What do you use for fuel? It is probably is gasoline or diesel. Well, there is another source of fuel, and it is renewable. Biofuels are fuel made of organic material, and where energy is produced from plants. One biofuel, ethanol, could eventually replace gasoline (petroleum). Biofuels are a cleaner energy than fossil fuels, but there are advantages and disadvantages for both biofuels and fossil fuels.
Biofuels contain carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Organic material like vegetable oil can be used to produce biofuel. Bioethanol is produced from things like corn, sugarcane, trees, biomass, and parts of plants, like corn stalks. Algae can also be used to make biofuels.
Biofuels are being used in North America and Europe. “Biodiesel makes up about 3% of the German market and 0.15% of the U.S. market, and about 1 billion gallons of biodiesel are produced annually”(Biofuel Facts). Ethanol is used more in North and South America, and Europeans use biodiesel more than ethanol. Most of the ethanol in the world, 87% of it, is produced by the United States and Brazil. In total the amount of Bioethanol used for fuel produced each year is more than 22 billion gallons (Biofuel Facts). Ethanol is mixed in with gas to reduce emissions, and to run a cleaner engine. Similarly, biodiesel is blended with diesel to reduce emissions and to improve the life of the engine.
Ethanol is one type of biofuel that can be used for cars. In fact, The Model T was designed to run on ethanol. In the years of 1824-1826 an inventor fro the US, Samuel Morey, creates an invention that runs on a mix of ethanol and turpentine, and in 1860 Nicholas Otto, from Germany, used ethanol to fuel one of his engines (Ethanol History). In 1862, during the Civil War, the Congre...
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... Alcohol to Car Fuel." Ethanol History. Ethanolhistory.com, 2010-2011. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. .
Darvill, Andy. "Energy Resources: Fossil Fuels." Energy Resources: Fossil Fuels. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2013. http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/fossil.htm
"Biofuel Facts." Biofuel.org.uk. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2013. http://biofuel.org.uk/biofuel-facts.html .
Gustafson, Cole. "North Dakota State University." History of Ethanol Production and Policy. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. .
"An Introduction to Petroleum." Petroleum. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. .
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The making of alcohol and today’s fats, all relate back to the farm. In the early 1900’s, farmers produced way too much corn which lead to an enormous outburst of productivity in the economy. Corn turned into whiskey during the early American culture, whereas, in our recent economy corn is used to produce nearly every single product in our grocery stores. Specifically,
As stated earlier, the burning of fossil fuels to produce energy is one of the largest contributors to global warming. This non-environmentally friendly energy source has to be replaced in order to keep the world going. There is a type of energy source that seems easy to create and doesn’t require radical changes: Biofuels. Biofuels are a greener version of diesel and oil. They are any solid, liquid, or gas fuels produced from organic matter; the range of organic materials used for biofuel production includes plants such as corn, sugar cane, soy, and wheat; vegetable oils and animal fats; ...
"Natural Gas and Its Uses." Welcome To The API Website. Web. 16 Oct. 2011. .
In the United States we have been looking into alternative energies to reduce our dependence on oil and help reduce our carbon footprint. One method the EPA has come out in support of is ethanol production. Ethanol is considered a green fuel because it recycles the burned carbon each time new crops are grown. In theory ethanol is a good stepping stone between using gasoline and zero emission power sources. However biofuels are still young technology that has many problems before it can be useful. The EPA is in full support of biofuels and has mandated that by 2020, 36 billion gallons of biofuels are to be produced in America. Currently almost all of America biofuels comes in the form of corn based ethanol which is extremely inefficient and can cause sustainability problems. Due to this reason only 15 billion gallons of the mandated biofuels can be form corn based ethanol. The rest of the biofuel must come from non-corn based alternatives such as cellulosic ethanol which the EPA projects to create all most all of the 21 billion remaining gallons of ethanol. Cellulosic ethanol uses the cellulose that is in all plants matter to create ethanol. Cellulosic ethanol is far more efficient than corn ethanol because you can use the whole plant and it sets no limitation on what type of plant matter can be used. Even though the EPA projects that these number will be achievable, due to current setbacks and efficiencies cellulosic ethanol will not be able to meet this output within the time constraints and a goal of 2034 years would be more realistic in the long run.
Cushman, Lynd, Nichols, Wyman. “Fuel Ethanol from Cellulosic Biomass.” Science. March 1991. Vol 251 (4999):1321
This photo graph shows corn at its’ purest state, showing fuel consumers what they are putting into their cars. I am not saying that ethanol is a bad thing, but does it need to be derived from corn or are there other biomass (plants that can be used for fuels) products that could be used. The phot...
Carlson, Peter. American History. Des Moines: Cowles Enthusiast Media, 2008. Vol. 43 of “Uneasy about Alcohol” eLibrary. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.
University of Illnois Extension. (2014). Biofuels and the consumer what are biofuels? Retrieved from http://web.extension.illinois.edu/ethanol/consumer.cfm
In this set of materials, the reading passage states the critics of using ethanol as a substitute of gasoline and provides three reasons of support. While in the lecture, the professor opposes the text book and says that ethanol is a good alternative for gasoline. Also, he refutes each of the author’s reasons.
Thornburgh, Dick. "The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources United State Senate Concering S. 244." Mar. 1991. p. 1-9. Http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/65855.pdf.
...her combination of intoxicant. There are several better plants to use, sugar cane and algae all produce far more ethanol than corn does. Keep in mind that running on electric sometimes is better than running on gas all of the time, But to see for yourself go down to the car dealership and ask for yourself.
Over the last two centuries, humanity has become increasingly reliant on fossil fuels. Over that time, the consequences of constantly burning fossil fuels have accumulated into a threat to industrialized cities. The burning of fossil fuels causes acid rain to shower on cities and ecosystems around the world, tormenting their inhabitants. The increasingly deadly pollution caused by the burning of fossil fuels has caused the deaths of many people around the world by causing respiratory problems. Not only has the pollution worsened, but the supply of fossil fuels is not limitless – as humanity’s reliance increases the supply decreases, and that is all the more reason to break humanity’s reliance on fossil fuels. Fossil fuels should be replaced with cleaner alternatives because fossil fuels cause environmental hazards, are non-renewable, and are detrimental to human health.
How Did the Dinosaurs Become Extinct? N.p., n.d. Web. The Web. The Web. 12 Mar. 2014.
Fossil fuels are an important part of life. When you turn on the lights, watch TV, or take a shower, the electricity that you are using is being generated by fossil fuels. The three types of fossil fuels are coal, crude oil, and natural gas. They all take millions of years to form, so they are considered to be “non-renewable”- eventually, the fossil fuels will all be used up. One dangerous biological effect of using fossil fuels is ocean acidification. Extracting and transporting fossil fuels can also be very dangerous. Environmentally damaging accidents such as groundwater contamination, land subsidence, and oil spills occur frequently. Global warming is another possible environmental effect. Fossil fuels have a crucial role in modern society, but since they are non-renewable and dangerous, we should reduce our dependence on them and explore alternative energy sources. Wind energy, hydroelectricity, and solar energy are some examples of renewable fuel sources. There are also many things that people can do everyday to save energy (and, in turn, conserve fossil fuels).
The concept of this essay is to stress that biofuels are a viable and sustainable energy source than fossil fuels, showing its advantages but not ignoring its disadvantages which also enlightens us about the cleaner and renewable natural resources. Biofuels is an alternative source of energy which can end the global dependence on fossil fuels.