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First-generation biofuels (also denoted as "conventional biofuels") are made from food crops grown on arable land. [20] [21]: 447 The crop's sugar, starch, or oil content is converted into biodiesel or ethanol, using transesterification, or yeast fermentation. [22]
Biodiesel is a liquid fuel composed of vegetable oils and or animal fats. To create the gasoline itself, these subsequent liquids are combined with alcohol. Biodiesel is used to fuel compression ignition engines, otherwise known as diesel engines. The most common product of biodiesel is B20, a 20:80 blend: 20% biodiesel to 80% petroleum diesel.
A biofuel made from waste or inedible vegetation, with renewable energy to power the production, would have little or no greenhouse gas emissions, making it a clean fuel.
The same study examined soil degradation using 10 000 ppm of biodiesel and petroleum diesel, and found biodiesel degraded at twice the rate of petroleum diesel in soil. In all cases, it was determined biodiesel also degraded more completely than petroleum diesel, which produced poorly degradable undetermined intermediates.
Alternative fuels, also known as non-conventional and advanced fuels, [1] are fuels derived from sources other than petroleum. [2] Alternative fuels include gaseous fossil fuels like propane, natural gas, methane, and ammonia; biofuels like biodiesel, bioalcohol, and refuse-derived fuel; and other renewable fuels like hydrogen and electricity. [3]
Biofuels include bioethanol, an alcohol made by fermentation—often used as a gasoline additive, and biodiesel, which is usually used as a diesel additive. Specific energy is energy per unit mass , which is used to describe the chemical energy content of a fuel, expressed in SI units as joule per kilogram (J/kg) or equivalent units. [ 1 ]
Biodiesel currently has 3% of the diesel market in Germany and is the number 1 alternative fuel. [17] The German government has a Biofuels Roadmap in which they expect to reach 10% biofuels by 2010 with the diesel 10% coming from fuel made from vegetable oil. [18] From 2005 to 2007 a number of types of vegetable oil have doubled in price.
Biodiesel is produced from oils or fats using transesterification and is the most common biofuel in Europe. In 2010 worldwide biofuel production reached 105 billion liters (28 billion gallons US), up 17% from 2009, and biofuels provided 2.7% of the world's fuels for road transport, a contribution largely made up of ethanol and biodiesel. [8]