The Pros And Cons Of Biofuels

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Biofuels are as old, if not older, than regular gasoline or crude oil it’s been thought up as a way to power the very first car made around the 1900’s but though it lost to oil for the reason that it was more expensive it has always been a viable alternative whenever there was no oil around. Today this alternative has been steadily researched in and tested to the point it has almost completely replaced oil in some countries. Ever since price of oil has been increasing in fluctuations and other factors like inflations, biofuels’ price has been steadily decreasing due to increased efficiency in production methods and better sources of biomass that are more effective. All the individual generations of biofuels each has its own potential and impacts on the way it’s being used.
The current technology of producing biofuel allows for the conversion of food crops, or of sugar, starch, and animal fats, into a type of fuel that is converted of two options as ethanol or biodiesel and this method is known as the first out of the three generations of biofuels. Right now, the biggest producers of ethanol from first generation biofuels is USA and Brazil. These two countries displays an opportunity compare and contrast the ways this biofuel is being used
One major difference between USA and Brazil is the way that it is implemented on the citizens, “…a domestic mandate that all fuel in Brazil must contain at least 20 to 25 percent ethanol… enabling the Brazilian economy to retain tens of billions of dollars that would otherwise have gone to pay for imported fuel.” (Clark, Wesley K. “Bringing it all Back Home.” The Washington Monthly. November/December 2010.) Brazil took this action in the effects of the halted oil supply in around the 1970’s that...

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...o run than on regular gasoline. Though this generation of biofuels had a possibility to expand, it would probably be wiser to keep using it as an additive or increase the efficiency by looking into a more wider selection to convert into fuel. Luckily, that is why the second generation of biofuels was thought up.
The advanced biofuel of the second generation of biofuels produces ethanol, like the first, but this one uses a different method because it uses a different variety of feedstock. This time, instead of being limited to sugar, starch, and oil crops, it’s now stretching to biomass that has cellulose and hemicellulose inside. This includes biomass that could be found in paper, straw, and vegetable waste. It opens up a more massive advantage over the first generation which could mostly be because of how it’s made and the large variety of crops to choose from.

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