Biofuels: an alternative solution against climate change.
The high cost of oil, the tendency for it to continue to rise or remain at high levels, and declining
reserves have affected global energy security. Non-oil producing countries have been forced to
spend a significant part of their budgets importing fossil fuels. This, added to the growing
concern about global warming, caused to a large extent by the release of gases from the burning
of fossil fuels, has aroused great interest in the use of renewable energy sources. One of these
sources is biofuels produced from biomass, which provide a great opportunity to increase
income in the agricultural sector.
Biofuels are the first source of energy known to mankind. Among the sources of biofuels are
the biomass from crops such as sugar cane, corn, sorghum, cassava and others, used to produce
ethanol, and oils from African palm, soybean, castor, Jatropha curcas, rapeseed and other plants,
used to produce biodiesel.
Road trips, flights and shippingrepresent almost a quarterof the world's greenhouse gas
emissions, and transportation remains highly dependent onfossil fuels. The idea behind the use
of biofuels is to replace traditional fuels with others made from plant material or other renewable
raw materials.
Other types of plant-based fuel have been created for aviation and shipping. More than 150,000
flights have used biofuel, but the amount of aviation biofuel produced in 2018 representedless
than 0.1% of total consumption. In shipping, too, biofuel adoption is well below the 2030 targets
set by the International Energy Agency.
Renewable natural gas, orbiomethane, is another fuel that could potentially be used not only for
transportation, but also for heat and power generation. The gas can be captured from landfills,
livestock farms, sewage or other sources. This captured biogas must be refined to remove water,
carbon dioxide, and other elements so that it meets the requirements for fueling natural gas
vehicles.
The history of biofuels begins at the end of the 19th century and was born practically with the
use of hydrocarbons as an energy source. The idea of using vegetable oils as fuel for internal
combustion engines dates back to 1895. In that year, Dr. Rudolf Diesel developed the first
Diesel engine, whose prototype was already planned to work with vegetable oils, such as peanut
oil, which worked well in the first tests. Years after Henry Ford made the first Model T
automobile design of his in 1908, he hoped to use ethanol as fuel.
Standard Oil used 25% of ethanol in gasoline in the Baltimore area at the beginning of the
1920s, but the high prices of corn—the product from which it was obtained—along with high
, storage costs and transportation difficulties , they made abandon the project; In addition, oil
broke into the cheapest, most efficient and available market. The first experience of using a
biofuel in public transport dates back to 1938, when biodiesel was used on the Brussels-Louvain
bus line during the Second World War. The Germans used biodiesel to power their war fleets
and heavy vehicles in North Africa.
With the oil crisis that took place in the 1970s, the supply decreased, causing its price to
skyrocket exorbitantly, as well as the price of gasoline, which increased 100%. At the end of
1979, as a result of the oil price crisis, a mixture of gasoline and ethanol was established:
biofuels were once again presented as an alternative to the rise in oil prices and the possible
depletion of non-renewable resources. .
In Brazil, the oil crisis also had a strong impact. In this country, in 1975, the Proalcohol project
was developed, whose objective was to replace the use of hydrocarbons. Finally, the Kuwait
war raised hydrocarbon prices even more, strengthening the idea of new alternative energy
sources.
There are several ways to make biofuels, but they generally use chemical reactions,
fermentation, and heat to break down starches, sugars, and other molecules in plants. The
resulting products are refined to produce a fuel that can be used by cars or other vehicles.
Biomass type Characteristics
primary biomass It is organic matter formed directly from photosynthetic beings.
It is produced by heterotrophic beings that use primary biomass
secondary biomass
for their nutrition.
It is produced by beings that feed on secondary biomass, for
tertiary biomass example, the remains and droppings of carnivorous animals that
feed on herbivores.
It is what wild ecosystems produce; 40% of the biomass produced
natural biomass
on earth comes from the oceans.
That which can be extracted from agricultural and forest residues,
residual biomass
and from human activities
This denomination receives any agricultural crop whose purpose
energy crops
is to supply biomass to produce biofuels.
