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Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels such as oil. Biofuel can be produced from plants or from agricultural, domestic or industrial bio waste.
Food vs fuel is the debate regarding the risk of diverting farmland or crops for biofuels production in detriment of the food supply on a global scale. Essentially the debate refers to the possibility that by farmers increasing their production of these crops, often through government subsidy incentives, their time and land is shifted away from other types of non-biofuel crops driving up the ...
Biofuels can also mean land that could have produced food is instead being used for energy. And they can add to deforestation when land is cleared for their production.
The European biofuel subsidy is paid at the point of sale. [73] Companies import biofuel to the US, blend 1% or even 0.1% regular fuel, and then ship the blended fuel to Europe, where it can get a second subsidy. These blends are called B99 or B99.9 fuel. The practice is called "splash and dash.".
Biofuel development and use is a complex issue because there are many biofuel options which are available. Biofuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel , are currently produced from the products of conventional food crops such as the starch, sugar and oil feedstocks from crops that include wheat , maize , sugar cane , palm oil and oilseed rape .
Methanol fuel is an alternative biofuel for internal combustion and other engines, either in combination with gasoline or independently. Methanol (CH 3 OH) is less expensive to sustainably produce than ethanol fuel, although it is more toxic than ethanol and has a lower energy density than gasoline.
Renewable fuels are fuels produced from renewable resources. Examples include: biofuels (e.g. Vegetable oil used as fuel, ethanol, methanol from clean energy and carbon dioxide [1] or biomass, and biodiesel), Hydrogen fuel (when produced with renewable processes), and fully synthetic fuel (also known as electrofuel) produced from ambient carbon dioxide and water.
The development of second-generation biofuels has seen a stimulus since the food vs. fuel dilemma regarding the risk of diverting farmland or crops for biofuels production to the detriment of food supply. The biofuel and food price debate involves wide-ranging views, and is a long-standing, controversial one in the literature.