Biofuels (Reasons for use and the Challenges)

The use of biofuels now cut across the world. Example of

Sweden for Biogas has already been given.
Some of the other major producers and users of biogases are
Asia, Europe and America.
There are many factors that inform the choice between
biofuel and fossil fuel. Those factors include cost,
availability, environmental issue, and food supply.
We are more concerned about environmental issues in this
module
Biofuels {Competition for land use with food}
There is competition in the use of land for farming
between growing biofuels and planting food crops.
Attention could be detracted from the process of
growing food. As the population grows, our demands for
both energy and food grow. At a point, we may not have
enough land to grow both enough biofuel and enough
food to meet both needs. This can be serious problem for
biofuel use given the quantity of biomass needed for
This has been the main disadvantage of first generation
biofuel and the trade off between food and fuel.
 Biofuel from Biomass
Biofuel Production chain describes the process from biomass
to transformation to biofuel.
This approach allows for easy characterization and economic
analysis of the process. This is because evaluation can be
done from biomass to biofuel. Economic analysis may be
necessary to be able to compare with fossil fuel in terms of
cost.

Some of the agricultural products that are specially grown for

the production of biofuels and the countries where they are
produced include the following:
See next slide
 Introduction Contd.
United States- switchgrass, soybeans and corn
Brazil-sugar cane
Europe- sugar beet and wheat
China- cassava and sorghum
Asia- miscanthus and palm oil
India- jatropha
(Notice most of aformentioned are food materials, and
are used for economic development where they are
grown)
 Current Trends

Gasoline and diesel in North America and Europe are blended with
biofuel.
Bioethanol is utilized in some countries including America while
biodiesel is utilized in countries such as Europe.
The U.S. and Brazil produce large quantities of the world's fuel
ethanol,
Ethanol is added to gasoline to improve octane rating and reduce
harmful emissions.
Biodiesel is added to petroleum-based diesel to reduce emissions and
improve engine life.
 Producing Biofuel from Biomass

Biomass energy can be converted into liquid biofuels

generally using different methods:
For example:
◦ Sugar crops or starch, through the process of
fermentation, will produce ethanol
◦ Fermentation process of any substance that contain
sugar will produce ethanol
◦ Raw materials that can be used to produce ethanol
through fermentations include Sugars, Starches
and Cellulose materials.
Producing Biofuel from Biomass (bioethanol)
Sugars can be obtained from sugarcane, sugar beets, molasses
and fruits, these can be converted to ethanol.
Starches can be obtained from substances such as corn, cassava,
potatoes and other root crops, these need to be hydrolysed to
fermentable sugars by activities of enzymes sourced from malts
or molds (Lin and Tanaka, 2006).
Cellulose can be obtained from wood, residual from agricultural
materials, waste liquor from pulp and paper mills, these also
have to be converted to sugars using a mineral acids simple sugar
obtained can then be converted to ethanol by the activities of
enzymes obtained from microorganisms
Molases is a choice sugar for fermentation process to obtain
ethanol (Lin and Tanaka, 2006).
 Producing Biofuel from Biomass
Another method
◦ Plants are grown which naturally produce oil,
such as 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
◦ Biodiesel is better than fossil diesel in terms of
pollution
 Biofuels Counterparts of fossil fuels

Biofuels are similar to traditional fossil fuels in terms of

end products

Biofuel Fossil Fuel

Gasoline/Ethane through
Ethanol through fermentation
distillation
Biodiesel through Diesel from fossil fuel
esterification processing
Methanol obtainable from Methane is one of the gases
biofuel from fossil fuel
Comparing Energy Content

The energy content of biodiesel is

about 90% that of its counterpart
petroleum diesel
The energy content of butanol is
about 80% that of gasoline
The energy content of ethanol is
about 50% that of gasoline
 Biofuel Carbon Footprint

Most biofuels can be said to be as energy dense as coal,

but produce less carbon dioxide after use
 Why Renewable?

Biofuels are produced from biomass or bio waste,

which can be replenished yearly through sustainable
farming
◦ Biomass and biofuel are renewable
Fossil fuels require millions of years to form as such,
are NOT renewable
 Green Energy?

Note that Renewable is NOT the same as Green

A renewable energy simply means the sources does not deplete
◦ For Example: solar, wind, hydroelectric
A GREEN energy is good for the planet because it does not
harm ecosystems, contribute to acid rain, or worsen global
warming
Solar energy is green and renewable
GREEN energy is considered renewable, but renewable energy
is NOT necessarily green
Biofuels are examples of renewable energy sources that are not
always green because they produce greenhouse gases
 Biofuels Classifications
Biofuels can be classified into generations
First, second and third generations
 1st Generation Biofuels
• 1st generation biofuels are also referred to as conventional biofuels.
They can be obtained from food products such as sugar, starch, or
vegetable oil. Any biofuel made from a feedstock that can also be
consumed as a human food is termed a first generation biofuel.
• 1st generation biofuels have the major disadvantage of threatening the
food chain and increase in carbon emissions. Ultimately, first
generation biofuels have given way to second and third generation
fuels.
• Though they will still be relevant to provide biofuel for the foreseeable
future.
 2nd Generation Biofuels

• 2nd generation biofuels are produced from sustainable

feedstock. The sustainability of a feedstock is defined by
its availability, its impact on greenhouse gas emissions,
its impact on land use, and by its potential not to threaten
the food supply.
• To qualify as a second generation, a feedstock must not
fall into the category of those for human consumption and
◦ Should grow on marginal (non-agricultural) land
◦ Should not require a great amount of water or fertilizer
◦ Certain food products can become second generation
fuels when they are no longer useful for consumption
 3rd Generation Biofuels
• Unofficial category reserved for biofuels derived from algae
• Previously, algae were considered second generation biofuels.
However, since algae can produce much higher yields with lower
resource inputs than other feedstock, many are of the opinion that
they be moved to the third category
• Algae-based biofuels require a special production mechanism and
can offer solutions to alleviate most of the drawbacks of the first
and second generation biofuels earlier outlined.
 Potential of Algae-based Biofuels

◦ Algae as feedstock is capable of producing oil that can easily be

refined into diesel as well as certain components of gasoline
◦ Algae can also be genetically manipulated to produce various
products such as ethanol, butanol , gasoline and diesel fuel.
Butanol is of great interest because the alcohol is exceptionally
similar to gasoline. It has identical energy density to gasoline and an
improved emissions profile. More environmentally friendly.