Biofuel
WRITTEN BY
Clarence Lehman See All Contributors
Adjunct Professor, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior,
University of Minnesota.
See Article History
Biofuel, any fuel that is derived from biomass—that
is, plant or algae material or animal waste. Since such feedstock
material can be replenished readily, biofuel is considered to be a
source of renewable energy, unlike fossil fuels such as petroleum, coal,
and natural gas. Biofuel is commonly advocated as a cost-effective and
environmentally benign alternative to petroleum and other fossil fuels,
particularly within the context of rising petroleum prices and
increased concern over the contributions made by fossil fuels to global
warming. Many critics express concerns about the scope of the
expansion of certain biofuels because of the economic and
environmental costs associated with the refining process and the
potential removal of vast areas of arable land from food production.
DuPont scientist Max Li developing new biofuels in his state-of-the-art fermentation lab at the DuPont
Experimental Station in Wilmington, Del., June 19, 2006. PRNewsFoto/DuPont/AP Images
Ethanol gas fuel pump delivering the E85 mixture to an automobile in Washington state, U.S. © Carolina K.
Smith, M.D./Shutterstock.com
Types Of Biofuels
Some long-exploited biofuels, such as wood, can be used directly as a
raw material that is burned to produce heat. The heat, in turn, can be
used to run generators in a power plant to produce electricity. A
number of existing power facilities burn grass, wood, or other kinds of
biomass.
ethanol biofuel: U.S. productionOverview of the production of
ethanol biofuel in the United States.Contunico © ZDF Enterprises GmbH,
MainzSee all videos for this article
Liquid biofuels are of particular interest because of the
vast infrastructure already in place to use them, especially for
transportation. The liquid biofuel in greatest production is ethanol
(ethyl alcohol), which is made
by fermenting starch or sugar. Brazil and the United States are among
the leading producers of ethanol. In the United States ethanol biofuel
is made primarily from corn (maize) grain, and it is typically blended
with gasoline to produce “gasohol,” a fuel that is 10 percent ethanol. In
Brazil, ethanol biofuel is made primarily from sugarcane, and it is
commonly used as a 100-percent-ethanol fuel or in gasoline blends
containing 85 percent ethanol. Unlike the “first-generation” ethanol
biofuel produced from food crops, “second-generation” cellulosic
ethanol is derived from low-value biomass that possesses a
high cellulose content, including wood chips, crop residues, and
municipal waste. Cellulosic ethanol is commonly made from
sugarcane bagasse, a waste product from sugar processing, or from
various grasses that can be cultivated on low-quality land. Given that
the conversion rate is lower than with first-generation biofuels,
cellulosic ethanol is dominantly used as a gasoline additive.
An ethanol production plant in South Dakota, U.S.© Jim
Parkin/Shutterstock.com
biodieselLearn how biodiesel is made.Contunico © ZDF Enterprises GmbH,
MainzSee all videos for this article
The second most common liquid biofuel is biodiesel, which is made
primarily from oily plants (such as the soybean or oil palm) and to a
lesser extent from other oily sources (such as waste cooking fat from
restaurant deep-frying). Biodiesel, which has found greatest
acceptance in Europe, is used in diesel engines and usually blended
with petroleum diesel fuel in various percentages. The use
of algae and cyanobacteria as a source of “third-generation” biodiesel
holds promise but has been difficult to develop economically. Some
algal species contain up to 40 percent lipids by weight, which can be
converted into biodiesel or synthetic petroleum. Some estimates state
that algae and cyanobacteria could yield between 10 and 100 times
more fuel per unit area than second-generation biofuels.
algal biofuelResearch technician, Nick Sweeney, inoculates algae
being grown in a tent reactor in the algal lab in the Field Test
Laboratory Building (FTLB) at the National Renewable Energy
Laboratory in Golden, Colorado.Dennis Schroeder/National Renewable
Energy Laboratory
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Other biofuels include methane gas and biogas—which can be derived
from the decomposition of biomass in the absence of oxygen—
and methanol, butanol, and dimethyl ether—which are in
development.
