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Biofuels are usually produced from plant materials that cannot be eaten by humans, such as corn stalks, grasses, and wood chips. Biomass is another name for the plant materials that are used to make biofuels.
What is the source of biofuel?
Biofuel is the term used to describe the energy derived from the breakdown of organic materials (biomass) from animal and plant sources. Virtually any biological material like grass, wood, crops, trees, animal, and agricultural waste can be used to constitute biofuel which offers an alternative to fossil fuels.
Where are biofuels made?
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.
How are biofuels created?
Biodiesel is a liquid fuel produced from renewable sources, such as new and used vegetable oils and animal fats and is a cleaner-burning replacement for petroleum-based diesel fuel. Biodiesel is nontoxic and biodegradable and is produced by combining alcohol with vegetable oil, animal fat, or recycled cooking grease.
What produces the most biofuel?
The United States Characteristic Production in petajoules United States 1,347.3 Brazil 883.7 Indonesia 283 Germany 146.3.
How is biodiesel produced?
Biodiesel is produced from vegetable oils, yellow grease, used cooking oils, or animal fats. The fuel is produced by transesterification—a process that converts fats and oils into biodiesel and glycerin (a coproduct).
What are sources of biodiesel?
Sources of Biodiesel Animal fats. Canola oil. Corn oil. Soybean oil. Other feedstock oils (grapeseed, palm oil, sunflower oil).
What are biofuels and how they are made?
Biofuels are transportation fuels such as ethanol and biomass-based diesel fuel that are made from biomass materials. These fuels are usually blended with petroleum fuels (gasoline and distillate/diesel fuel and heating oil), but they can also be used on their own.
How is biofuel made from algae?
How does algae produce biofuel? Algae are cultivated in large pools or farms. The micro-organisms convert sunlight to energy, and store the energy as oil. The oil is extracted using a mechanical process such as pressing or using sound waves, or with chemical solvents that break down the cell walls and release the oil.
How do plants make biofuels?
To create bioalcohol, such as ethanol, engineers use yeast and bacteria to break down the starch in corn and other plants. To create biodiesel, refineries use the oil already found in crops such as soybeans [source: Thomas]. These vegetable oils are treated with alcohol and turned into biodiesel.
What are biofuels Wikipedia?
Biofuel is a fuel that is produced through contemporary processes from biomass, rather than by the very slow geological processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels, such as oil. The word biofuel is usually reserved for liquid or gaseous fuels, used for transportation.
What are examples of biofuels?
Examples of biofuels include ethanol (often made from corn in the United States and sugarcane in Brazil), biodiesel (sourced from vegetable oils and liquid animal fats), green diesel (derived from algae and other plant sources), and biogas (methane derived from animal manure and other digested organic material).
What are biofuels and fossil fuels?
Biofuels are produced from plants and other organic matter that have been converted into liquid fuel. Fossil fuels are made from organisms that died millions of years ago and whose remains were subjected to heat and pressure. Fossil fuels are considered nonrenewable because they take millions of years to form.
What are the products of biofuels?
In biodiesel, the most significant residues and by-products are glycerol, biodiesel washing wastewaters, methanol, and solid residues (Varanda et al. 2011). Glycerol is the by-product that generates the largest interest, because it can involve the largest revenue for the biodiesel industry.
What is the best crop for biofuel?
The Best Crops for Biofuel Production Corn. Corn is one of the best crops for the production of alternative fuels and ethanol, in particular. Sugarcane. Brazil is the country that has invested heavily in biofuel production. Palm Oil. Palm oil is another source for biofuel production. Other Sources.
What plants make biofuels?
Biofuels are renewable substitutes for fossil fuels that are mainly produced from crop plants such as corn, soybeans, wheat, and sugarcane. But animal fats and other byproducts, along with household food waste, can also be used to make biofuels.
Who invented biofuels?
The concept of biofuels dates back to Rudolf Diesel who envisioned vegetable oil as a fuel source for his newly invented engine. The process the Initiative uses to produce biodiesel was discovered in 1937 by G.
How are biofuels made step by step?
There are various ways of making biofuels, but they generally use chemical reactions, fermentation, and heat to break down the starches, sugars, and other molecules in plants. The resulting products are then refined to produce a fuel that cars or other vehicles can use.
What are three other potential sources of biofuel?
Various lignocellulosic biomass sources such as agricultural residues, oils, oilseeds, wood and forest wastes, municipal solid wastes, wastes from the pulp and paper industry, and algae have the potential to serve as low-cost and abundant feedstock for biofuels production.
What are the types and sources of biofuel?
Classification of Biofuel Sources First-generation biofuels are made from sugar, starch, vegetable oil, or animal fats using conventional technology. Second-generation biofuels are produced from non-food crops, such as cellulosic biofuels and waste biomass (stalks of wheat and corn, and wood).
What are three ingredients in biofuels?
Biofuels are an alternative form of fuel made from organic food products and waste materials. The ingredients for biofuels include (but are not limited to) ethanol (from corn, tobacco and orange peels), methane and vegetable oil (see References 1 and 2).
