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Biofuels, simply put, are fuels that are derived from agricultural products. Biofuels are a renewable source of energy that can be used in many applications, from fueling your vehicle, to generating electricity and heating your home. Recently, biofuels have been attracting attention from various sectors. Biofuels are considered to be ‘carbon-neutral’, which simply means that the amount of carbon dioxide which is created when burned, is equal to the amount of carbon dioxide used during growing. It is hoped to be a ‘green’ alternative to petroleum, which has generated a lot of interest from investors and different countries around the World.

Types of BioFuels

Ethanol

Ethanol is a fuel derived largely from corn and sugar cane, although it can also be made from other sources of sugar as well.

Currently, ethanol is largely used as an additive to Gasoline, which could cut are dependence on foreign oil, and has the potential to replace gasoline altogether. Ethanol can also be ‘home-brewed’ and there are many products available online to assist an individual in that dream of brewing their own gas.

Ethanol, does however face some hurdles before it becomes a true replacement for Oil. Considerations such as food supply should take precedence, as much of the stock that is used is derived from food sources. With expected production to e in the billions of gallons, we must take care not to create more problems in the future than solve them. Ethanol can be made from plant sources without starving people, but this will take research and commitment on the part of Government and Industry officials

biodiesel

Bio diesel is a term used to describe various types of esters derived from vegetable oils. The most common is rape seed oil, however other oils can e used. Some examples are waste vegetable oil from a fryer, soybean oil, sunflower oil and palm oil. Bio diesel is usually made from either the methyl ester or ethyl ester of the base oil.

Bio Diesel use around the World varies. In Brazil, a country already with a huge lead, recently opened a bio diesel refinery, further lessening it’s dependence on Oil. In the U. S. , Bio Diesel is becoming an attractive alternative due to rising Gas prices. Bio Diesel’s biggest impact would be in the transportation sector, but it can also be applied to any machine that uses Diesel.

AlgaeOil

Another source, and quite amazing source, for Bio Fuels, is Algae. Algae Oil can be grown in any water source and can be a great source of base materials for both Ethanol and Bio Diesel production. Algae production in the U. S. is practically non-existent. Algae has a great potential as a source of raw material. The problems concerning food supply associated with producing Ethanol doesn’t matter for Algae. Investment in this source should be perused as the pay-off will be immense.

We are now facing a Global Fuel crisis. Rising fuel prices have the potential to impact global society and security in a very negative way. We must now seek an interim solution to this potentially devastating problem until Hydrogen is perfected as a source of energy. Failure to do this could doom future generations to hardship and misery. The time is now to act.

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Bio fuels are fuels that are derived from biological materials, mainly through the decomposition of biological materials. They are renewable fuels derived from biological matter like biogas, bio-diesel and methane. Bio fuels can exist as solids, liquids and gasses.

Bio fuels are can be produced directly from plants or indirectly from industrial, domestic and/or agricultural wastes. Ways in which bio fuels can be generated include but is not limited to: Burning of dry organic wastes like regular household waste materials, industrially and agriculturally generated waste materials, the fermentation of wet agricultural waste like animal dung in the absence of oxygen, fermentation of sugar/starch/carbohydrate containing crops to produce ethanol etc.

Bio fuels are also categorized into four major groups. These groups include:

The first generation: consisting mainly of bio fuels derived from vegetable fat/oils, animal fats/oils, starch, sugar etc. Examples of first generation bio fuels include biogas, bio diesel and vegetable oil.

The second generation: made up of bio-fuels gotten from waste biomass.

The third generation: made of bio fuels that are algae derived.

The fourth generation group of bio fuels are produced by a process where specially-raised/reared micro-organisms are used to work on CO2 to generate fuel.

Using Bio fuels is certainly a great way of reducing over dependence on fossil fuels that have a very unpredictable and unusually price. Also with the dangers non renewable fuels pose on our enviroment I see no reason why we would still want to continue using these damaging fuels.

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As oil prices have been rising, biofuels have been booming. Biofuels are made from plant matter; the complex carbohydrates of the plants are converted into hydrocarbon chains, which behave much like gasoline and diesel fuels. Even if you’ve never heard the term, you’ve undoubtedly heard the names of the fuels; ethanol, methanol and biodiesel are all examples of biofuels currently available in many countries.

The main benefit of biofuels is easy to grasp; biofuels are a renewable resource, unlike petroleum. When the world’s supply of oil is consumed, there will be no way to ‘make new oil’. Conversely, there is a constant harvest of new, growing fuel-crops. Corn, soybeans, hardwoods, sugar canes – all can be harvested and used for biofuel production.

The downsides of biofuels are not so obvious. The first is that some of the same crops that are used for fuels are also used as human and animal food. The high price of oil and gasoline has created intense demand for biofuels; additionally the high prices have meant that biofuel producers can afford to offer attractive pricing to farmers who grow the crops. As a result, an increasing number of farmers have sold their crop to biofuel producers. An example of this can be found in the corn markets; currently the cost of corn stands near $3.25 per bushel – a massive jump from 2006 prices of near $2 per bushel. Those who need to buy corn for any other reason must pay this increased price. As a result, the cost of everything from tortillas to eggs (chicken feed is mostly corn) has risen along with the corn prices.

