Another Question About Biofuels?

Question

My science fair project this year is

"Biofuels... At What Cost? Should We Be Looking at the BIgger Picture"

I need some opinions to have on my project what are the pros/cons of biofuels (like ethanol, biodiesel) are they really that great and so on

The good answers will be put on a piece of paper in front of my project,

Thank You So Much!!!!

Answer 1

Biofuels such as ethanol can limit the life of a motor because they don't have the petroleum base that the motors were designed around that lubricate parts that don't get lubricated by the engines oil system.  The ethanol can also draw moisture and cause rust inside the motor.  A look into what the engine manufacturers are doing to change these issues on future designs would be a pretty interesting key point in your project.

Answer 2

Biofuels are great alternatives to gasoline. But even though ethanol will not do anything to the environment, it will raise prices of some common household items, that have corn in them. For example, prices of totillas have nearly doubled from what they used to be.

Answer 3

Every biofuel has pros and cons, and they can be different for the same fuel coming from different sources.  E.g.,

Biodiesel from rapeseed:  displaces food crops, requires lots of chemical inputs, contributes more greenhouse gases from nitrous oxide emissions (from fertilizer) than it displaces.

Biodiesel from waste cooking fat:  perhaps the best option, but there is nowhere near enough of it to satisfy demand for motor fuel.

Ethanol from grain:  very low or negative energy return, nitrous oxide emissions, nitrate runoff causes algal blooms and anoxic dead zones in water downstream, competes with human consumption.

Ethanol from cellulose:  the holy grail, but so far not proven to be economic.  The impacts of the source of cellulose must be considered.

Pelletized fuel grasses (e.g. switchgrass):  not mentioned much in the media.  Suitable for home heating but probably not vehicles.

Not many look at the big picture.  Good for you.

Answer 4

Biomass is plant and animal material that contains energy. The energy from biomass can be used to generate electricity, light, heat, motion and fuel. Converting biomass energy into useable energy has many environmental benefits. It uses waste materials that are usually dumped, and uses up methane (a greenhouse gas).

All plant and animal matter is called biomass. This means it is the mass of biological matter on earth. We can get biomass energy:

• Directly from plants, for example burning wood and firewood for cooking and heating.

• Indirectly from plants, for example turning it into a liquid (alcohol, such as ethanol) or gas (biogas) fuel.

• Indirectly from animal waste, for example biogas (mainly methane gas) from sewage and manure.

Biomass is a fantastic renewable resource, because it has the potential to power almost every appliance, car and house, by using up our waste. From solid fuel combustion and pyrolysis, biomass can power energy stations, which power our homes and all of our electrical appliances. From the other three processes, special fuels are created that can power all transport. These fuels include biodiesel, bio-oil, ethanol, butanol and methanol. The advantage of using these fuels for transport, is that they reduce air pollution (compared to fossil fuels), are renewable, and are made from our wastes (or farmer’s crops, which provides them with a steady stream of money)!

• Uses waste material that can usually be dump, so solves waste disposal problems

• Carbon neutral

• Renewable

• Is the only renewable fuel that stores solar energy as a convenient solid, liquid or gaseous fuel

• Can be used as it is, or processed to produce liquid biofuels (wood for cooking, alcohol for cars, etc.) or Biofuels, which can replace petrol.

• Minimal environmental impact

• Fuels produced by biomass are efficient, viable, and relatively clean-burning

• Available world-wide

Below are three main examples bioenergy, and how much they cost to produce. Keep in mind that generating electricity from a coal fired plant costs around 2.2 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Anaerobic digestion produces methane, which can be used to generate electricity. The cost to produce each kilowatt-hour is around 2.9 to 3.6 cents. Anaerobic digestion from animal manure is somewhat more expensive. The cost to produce biomass energy ranges from 3.7 – 5.4 cents per kilowatt-hour. However, using the process of anaerobic digestion with animal manure eliminates the problems of waste disposal and odour problems.

Using the process of solid fuel combustion, producing biomass energy costs around 5.2 – 6.7 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Answer 5

Biodiesel from Jatropha is probably the best bio-fuel because it can be grown in arid lands which are unused as of now. Next would be used Vegetable Oil thats normally thrown out.

Jatropha also helps in reclaiming some arid lands and can be intercropped with other food crops/trees. And the waste can be used to make other products like dye, fertilizer etc so it has multiple uses apart from providing oil for biodiesel.

The concept of bio-fuel is simple use what are not being used as of now. So if you can grow them on wasteland or make excess/throwaway food products thats what you want. And you dont want to put too much fertiliser etc. in growing them. The input has to be less than the output.

You do not want to use land which is for food cultivation for biofuel crops neither do you want to chop down forests.

So biofuels are not going to be a complete solution if world demand for fuel keep growing, but they can provide a small alternative to fossil fuel depending on how much you can make from waste land cultivation and from excess/throwaway food products.