What is Biofuel?
A total of 2.5 billion gallons of biodiesel was produced in 2021 worldwide.(“U.S. Bioenergy Statistics.” USDA ERS - U.S. Bioenergy Statistics, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 20 July 2022, https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/u-s-bioenergy-statistics/ Accessed 27 Sep. 2022.) All of us probably use some sort of biofuel or ethanol in our vehicles but are unaware of what that means. Biofuel can be simply defined as fuel that is produced over a short time span by biomass (organic matter being converted into biofuel).
The Origin of Biofuel
It was first mentioned as an idea by German inventor Rudolf Diesel when he imagined vegetable oil as a power source for an engine. In 1937 an early, crude version of biofuel was developed; but it wasn’t until the 1980s when the version of biofuel used today was created and used in Europe. (“History of Biofuels.” KU Biodiesel Initiative, The University of Kansas, 17 Nov. 2013, https://biodiesel.ku.edu/history-0#, 27 Sep. 2022 )An agricultural college in Austria would start the first biofuel plant in 1985 and in the following decade the first plants began to pop up in the United States of America.3 In reality, biofuels have actually been used for much longer as even wood, used to cook food and heat homes, is also considered a biofuel. Thel first use of modern biofuel was by Diesel, when he created an engine that could run on peanut oil. (“History of Biofuels.”)
There Are Two Types of Biofuel
There are two common types of fuel that can be classified as biofuel. First, there is ethanol, which, outside of renewable fuel, is commonly found in plastics and cosmetic products. Ethanol is a combination of different plant materials and is mixed with gasoline before use. Types of fuel containing ethanol can range from the most common, known as E10 (10% biofuel), all the way to E85 (51-83% biofuel) which is created for vehicles called “flexible fuel vehicles.” In the U.S., about 97% of gasoline contains some amount of ethanol/biofuel. (Farm Energy, “History of Biodiesel” April 3, 2019 https://farm-energy.extension.org/history-of-biodiesel/)
The second common type of biofuel is called biodiesel. “Biodiesel is a liquid fuel produced from renewable sources, such as new and used vegetable oils and animal fats, and is a cleaner-burning replacement for petroleum-based diesel fuel.” (“Biofuel Basics.” Energy.gov, https://www.energy.gov/eere/bioenergy/biofuel-basics, Accessed 27 Sep. 2022) This relates back to Rudolf Diesel’s first vision of biofuel, with his idea of using biomass based oils to power an engine. Today, these food products can be converted to a power source for biodiesel engines.
The Process of Creating Biofuel
The process of creating biofuel requires two main steps: deconstruction and upgrading. The goal of deconstruction is to break down the plant-based layer of whatever is being converted to a biofuel. The first step of deconstruction actually has two variations; The first type, high-temperature deconstruction involves a process just like the name. This uses high temperatures to convert the biomass (whatever is being converted) into a gas, which then can be condensed into a liquid crude biofuel. The second method is low-temperature deconstruction. This method involves the use of enzymes to break down biomass chemically.
After the process of deconstruction is complete the next step is upgrading which involves chemically or biologically processing the now deconstructed mass. This can be done in quite a few ways, mainly “...fractionation, liquefaction, pyrolysis, hydrolysis, fermentation, and gasification.” (Demirbas, Muhammed Fatih. “Biorefineries for Biofuel Upgrading: A Critical Review.” ScienceDirect, Elsevier, 27 May 2009, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306261909001676 Accessed 28 Sep. 2022.) After the final process of upgrading, the complete biofuel can now be sold as fuel.
Using Biofuel for Transportation and Power
The number one use for biofuel is and always has been transportation. A third of the world’s oil is put towards keeping vehicles moving, which means a lot of damage to the environment.Big name companies such as Bentley, BMW, and Porsche are turning to biofuels and are quite successful with this new source of energy. (Kennedy, Helena Tavares. “Racing Ahead with Biofuels – Bentley, BMW, Porsche, Others Embrace Biofuels.” Biofuels Digest, 11 July 2021, https://www.biofuelsdigest.com/bdigest/2021/07/11/racing-ahead-with-biofuels Accessed 27 Sep. 2022) . It’s likely that soon other large car manufacturers will turn to this cleaner and more beneficial fuel option.
The next largest benefit of biofuels is the amount of energy that can be generated. For example, in the United Kingdom, around 350,000 households were provided with power from a company that generated biofuel from landfill gas. (SG Bio Fuels. “Top 10 Uses for Biofuel.” SG Bio Fuels, 26 Dec. 2016, https://www.sgbiofuels.com/top-10-uses-for-biofuel/ Accessed 27 Sep. 2022) This is one example of how powerful biofuels can be. Something that would normally be environmentally damaging can be transformed into a useful power source that could be used to provide heat, charge electronics, and even cook food!
The Positive Impacts of Choosing Biofuel
The production of biofuels has brought many positive impacts to our country and world. For one, “Approximately 400,000 jobs would be directly created in the advanced biofuels industry, with total employment creation in the U.S. economy totaling 1.9 million jobs.” (“U.S. Economic Impact of Advanced Biofuels Production.” BIO, Biotechnology Innovation Organization, https://archive.bio.org/articles/us-economic-impact-advanced-biofuels-production-1 Accessed 28 Sep. 2022) That could help cut unemployment numbers down from 6 million to 4 million, a decrease of 33%.
There are also obvious environmental impacts.“Cellulosic ethanol has the potential to cut greenhouse gas emissions by up to 86%.” (“Biofuels & Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Myths versus Facts - Energy.” Energy.gov, https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/edg/media/BiofuelsMythVFact.pdf Accessed Sep. 28 2022) According to the EPA, “In 2020, U.S. greenhouse gas emissions totaled 5,981 million metric tons (13.2 trillion pounds) of carbon dioxide equivalents.” 86 percent of 13.2 trillion is about 11.2 trillion, meaning that by simply transitioning to biofuel, we could eliminate 11.2 trillion pounds of greenhouse gasses. (“Climate Change Indicators: U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, July 2022, https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-us-greenhouse-gas-emissions Accessed Sep. 28 2022)
All in all, biofuels are an amazing and intriguing source of energy. It’s impossible to deny that it will be an important part of the world’s future.
En-Yu Liu, Freshman, Terra Linda High School, Terra Linda, CA
Aaron Alcala-Mosley, Painted Bins
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