Economic And Environmental
Considerations
In evaluating the economic benefits of biofuels, the energy required to
produce them has to be taken into account. For example, the process
of growing corn to produce ethanol consumes fossil fuels in farming
equipment, in fertilizer manufacturing, in corn transportation, and in
ethanol distillation. In this respect, ethanol made from corn represents
a relatively small energy gain; the energy gain from sugarcane is
greater and that from cellulosic ethanol or algae biodiesel could be
even greater.
Biofuels also supply environmental benefits but, depending on how
they are manufactured, can also have serious environmental
drawbacks. As a renewable energy source, plant-based biofuels in
principle make little net contribution to global warming and climate
change; the carbon dioxide (a major greenhouse gas) that enters the
air during combustion will have been removed from the air earlier as
growing plants engage in photosynthesis. Such a material is said to be
“carbon neutral.” In practice, however, the industrial production of
agricultural biofuels can result in additional emissions of greenhouse
gases that may offset the benefits of using a renewable fuel. These
emissions include carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels
during the production process and nitrous oxide from soil that has
been treated with nitrogen fertilizer. In this regard, cellulosic biomass
is considered to be more beneficial.
Land use is also a major factor in evaluating the benefits of biofuels.
The use of regular feedstock, such as corn and soybeans, as a primary
component of first-generation biofuels sparked the “food versus fuel”
debate. In diverting arable land and feedstock from the human food
chain, biofuel production can affect the economics of food price and
availability. In addition, energy crops grown for biofuel can compete
for the world’s natural habitats. For example, emphasis on ethanol
derived from corn is shifting grasslands and brushlands to corn
monocultures, and emphasis on biodiesel is bringing down ancient
tropical forests to make way for oil palm plantations. Loss of natural
habitat can change the hydrology, increase erosion, and generally
reduce biodiversity of wildlife areas. The clearing of land can also
result in the sudden release of a large amount of carbon dioxide as the
plant matter that it contains is burned or allowed to decay.
Some of the disadvantages of biofuels apply mainly to low-diversity
biofuel sources—corn, soybeans, sugarcane, oil palms—which are
traditional agricultural crops. One alternative involves the use of
highly diverse mixtures of species, with the North American
tallgrass prairie as a specific example. Converting degraded
agricultural land that is out of production to such high-diversity
biofuel sources could increase wildlife area, reduce erosion, cleanse
waterborne pollutants, store carbon dioxide from the air as
carbon compounds in the soil, and ultimately restore fertility to
degraded lands. Such biofuels could be burned directly to
generate electricity or converted to liquid fuels as technologies
develop.
The proper way to grow biofuels to serve all needs simultaneously will
continue to be a matter of much experimentation and debate, but the
fast growth in biofuel production will likely continue. In the United
States the Energy Independence and Security Act of
2007 mandated the use of 136 billion litres (36 billion gallons) of
biofuels annually by 2022, more than a sixfold increase over 2006
production levels. The legislation also requires, with certain
stipulations, that 79 billion litres (21 billion gallons) of the total
amount be biofuels other than corn-derived ethanol, and it continued
certain government subsidies and tax incentives for biofuel
production.
biofuels testing centreWorkers at the biofuels testing centre at the
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colo.,
2009.John Moore/Getty Images
One distinctive promise of biofuels is that, in combination with an
emerging technology called carbon capture and storage, the process of
producing and using biofuels may be capable of perpetually removing
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Under this vision, biofuel crops
would remove carbon dioxide from the air as they grow, and energy
facilities would capture the carbon dioxide given off as biofuels are
burned to generate power. Captured carbon dioxide could be
sequestered (stored) in long-term repositories such as geologic
formations beneath the land, in sediments of the deep ocean, or
conceivably as solids such as carbonates. See also carbon
sequestration.
