Fluorescent Efficiency

Biofuel Conversion

When it comes to biofuels, the current economic crisis should be the siren song to the most plausible and profitable bio-matter available for manufacturing.

Unfortunately, the most common bio-matter tends to be corn-based or sugarcane-based. Though plentiful, these fuels will not be able to sustain a large portion of the fuel market for a variety of reasons.

We will examine the pros and cons of such biofuel sources as corn, sugar, cellulose, cooking oil, and algae; and of such processes as gasification and bioengineering.

Why Corn and Sugarcane Are Bad For Biofuel

One of the major reasons is because corn and sugarcane are manufactured primarily as food, not fuel. Debate amongst farmers and distributors alike has politicized the issue to the point of near immobility in gaining users of the eco-friendly fuels.

The inherent problem with these food crops is the low yield per acre each crop produces. There is simply not enough farmland to compete with traditional forms of fuel like gasoline.

Another issue that plagues production of biofuels is the complexity of turning the material into a fuel source. The one advantage of corn and sugarcane is the simplicity of production; sugar and starch are relatively easy to make into fuel.

Cellulose Based Biofuel

There are other forms of production that use non-biological matter such as cellulose, which have similar benefits and limitations to corn and sugarcane crops.

One of the greatest advantages to cellulose-based biofuel is that it can be made from farming waste products like discarded stalks and otherwise unusable bio-matter. George W. Bush has made statements concerning switch grass, a type of non-food crop that would fall into the category of cellulose-based biofuel sources.

Cellulose is a good choice for producing alternative energy because it can be found in a variety of materials. The major disadvantage of using cellulose as a large scale fuel sources, is similar to that of corn and sugar – low yield per acre.

Cooking Oil Based Biofuel

Bio-enthusiasts have discovered a biofuel that maintains the same sustainable, “no waste” ethic that is inherent with the use of cellulose-based biofuel, but from an obscure source: waste oils from restaurants.

Used oils, such as vegetable oil and olive oil, can be made into biofuels with a surprisingly little amount of manufacturing. In fact, many vegetable oil enthusiasts’ process involves straining their used oil through a piece of cheesecloth!

Receiving the most gain in use over the past decade other than sugarcane and corn, used oil has had little support from mass-market producers for several reasons.

The biggest reason is that used oil, unlike bio-diesel, does not meet the requirements of the Clean Air Act, and cannot meet the same standards as bio-diesel. For this reason the EPA does not recognize used oil as a legal fuel source, and so manufacturers can not legally process it.

Because this method of fueling diesel vehicles will not be seen at the gas pump in the foreseeable future, its appeal will remain with the enthusiasts who are motivated enough to acquire and clean their own used oil biofuel.

The Gasification Process

There is one process that uses materials that are just as sustainable as used oil, and as varied as cellulose: gasification.

Gasification is the process of reaching raw materials at an extremely high temperature with steam and oxygen in specific amounts. The potential for gasification is very high; all organic materials and even certain plastics can be used in the process with zero carbon emissions.

It has also been proven that this process can be successfully fitted to modern combustion engines and electrical generators.

The downside to gasification is that it requires a large number of components, and the materials must be preprocessed before they are used as fuel. The preprocessing stage on a massive scale could bring about issues of efficiency, due to the process consuming large amounts of energy.

Though the applications for waste management certainly merit further research, many of the mass-gasification projects, specifically those in the south of India, have ceased operation after only a few years due to mechanical problems.

Bioengineered Biofuel

One company, Synthetic Genomics, claimed in 2005 that it could engineer microorganisms that would produce ethanol and hydrogen gas.

Through the years, Synthetic Genomics has worked with many other fuel giants, such as BP, to produce higher yielding fuel solutions. Unfortunately for consumers, the initial claim of Synthetic Genomics to produce ethanol and hydrogen from microorganisms has proven to be only conjecture in the last quarter of 2008.

Were Synthetic Genomics able to harvest ethanol and hydrogen from microorganisms, unlike gasification, the infrastructure is already in place.

Little is known about the process used to harvest the fuels, and so cost analysis is impossible. The only thing clear is that if Synthetic Genomics succeeds, it could be one of the most useful and bizarre sources of alternative energy.

Algae Derived Biofuel

The most promising source of biofuel is algae. Algae are a rich source of fuel that has been estimated to contain nearly 30 times the energy per acre that corn and sugarcane.

Even more promising is that algae can grow just about anywhere, even in saltwater, where crops like corn and sugarcane must have fresh water and specific conditions to grow.

The Energy Department has stated that the amount of algae that would be needed to replace all petroleum fuel in the United States would fill a small state, about 15,000 square miles. If the Energy Department is correct, then it is entirely plausible to replace a large portion of soy, corn, and sugarcane based biofuels with algae biofuel while actually reducing the amount of space it takes to produce the same yield.

The exceptional yield and versatility of algae makes it the most viable choice in alternative energy for the United States.

Written by Fluorescent Efficiency
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