BiofuelAs Alternative Source of

Energy

Biofuel• solid, liquid or gaseous fuel obtained from

relatively recently lifeless or living biological material

• different from fossil fuels, which are derived from long dead biological material.

• Also, various plants and plant-derived materials are used for biofuel manufacturing.

How is BioFuel Prepared?

• A: Typically, bio-fuel is made using the transesterified process using new or waste vegetable oil eg. Rapeseed oil, (also known as canola, rape, oilseed rape, rapa, rapaseed). This oil is the preferred oil stock for biodiesel production in most of Europe partly because rapeseed produces more oil per unit of land area as compared to other organic oil sources.

• A catalyst Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and an alcohol Methanol (CH3OH) produces Methoxide and is added to the oil to make biodiesel.

• Other bio-fuels are made with Ethanol and require different processes.

There are Two Types of Biofuels

Bio-ethanol (ethanol)Biodiesel (coco-methyl ester)

Ethanol• Ethanol is the common name for ethyl alcohol. Anyone who

has made beer or wine has taken the first step toward making ethanol. Microorganisms ferment sugars into ethanol.

• Wine consists of about 10% ethanol. • To produce fuel or industrial ethanol, the low content alcohol

goes through a series of distillation phases to eliminate the water.

• The final product is pure ethyl alcohol. This is what is blended into the gasoline.

• Ethanol producers have to denature (poison) the product to render it undrinkable and thus not subject to beverage alcohol tax.

• Over 30% of all gasoline in the U.S. today is blended with ethanol.

• In 2004, there were 26 states that used more than 1 million gallons of ethanol-blended gasoline.

• The national total for 2004 was over 34 billion gallons.

How is Ethanol used?

• has widespread use as a solvent of substances intended for human contact or consumption, including scents, flavorings, colorings, and medicines.

• In chemistry, it is both an essential solvent and a feedstock for the synthesis of other products.

• It has a long history as a fuel for heat and light and also as a fuel for internal combustion engines.

Biodiesel• Biodiesel fuel can be made from new or used

vegetable oils and animal fats, which are nontoxic, biodegradable, renewable resources.

• Fats and oils are chemically reacted with an alcohol (methanol is the usual choice) to produce chemical compounds known as fatty acid methyl esters.

• Biodiesel is the name given to these esters when they're intended for use as fuel.

• Glycerol (used in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, among other markets) is produced as a co-product.

• Biodiesel contains no petroleum, but it can be blended at any level with petroleum diesel to create a biodiesel blend.

• It can be used in compression-ignition (diesel) engines with little or no modifications. Biodiesel is simple to use, biodegradable, nontoxic, and essentially free of sulfur and aromatics.

• Biodiesel is specifically defined as mono-alkyl esters of long chain fatty acids derived from vegetable oils or animal fats which conform to ASTM D6751 specifications for use in diesel engines.

• Biodiesel refers to the pure fuel before blending with diesel fuel.

• Biodiesel blends are denoted as, "BXX" with "XX" representing the percentage of biodiesel contained in the blend (ie: B20 is 20% biodiesel, 80% petroleum diesel).

• Since biodiesel can be used in conventional diesel engines, the renewable fuel can directly replace petroleum products; reducing the country's dependence on imported oil.

How is Biodiesel used?

• meant to be used in standard diesel engines and is thus distinct from the vegetable and waste oils used to fuel converted diesel engines.

• can be used alone, or blended with petrodiesel.

Disadvantages of using biofuels• Growing crops for biofuel absorbs the carbon that biofuels emit, but

it does not absorb the fossil fuel emissions created in planting, fertilizing, treating, harvesting, transporting and processing these crops before they can be converted into fuel. There are also considerable carbon emissions from the coal or gas required to heat the required raw materials in the manufacturing process. Its production can also lead to environmental destruction. Brazil, for example, produces ethanol from sugar cane but to do so is cutting down the Amazon rain forest, thus causing great damage to the environment.

• Too much concentration on running vehicles on plant oil would set up a direct competition between feeding the cars and feeding the people. This would not increase our self-reliance but would increase our food and energy vulnerability.

Advantages of Biodiesel• It is made from renewable resources.• It performs just as well as the normal diesel fuel.• It causes less pollution as compared to diesel-powered engines.• It is relatively less inflammable compared to the normal diesel.• It can be mixed with normal diesel fuel.• It is biologically degradable and reduces the danger of contamination of soil and

underground water.• It contains no sulphur, the element responsible for acid rain.• There are no extra costs for the conversion of engines in comparison to other biological

fuels.• It is suitable for catalytic convertor.• Engines last longer when using it.• Its refineries are comparitively simpler and environmental-friendly in design than typical

petrochemical refineries.• It produces 78% less carbon dioxide (CO2) than normal diesel fuel.• It has a higher cetane and lubricity rating than pure petroleum-based diesel fuel, which

improves engine efficiency and operating life cycle.

Disadvantages of Biodiesel• It is more expensive than normal diesel fuel.• It tends to reduce fuel economy.• It is less suitable for use in low temperatures.• It cannot be transported in pipelines.• It gives out more nitrogen oxide emissions.• Only a few petrol stations offer biodiesel-fuel.• It can only be used in diesel-powered engines.• It can cause inner fuel tubes of older vehicles to lose their long-lasting

qualities.• It is more likely than petroleum diesel to attract moisture, which can

cause problems in cold weather (fuel freezing, deposit of water in the vehicle fuel delivery system, fuel cold flow, clouding, and an increased corrosion, for example) and increase the risk of microbial growth (which can also clog engine filters).

Advantages of Bioethanol

• The use of ethanol-blended fuels such as E85 (85% ethanol and 15% gasoline) can reduce the net emissions of greenhouse gases by as much as 37.1%, which is a significant amount.

• Ethanol-blended fuel as E10 (10% ethanol and 90% gasoline) reduces greenhouse gases by up to 3.9%.

• The net effect of ethanol use results in an overall decrease in ozone formation, an important environmental issue. (The emissions produced by burning ethanol are less reactive with sunlight than those produced by burning gasoline, which results in a lower potential for forming the damaging ozone).

• Ethanol is considered a renewable energy resource because it is primarily the result of conversion of the sun's energy into usable energy. Creation of ethanol starts with photosynthesis, which causes feedstocks, such as sugar cane, to grow. These particular feedstocks are processed into ethanol.

• It benefits energy security as it shifts the need for some foreign-produced oil to domestically-produced energy sources.

• It reduces greenhouse gases.• It burns more cleanly (more complete combustion).• It reduces the amount of high-octane additives.• The fuel spills are more easily biodegraded or diluted to non

toxic concentrations.

• It burns more cleanly (more complete combustion).

• It reduces the amount of high-octane additives.

• The fuel spills are more easily biodegraded or diluted to non toxic concentrations.

Disadvantages of Bioethanol• Production of ethanol requires significant energy and

large amounts of land.• Fuels with more than 10% ethanol content are not

compatible with non E85-ready fuel system components and may cause corrosion of ferrous components.

• It can negatively affect electric fuel pumps by increasing internal wear and undesirable spark generation.

• It is not compatible with capacitance fuel level gauging indicators and may result in erroneous fuel quantity indications in vehicles that employ that system.