Another major biofuel-related concern that is just beginning to be discussed is water. Water is required to grow biofuel crops and water is required to process them into fuels. Compounding that is the growing demand for biofuels; increased demand means increased demand forwater. For every gallon of ethanol produced, roughly 4 gallons of water are needed.

In the United States, the state of Iowa is currently wrestling with how to address water resource needs that are related to ethanol production. Currently, Iowa produces 1.9 billion gallons of ethanol. Construction of new plants or expansion of existing ethanol facilities would increase production by almost 1.4 billion gallons. Those biofuel plants consume about 7 percent of the state’swater today, according to a state water -use study. That could grow to 14 percent by 2012, according to a study by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. As a result of this potential crisis, the Iowa state legislature is considering a bill that would mandatewater recycling for all new biofuel facilities built in the state.

Of even more concern is the growing demand for biofuels in China. The government in Beijing sees renewable energy as a major part of the energy solution that must be offered to support the growing population. China already faceswater shortages in many provinces, though. Amid its water scarcity, China has become the world’s third-largest bio-ethanol producer after only Brazil and the United States; diverting thousands of gallons ofwater to grow a ton of corn, then using more water to turn the corn into ethanol. To combat this, in December 2006, the Chinese government came up with controls on corn-to-ethanol projects so as not to lose more preciouswater to producing fuel at the expense of food.

Governments so far seem to be acting responsibly when the tug of lucrative biofuel profits pulls at the water that is so necessary for life. In the future, it would be wise to weigh the cost of fuel against the cost of a world where water is in short supply.

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Agriculture – methane, ethanol and biodiesel Introduction

In this chapter we shall discuss the importance of recent developments in agriculture upon the world’s energy resources and the impact on the world population and environment. We shall focus mainly on  agriculture producing fuel as this is currently controversial. We will briefly discus the historic link between agriculture and petroleum then we will explore aspects of methane, biodiesel and ethanol production before a brief summary on the strategic importance of a strong agricultural sector.

Link between Agriculture and Petroleum

Since the 1940’s agriculture has dramatically increased its productivity. This is due in part to the use of petrochemical derived pesticides and fertilizers and increased mechanization. The vast majority of energy used to produce food in addition to sunlight comes from fossil fuel sources. Because of modern agriculture’s heavy reliance on petrochemicals there are signs that decreases in oil supply will inflict damage on the world’s modern agricultural system and cause long term food shortages. Oil shortages mean that organic agriculture and sustainable farming are now of more importance than ever. However, the current controversy  is due to the fact that farmers have increasingly been raising crops such as corn for non-food use in an effort to help mitigate peak oil. This is turn has contributed to a 60% rise in wheat prices recently and may cause serious social unrest. Increased interest in food commodities from the world’s financial markets has also increased the cost of food worldwide.

Let us look at several main areas of agricultural fuel production. First  methane production.

Methane

Methane is the principal component of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane and its clean burning process makes it a very attractive fuel. Methane is usually now transported in its natural gas form by pipeline or LNG carriers. Methane is very important for electrical generation when burned as a fuel in a gas turbine or steam boiler and compared to other hydrocarbon fuels burning methane produces less carbon dioxide for each unit of heat released. Methane in the form of compressed natural gas can also be used in vehicles and NASA is looking to methane’s potential as rocket fuel as it is abundant in many parts of the solar system ! In addition methane has industrial uses, especially in industrial chemical processes and may be transported as refrigerated LNG.

The link between agriculture and methane occurs because apart from gas fields an alternative method of obtaining methane is via biogas generated by the fermentation of organic matter, including manure, wastewater sludge, municipal solid waste or any other biodegradable feedstock under anaerobic conditions. As an aside methane hydrates, which are basically icelike combinations of methane and water on the sea floor  are also a potential future source of methane. Back to agriculture ! Cattle belch methane accounts for 16% of the world’s annual methane emissions and the livestock sector in general is responsible for 37% of all human influenced methane production. In fact lets take a look at some of the statistics on anthropogenic methane. This accounts in total for approximately 55% of all methane emissions. Of this 18% is due to our energy use, 7% due to landfills, 19% due to livestock, 4% waste treatment, and 7% biomass burning. We can this see the links between agriculture and methane production but of course so far very little of this is harnessed for fuel.

Ethanol

 The fermentation of sugar into ethanol is one of the earliest organic reactions known to humanity. Ethanol is also produced from by-products of petroleum refining but here we are concerned at the links between agriculture and fuel production. The largest single use of ethanol is as a motor fuel and fuel additive. The largest national fuel ethanol industries exist in Brazil. Thanks to advances in engine design today almost half of Brazilian cars are able to use 100% ethanol as fuel via ethanol only engines and flex-fuel engines.. In the US flex-fuel engines can run on 0% to 85% ethanol since higher ethanol blends are not allowed. Brazil produces ethanol from domestically grown sugar cane which has a greater concentration of sucrose than corn but is also easier to extract.

