initial biomass and the processes utilised, e.g. solid fuels, hydrogen, low-energy gases, methanol and longer-chain hydrocarbons.
eBook - PDF- David M. Mousdale(Author)
- 2010(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
After exploring “how much” questions, intensive plantation systems for bioenergy crops and Biofuel feedstocks face questions posed by the plant physiologist and the soil scientist—broadly, “can it be done?” issues of ecological sustainability. 9.3.1 D EFINITIONS , S EMANTICS , AND A NALYSIS Much of the public debate about Biofuels has assumed that the production of ethanol and biodiesel as first-generation Biofuels is inherently sustainable. This is mostly on the grounds that any agricultural activity is renewable, whereas the extraction of crude oil is necessarily a once-only activity, given the extremely long geological time scale of oil’s generation. As a term, “sustainability” suffers from inexactness. 24,25 An exact definition can be deduced from thermodynamics and consequently defined in terms of mathematical and physical properties; that is, a cyclic process is sustainable if and only if: It is capable of being maintained indefinitely without interruption, weaken-• ing, or loss of quality. The environment on which this process depends and into which the process • expels any waste material is itself equally renewable and maintainable. These are very strict criteria and are not exemplified by, for example, an annual replanting of a crop plant such as maize, which depends on outlays of fossil fuel energy (for fertilizers, etc.) and may seriously deplete the soil or minerals and con-tribute to soil erosion. Even though such a system appears to be renewed every year, that is only within living memory or the history of agricultural production on Earth; on a geological timescale, this is a minuscule length of time.
eBook - PDF- Ahmed F Zobaa, Ramesh C Bansal(Authors)
- 2011(Publication Date)
- World Scientific(Publisher)
There are many routes to convert biomass to useable forms of fuel. The various present technologies for both conversion and utilization of biomass energy have shown that they have promising future improvement potential, especially if sustainably sourced with little or no negative impact on the environment and human well being. References 1. R.C. Saxena, D.K. Adhikari and H.B. Goyal, “Biomass-based energy fuel through biochemical routes: A review,” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 13 (2009) 167–178. 2. A.E. Putun, A. Ozcan, H.F. Gercel and E. Putun, “Production of biocrudes from biomass in a fixed bed tubular reactor; product yields and compositions,” Fuel 80 (2001) 1371–78. 3. A.V. Bridgewater, “Renewable fuels and chemicals by thermal processing of biomass,” Chemical Engineering Journal 91 (2003) 87–102. 4. A.V. Bridgewater, D. Meier and D. Radlein, “An overview of fast pyrolysis of biomass,” Organic Geochemistry 30 (1999) 1479–1493. 5. A.V. Bridgewater, “Principles and practice of biomass fast pyrolysis processes for liquids,” J. Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis 51 (1999) 3–22. 6. N. Ozbay, A.E. Putun, B.B. Uzun and E. Putun, “Biocrude from biomass: Pyrolysis of cotton seed cake,” Renewable Energy 24 (2001) 615–625. 7. N.S. Rathore and N.L. Panwar, Renewable Energy Sources for Sustainable Development (New India Publishing), 2007. 8. M. Balat, “Use of biomass sources for energy in Turkey and a view to biomass potential,” Biomass and Bioenergy 29 (2005) 32–41. 9. M.C. Romel and D.B. Khang, “Characterization of biomass energy projects in Southeast Asia,” Biomass and Bioenergy 32 (2008) 525–532. 10. E. Erdogdu, “An expose of bioenergy and its potential and utilization in Turkey,” Energy Policy 36 (2008) 2182–2190. 11. M. Parikka, “Global biomass fuel resources,” Biomass and Bioenergy 27 (2004) 613–620. 12. J.J. Bozell, “Renewable feed-stocks for the production of chemicals,” Proc. 217th ACS National Meeting (1999), pp. 204–209. 13. K.
eBook - PDFAdvances in Biofuel Production
Algae and Aquatic Plants
- Barnabas Gikonyo(Author)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Apple Academic Press(Publisher)
Over time, the contribution of this category becomes less as it is completely phased out towards 2050. 2. Sustainable residues and waste: Sustainable residues and waste, originating from agriculture, forestry and the food processing in-dustry for example, are used to meet as much demand as possible. 3. Sustainable complementary fellings: This category consists of woody biomass gained from sustainable harvesting of additional forest growth and of the sustainable share of the biomass currently used in traditional uses. It is used to fill remaining demand in lig-nocellulosic routes, as much as possible. 4. Sustainable energy crops: Energy crops are used to fill as much of the remaining energy demand as possible while staying within their sustainable potential. Energy crops include oil crops, starch and sugar crops and (ligno) cellulosic crops. 5. Sustainable algae: Algae are used to yield oil to fill the remaining demand in the oil routes. Algae are used last because their growing and harvesting is currently not a proven technology on a commer-cial scale. However, although they are prioritised below sustain-able energy crops, their use can be necessary before the entire po-tential for cropland for energy cropping is used. This is caused by the fact that we based our land availability on suitability for grow-ing different crop types and only a share of the cropland potential is suitable for growing oil crops. Section 3.1 provides more detail on this methodology. We assumed conversion ef fi ciencies for each route as displayed in Table 1. 78 Advances in Biofuel Production: Algae and Aquatic Plants The Role of Bioenergy in a Fully Sustainable Global Energy System 79 TABLE 1: Conversion efficiencies of bioenergy routes used in the Ecofys Energy Scenario. Values reflect the ratio between energy contents of inputs and outputs.
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