Biofuel to drive, to Fly, or for heating!

Hi and welcome to our "biofuel" page. can

This fuel is produced from any biological and natural carbon source. Although, the most are generated from photosynthetic plants. Various plants and plant-derived materials are used for bio diesel or also called agrofuel manufacturing. One is to grow crops high in sugar (sugar cane, sugar beet, and sweet sorghum) or starch (corn/maize), and then use yeast fermentation to produce ethyl alcohol (ethanol).This is the case in sugar cane producing countries as Brazil.

Secondly is the use of all kind of vegetable oils or biodiesel

But first these oils need to go through an chemical process: namely transesterification.

What's Transesterification

It's an chemical process that converts the esters of vegetable oils in esters that can be used in a normal diesel car engine. An ester is a chemical combination of fatty acids attached to alcohol. Animal and vegetable fats, oils and biodiesel are examples of esters.

Why the oils have to go through this process?

Because there is a difference in viscosity between rapeseed,sunflower.... and fossil diesel fuel. After this process, these oils are converted in bio diesel and they can be used in diesel engines.

What oils or plants can be used to produced biofuels and in which counties?

The most common used are:

Soybean oil : this oil alone accounting for about ninety percent of all fuel stocks in the US. It also can be obtained from field pennycress and Jatropha other crops such as mustard, flax, sunflower, palm oil, hemp,rapeseed. But I must notice that not all oils are found harmful for the environment.

Countries producing biodiesel and using:

In India it's jatropha

Germany and France: Rapeseed oil coloring the landscape yellow..

Brazil: Ethanol, Ethyl alcohol made a whole difference in the capitol city of Brazil..Cleaner air..

Indonesia: Palm Oil

USA : Various oilseeds, but with an 90 % of Soybeans.

The standard requirements!

Bio diesel and bio fuel need to meet the standard requirements of

For the United States ASTM D-6751

for Europe :EN14214

For Germany: DIN V 51606

Globally, biodiesel are most commonly used to power vehicles, heating homes corn stoves and cooking stoves. Biofuel industries are expanding in Europe, Asia and the Americas.

Eco fuel News!

An airplane flight on bio energy... of an airplane in New-Zealand on December the 30th.

The Pros and cons .....

for biofuels...

Starting with the Pros :

Bio fuels remove the same amount of CO2 from the atmosphere as they will release as fuel.

Unlike fossil fuels which return carbon dioxide emissions,that were stored beneath earth surface for a long,long time,(millions of years) into the atmosphere...

Cons are:

Fuel and oil is big money. Governments still think about oil as a kind of golden investment, not as a way to fight climate change. mitigation of carbon emissions levels and oil prices.

the "food vs fuel" debate: Some countries are more interested in biofuel than in food.

In some countries enormous forests areas have been cut down for the use agrifuel (palm oil).

So, natural forest is turning into agriculture ares, with no food for wildlife that was living in these forests. Result: The home of many plants and animals disappearing or starving to death.

Of course,I understand that residents of these countries has to have a life and a job, but is this the right or a bad way to do something about global warming?

Impact on water resources: Local population having a shortage on water because of the use of water for agriculture.

Some studies have found that certain crops may produce more harmful greenhouse gasses than CO2, indicating that the specific biofuel used is an important factor.