Biofuel
hideBiofuel is defined as solid, liquid or gaseous fuel obtained from relatively recently lifeless or living biological material and is different from fossil fuels, which are derived from long dead biological material. Also, various plants and plant-derived materials are used for biofuel manufacturing.
Globally, biofuels are most commonly used to power vehicles, heat homes, and for cooking. Biofuel industries are expanding in Europe, Asia and the Americas. Recent technology developed at Los Alamos National Lab even allows for the conversion of pollution into renewable bio fuel. Agrofuels are biofuels which are produced from specific crops, rather than from waste processes such as landfill off-gassing or recycled vegetable oil.
There are two common strategies of producing liquid and gaseous agrofuels. 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). The second is to grow plants that contain high amounts of vegetable oil, such as oil palm, soybean, algae, jatropha, or pongamia pinnata. When these oils are heated, their viscosity is reduced, and they can be burned directly in a diesel engine, or they can be chemically processed to produce fuels such as biodiesel. Wood and its byproducts can also be converted into biofuels such as woodgas, methanol or ethanol fuel. It is also possible to make cellulosic ethanol from non-edible plant parts, but this can be difficult to accomplish economically..
Solid biomass is also used. Many materials such as wood and grasses can be dried and pelletised and burnt; and this can be used for power production. Although this produces some clinker the processing uses less energy and this can give higher overall efficiency.
For more information about Biofuel, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with biofuel
NASA Develops Algae Bioreactor as a Sustainable Energy Source
Nov 18, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- As a clean energy alternative, NASA invented an algae photo-bioreactor that grows algae in municipal wastewater to produce biofuel and a variety of other products.
Researchers turn algae into high-temperature hydrogen source
Nov 12, 2009 |
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In the quest to make hydrogen as a clean alternative fuel source, researchers have been stymied about how to create usable hydrogen that is clean and sustainable without relying on an intensive, high-energy ...
Ionic Liquid's Makeup Measurably Non-Uniform at the Nanoscale
Nov 10, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at Texas Tech University, Queen's University in Belfast, Ireland, the University of Rome and the National Research Council in Italy recently made a discovery about the non-uniform chemical compositions ...
Clean algae biofuel project leads world in productivity
Nov 04, 2009 |
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Australian scientists are achieving the world's best production rates of oil from algae grown in open saline ponds, taking them a step closer to creating commercial quantities of clean biofuel for the future.
Improved adhesive for products like transparent tape could benefit biofuels economy
Oct 29, 2009 |
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An adhesive used in products like laminate countertops may also help cement a place for economically viable biofuels, according to a Kansas State University researcher.
New study predicts future consequences of a global biofuels program
Oct 22, 2009 |
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A report examining the impact of a global biofuels program on greenhouse gas emissions during the 21st century has found that carbon loss stemming from the displacement of food crops and pastures for biofuels ...
Climate scientists uncover major accounting flaw in Kyoto Protocol, other climate legislation
Oct 22, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of 13 prominent scientists and land-use experts has identified an important but fixable error in legal accounting rules for bioenergy that could, if uncorrected, undermine efforts to reduce greenhouse ...
Advance in 'nano-agriculture': Tiny stuff has huge effect on plant growth
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Oct 21, 2009 |
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With potential adverse health and environmental effects often in the news about nanotechnology, scientists in Arkansas are reporting that carbon nanotubes (CNTs) could have beneficial effects in agriculture.
Researchers using nanotechnology in biofuel process to save money, environment
Oct 08, 2009 |
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Dr. James Palmer, associate professor of chemical engineering at Louisiana Tech University, is collaborating with fellow professors Dr. Yuri Lvov, Dr. Dale Snow, and Dr. Hisham Hegab to capitalize on the environmental and ...
Genome sequence published for important biofuels yeast
Oct 06, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A strain of yeast that thrives on turning sugar cane into ethanol for biofuel has had its genome completely sequenced by researchers at Duke University Medical Center.
World-first sustainable racing car to take on Formula 3 at Brands Hatch (w/ Video)
Oct 05, 2009 |
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Can the idea of 'green motorsport' actually work? Yes, according to Dr Kerry Kirwan at the University of Warwick, who led the research team which designed and built the worldfirst fully sustainable Formula 3 racing car.
Purchase Carbon Offsets at the Airport
Sep 21, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- One of the activities that puts a great deal of carbon dioxide into the environment is air travel. Air travel is one of the ways that individuals contribute to an increase in pollution and ...
Biofuel production could undercut efforts to shrink Gulf 'Dead Zone'
Sep 16, 2009 |
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Scientists in Pennsylvania report that boosting production of crops used to make biofuels could make a difficult task to shrink a vast, oxygen-depleted "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico more difficult. The ...
UGA licenses technology to make fuel from dead forests and agricultural waste
Sep 15, 2009 |
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An innovative process for turning waste biomass - such as dead trees, agricultural waste and lumber byproducts - into a liquid fuel to power conventional engines has been licensed by the University of Georgia Research Foundation, ...
New sources of biofuel to take pressure off traditional crops
Sep 10, 2009 |
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"Salt-loving algae could be the key to the successful development of biofuels as well as being an efficient means of recycling atmospheric carbon dioxide", Professor John Cushman of the University of Nevada told the Society ...