The high cost of oil, the tendency for it to continue to rise or remain at high levels, and declining
reserves have affected global energy security. Non-oil producing countries have been forced to
spend a significant part of their budgets importing fossil fuels. This, added to the growing
concern about global warming, caused to a large extent by the release of gases from the burning
of fossil fuels, has aroused great interest in the use of renewable energy sources. One of these
sources is biofuels produced from biomass, which provide a great opportunity to increase
income in the agricultural sector.
Biofuels are the first source of energy known to mankind. Among the sources of biofuels are
the biomass from crops such as sugar cane, corn, sorghum, cassava and others, used to produce
ethanol, and oils from African palm, soybean, castor, Jatropha curcas, rapeseed and other plants,
used to produce biodiesel.
Road trips, flights and shippingrepresent almost a quarterof the world's greenhouse gas
emissions, and transportation remains highly dependent onfossil fuels. The idea behind the use
of biofuels is to replace traditional fuels with others made from plant material or other renewable
raw materials.
Other types of plant-based fuel have been created for aviation and shipping. More than 150,000
flights have used biofuel, but the amount of aviation biofuel produced in 2018 representedless
than 0.1% of total consumption. In shipping, too, biofuel adoption is well below the 2030 targets
set by the International Energy Agency.
Renewable natural gas, orbiomethane, is another fuel that could potentially be used not only for
transportation, but also for heat and power generation. The gas can be captured from landfills,
livestock farms, sewage or other sources. This captured biogas must be refined to remove water,
carbon dioxide, and other elements so that it meets the requirements for fueling natural gas
vehicles.
The history of biofuels begins at the end of the 19th century and was born practically with the
use of hydrocarbons as an energy source. The idea of using vegetable oils as fuel for internal
combustion engines dates back to 1895. In that year, Dr. Rudolf Diesel developed the first
Diesel engine, whose prototype was already planned to work with vegetable oils, such as peanut
oil, which worked well in the first tests. Years after Henry Ford made the first Model T
automobile design of his in 1908, he hoped to use ethanol as fuel.
Standard Oil used 25% of ethanol in gasoline in the Baltimore area at the beginning of the
1920s, but the high prices of corn—the product from which it was obtained—along with high
, storage costs and transportation difficulties , they made abandon the project; In addition, oil
broke into the cheapest, most efficient and available market. The first experience of using a
biofuel in public transport dates back to 1938, when biodiesel was used on the Brussels-Louvain
bus line during the Second World War. The Germans used biodiesel to power their war fleets
and heavy vehicles in North Africa.
With the oil crisis that took place in the 1970s, the supply decreased, causing its price to
skyrocket exorbitantly, as well as the price of gasoline, which increased 100%. At the end of
1979, as a result of the oil price crisis, a mixture of gasoline and ethanol was established:
biofuels were once again presented as an alternative to the rise in oil prices and the possible
depletion of non-renewable resources. .
In Brazil, the oil crisis also had a strong impact. In this country, in 1975, the Proalcohol project
was developed, whose objective was to replace the use of hydrocarbons. Finally, the Kuwait
war raised hydrocarbon prices even more, strengthening the idea of new alternative energy
sources.
There are several ways to make biofuels, but they generally use chemical reactions,
fermentation, and heat to break down starches, sugars, and other molecules in plants. The
resulting products are refined to produce a fuel that can be used by cars or other vehicles.
Biomass type Characteristics
primary biomass It is organic matter formed directly from photosynthetic beings.
It is produced by heterotrophic beings that use primary biomass
secondary biomass
for their nutrition.
It is produced by beings that feed on secondary biomass, for
tertiary biomass example, the remains and droppings of carnivorous animals that
feed on herbivores.
It is what wild ecosystems produce; 40% of the biomass produced
natural biomass
on earth comes from the oceans.
That which can be extracted from agricultural and forest residues,
residual biomass
and from human activities
This denomination receives any agricultural crop whose purpose
energy crops
is to supply biomass to produce biofuels.