In addition the bagasse generated by the process is not wasted but is used in power plants to produce electricity. In contrast in the USA the fuel ethanol industry is based on corn. According to the Renewable Fuels Association in October 2007 there are 131 grain ethanol bio-refineries in the USA with another 72 under construction. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 required that 4 billion gallons of renewable fuel be used in 2006 and this increases thereafter. However there is a controversy arising concerning this as it is disputed whether ethanol as an automotive fuel made from corn results in a net energy gain or loss. The case is clear in sugar cane ethanol as this produces 8 joules for each joule used to produce it. Sugar cane is therefore a far, far better source of ethanol for fuel. Recent research shows that other crops such as switchgrass are also ore efficient than corn. It is likely that cellulosic crops will displace corn as a main fuel crop in the future. There are in fact many controversial side effects of using corn to produce ethanol. According to one estimate a person could be fed for an entire year on the corn used to fill an ethanol fueled SUV. In fact the use of corm almost certainly increases global warming, destroys forests and inflates fuel prices.

Many environmentalists and livestock farmers are against the use of corn for ethanol production and the work also attracts controversial subsidies. In 2007 the UN’s expert on the right to food called for a 5 year moratorium on biofuel production from food crops to prevent a catastrophe for the poor as food prices escalate. The effects of increasing food prices due to the ripple effect of a rise in corm prices have been felt worldwide. A February 2007 Associated Press article stated “The widespread use of ethanol from corn could result in nearly twice the greenhouse gas emissions as the gasoline it would replace because of expected land-use changes”. However, it is not all doom and gloom because as we said earlier the case for ethanol from sugar cane has been made so agriculture has a huge contribution to make to fuel production in an efficient manner in fact if we move away from corn.

Biodiesel

 This refers to the non-petroleum based diesel fuel made by transesterification of vegetable oils or animal fats, which can be used alone or blended in unmodified diesel engine vehicles. Biodiesel use and production is increasing rapidly and fueling stations are making biodiesel available across Europe and increasingly in Canada and the USA.  At the moment biodiesel is relatively expensive to purchase but the economies of scale of production and agricultural subsidies versus the rising costs of petroleum may make biodiesel more attractive. Biodiesel production continues to grow rapidly with an average annual growth rate from 2002 to 2006 of over 40% according to Renewables 2007 Global Status Report. For 2006 total world biodiesel production was 5-6 million tonnes with 4.9 million tonnes processed in Europe – mainly in Germany.  It can be seen that agriculture has an enormous role to play in the creation of alternative fuels. A variety of oils can be used to produce biodiesel.

Virgin oil feedstocks such as rapeseed and soybean oils can be used. Soybean is a major feedstock in the US for example. Other feedstocks can include field penny-cress, Jatropha, mustard, flax, sunflower, palm oil, and hemp. Waste vegetable oil (WVO) can also be used as feedstocks. Farms also produce animal fats including tallow, lard and yellow grease. Chicken fats and by-products of the production of Omega 3 fatty acids from fish oil can be used. Another form of farming can also contribute, namely algaculture. Algae which can be grown using waste materials such as sewage can also be used as feedstock.

 However, it should be noted that currently worldwide production of vegetable oil and animal fat is not yet sufficient to replace liquid fossil fuel use. Also there would be objections to the vast amount of farming expansion needed to produce sufficient quantities – especially from relative low yield feedstocks like soybean. Lets take a quick look at the various yields because feedstock yield efficiency per acre affects the feasibility of ramping up agriculture required to power a significant percentage of world vehicles.

Here are some examples of yields quoted in US gallons of biodiesel per acre. Algae 1800 gpa or more, Palm oil 508 gpa, Coconut 230 gpa, Rapeseed 102gpa, Soy 59 gpa, Peanut 90 gpa, Sunflower 82 gpa. The case is being made strongly for algae fuel as according to the DOE algae yield 30 times more energy per acre than land crops such as soybeans. Algae production has another great advantage in that it does use up existing farmland. The Jatropha plant is also cited as being relatively high yield with about 200 gpa. This is grown in the Philippines, Mali and India, is drought resistant and can share space with other crops such as coffee. Overall the efficiency and economic arguments continue. Does it make sense to convert more farmland into feedstocks for  biodiesel production ?

Additional factors need to be taken into consideration such as the fuel equivalent of energy required for processing, the yield of fuel from raw oil, the return on cultivating food, and effects on food prices and the relative cost of biodiesel versus petrodiesel.

A note on energy security

 In reality one of the main drivers for adoption of biodiesel, ethanol and agriculture based methane production is energy security. This means that the country’s dependence on oil should be reduced and substituted with locally available sources such as coal, gas or other renewable resources. In effect this means that there are significant benefits for a country quite apart from reduction of greenhouse gasses. It is clear that initiatives in agriculture to produce methane, biodiesel and ethanol do reduce our dependence on oil , even if the total energy balance is controversial in some cases. The diversification of energy sources is a vital security factor and the development of a strong agricultural sector to meet this demand is therefore of long term and short term strategic interest. However, this must be balanced with initiatives in food production especially in the developing world to offset the effects of conversion of arable land to biofuel feedstock production.

 Dr Simon Harding

www.thinkoil.net

www.chronosconsulting.com

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