Advantages and disadvantages of biofuels

Advantages and Disadvantages of Biofuels By Jared Skye Since the term "biofuel" first entered the energy lexicon of the average consumer, there has been a steady stream of advancements to this technology While public perceptions on biofuels may have changed over the years, quite a lot of interest in the pros and cons of this fuel source still remain It is important for all consumers to seriously consider both the positive and negative aspects of this stillemerging technology Primary Advantages and Disadvantages of Biofuels No fuel source is completely positive or completely negative Consumers need to weigh the pros and cons of biofuels to determine whether they feel comfortable with this resource as an alternative to traditional fuels Advantages Biofuel advocates frequently point out the advantages of these plant- and animal-based fuels, such as: • Cost: Biofuels have the potential to be significantly less expensive than gasoline and other fossil fuels This is particularly true as worldwide demand for oil increases, oil supplies dwindle, and more sources of biofuels become apparent • Source material: Whereas oil is a limited resource that comes from specific materials, biofuels can be manufactured from a wide range of materials including crop waste, manure, and other byproducts This makes it an efficient step in recycling • Renewability: It takes a very long time for fossil fuels to be produced, but biofuels are much more easily renewable as new crops are grown and waste material is collected • Security: Biofuels can be produced locally, which decreases the nation's dependence upon foreign energy By reducing dependence on foreign fuel sources, countries can protect the integrity of their energy resources and make them safe from outside influences • Economic stimulation: Because biofuels are produced locally, biofuel manufacturing plants canemploy hundreds or thousands of workers, creating new jobs in rural areas Biofuel production will also increase the demand for suitable biofuel crops, providing economic stimulation to the agriculture industry • Lower carbon emissions: When biofuels are burned, they produce significantly less carbon output and fewer toxins, making them a safer alternative to preserve atmospheric quality and lower air pollution Disadvantages Despite the many positive characteristics of biofuels, there are also many disadvantages to these energy sources • Energy output: Biofuels have a lower energy output than traditional fuels and therefore require greater quantities to be consumed in order to produce the same energy level This has led some noted energy analysts to believe that biofuels are not worth the work • Production carbon emissions: Several studies have been conducted to analyze the carbon footprint of biofuels, and while they may be cleaner to burn, there are strong indications that the process to produce the fuel - including the machinery necessary to cultivate the crops and the plants to produce the fuel - has hefty carbon emissions • High cost: To refine biofuels to more efficient energy outputs, and to build the necessary manufacturing plants to increase biofuel quantities, a high initial investment is often required • Food prices: As demand for food crops such as corn grows for biofuel production, it could also raise prices for necessary staple food crops • Food shortages: There is concern that using valuable cropland to grow fuel crops could have an impact on the cost of food and could possibly lead to food shortages • Water use: Massive quantities of water are required for proper irrigation of biofuel crops as well as to manufacture the fuel, which could strain local and regional water resources The Future of Biofuels Biofuels are not a silver bullet for the energy problems of the world To solve the issue of dwindling fossil fuel reserves, all viable means of harvesting energy should be pursued to their fullest However, the fact remains that biofuels are a reliable alternative energy resource With more development and research, it is possible to overcome the disadvantages of biofuels and make them suitable for widespread consumer use When the technology is available, many of the disadvantages will be minimized and the market very clearly has potential Much of this could rely on the ability of energy producers to discover better plants to raise for fuel that use less water, less land, and grows quickly Biofuel Information Also known as agrofuel, these fuels are mainly derived from biomass or bio waste These fuels can be used for any purposes, but the main use for which they have to be brought is in the transportation sector Most of the vehicles require fuels which provide high power and are dense so that storage is easier These engines require fuels that are clean and are in the liquid form The most important advantage of using liquid as fuel is that they can be easily pumped and can also be handled easily This is the main reason why almost all the vehicles use liquid form of fuels for combustion purpose For other forms of non transportation applications there are other alternative solid biomass fuel like wood These non transportation applications can bring into use these solid biomass fuels as they can easily bear the low power density of external combustion Wood has been brought into use since a very long period and is one of the major contributors of global warming Biofuels are the best way of reducing the emission of the greenhouse gases They can also be looked upon as a way of energy security which stands as an alternative of fossil fuels that are limited in availability Today, the use of biofuels has expanded throughout the globe Some of the major producers and users of biogases are Asia, Europe and America Theoretically, biofuel can be easily produced through any carbon source; making the photosynthetic plants the most commonly used material for production Almost all types of materials derived from the plants are used for manufacturing biogas One of the greatest problems that is being faced by the researchers in the field is how to covert the biomass energy into the liquid fuel There are two methods currently brought into use to solve the above problem In the first one, sugar crops or starch are grown and through the process of fermentation, ethanol is produced In the second method, plants are grown that naturally produce oil like jatropha and algae These oils are heated to reduce their viscosity after which they are directly used as fuel for diesel engines This oil can be further treated to produce biodiesel which can be used for various purposes Most of the biofuels are derived from biomass or bio waste Biomass can be termed as material which is derived from recently living organism Most of the biomass is obtained from plants and animals and also include their by products The most important feature of biomass is that they are renewable sources of energy unlike other natural resources like coal, petroleum and even nuclear fuel Some of the agricultural products that are specially grown for the production of biofuels are switchgrass, soybeans and corn in United States Brazil produces sugar cane, Europe produces sugar beet and wheat while, China produces cassava and sorghum, south-east Asia produces miscanthus and palm oil while India produces jatropha © Copyright 2010 Biofuel.org.uk Jatropha: A Green Fuel Awash in Red Ink Money may not grow on trees, but for a time it appeared to grow on bushes—specifically, a tropical shrub called jatropha curcas Over the past decade, jatropha was planted on millions of acres across Asia and sub-Saharan Africa after research showed that oil from its crushed seeds makes an excellent biofuel Because jatropha can tolerate dry, rocky soil unsuited to agriculture, boosters said, subsistence farmers could grow it as a cash crop without denting food production And with governments worldwide pushing renewable fuels, investors in jatropha-oil ventures looked set to win, too So far, the jatropha boom has produced more losers than winners Many projects have foundered as seed production has failed to meet expectations, and India, China, and other countries have scaled back plans for additional planting Farmers have discovered that while jatropha can indeed grow on barren land, it doesn’t flourish there, says Promode Kant, director of the Institute of Green Economy in New Delhi and co-author of a report titled The Extraordinary Collapse of Jatropha As a Global Biofuel Says Kant: “Without moisture it does not seed, or it seeds extremely poorly.” Illustration by Kiji McCafferty Moreover, some jatropha ventures appear to have harmed the environment and the poor people they were supposed to help In 2006, 11 villages in Tanzania agreed to let BioShape, a Dutch company, develop a jatropha plantation in exchange for jobs and aid BioShape logged the land but planted jatropha on only a small portion of it, then shut down in 2010, says Stanslaus Nyembea, an attorney with the Lawyers’ Environmental Action Team, an advocacy group representing BioShape workers who lost their jobs “The company was not interested in jatropha, they were interested in the timber,” Nyembea says BioShape’s telephone in the Netherlands has been disconnected A spokesman for Dutch utility Eneco, a major backer of the project, declined to comment Other jatropha ventures in Tanzania and Mozambique were left in limbo when Sun Biofuels, a British company that had planned to produce biodiesel for aircraft, ceased operations last fall after failing to obtain financing Lion’s Head Global Partners, a London investment fund that acquired Sun’s Tanzanian assets, wants to restart operations but is having trouble finding investors, says Christopher EgertonWarburton, a partner in the fund Lack of financing derailed plans by another British company, Viridas (VIR), to develop jatropha plantations in Brazil According to its London Stock Exchange filings, Viridas has shifted its focus to mining Investors have suffered, too Shares of jatropha companies Gem BioFuels (GBF), a planter in Madagascar, and D1 Oils (DOO), which had a joint venture with oil giant BP (BP), now trade as penny stocks in London And last fall a British court convicted seven men of running a scheme to sell shares in Worldwide Bio Refineries, which they fraudulently claimed to be producing biodiesel from jatropha Still, potential customers remain keenly interested Bloomberg New Energy Finance predicts that by 2018 jatropha-based aircraft fuel could be produced for 86¢ per liter, about the same price as conventional jet fuel today and far less than fuel made from soybeans or palm Last August a Boeing 777 aircraft owned by Aeromexico made the first intercontinental flight powered by a jatropha-based fuel, from Mexico City to Madrid AndAirbus (EAD) has teamed with airline TAM (TAM) to grow jatropha in Brazil Jatropha’s commercial future could hinge on plant science SG Biofuels, a San Diego company, is developing hybrid strains that it says will produce more seeds In January the company received $17 million in venture capital to expand jatropha research and planting in Brazil, Guatemala, and India “We are in full-court commercial mode,” says SG Chief Executive Officer Kirk Haney It’s unlikely, though, that small farmers will ever strike it rich growing jatropha on otherwise barren land “Jatropha remains promising only with adequate water, and the collection of seeds is very costly,” Indian researcher Kant says In the tropical latitudes where the shrub grows, just a handful of countries will be able to produce jatropha economically, he says “I see it only as a possibility in a very large plantation,” Kant says, “not for subsistence farmers.”