Scientists have found ways to produce fuel from renewable sources such as corn, soy, and sugarcane, and these fuels are called biofuels. There are three main types of biofuels: ethanol, biodiesel, and green diesel. Ethanol and green diesel are both made purely from plant sources like corn and algae, whereas biodiesel is made from both vegetable oils and animal fats. Biofuels have several great qualities, for example, when an ethanol-gasoline solution is burned in cars, it produces 85% less greenhouse gas emissions than pure gasoline. However, there are some negative effects too, like having to grow water consuming crops that could have been used for food instead of fuel. Scientists are working hard to make biofuel-powered transportation happen so that we can have more eco-friendly vehicles. 

 Scientists have had many great advancements in the past 40 years, one of which being the use of ethanol as an additive to gasoline. Ethanol is a biofuel produced from crops such as corn or sugarcane. The use of ethanol in vehicles has many benefits. Burning an ethanol-gasoline solution in vehicles produces 85% les greenhouse gas emissions than a regular gasoline solution would. The use of ethanol in gasoline is a recent idea, it only emerged in the 1970s because of an energy crisis, and the use of ethanol in gas only recently increased in the early 1990s. Ethanol is a recent advancement in the transportation world and a much more eco-friendly option to gasoline.  

Advanced conversion technologies extract biofuels from crops, waste materials or food service by products. They can be in gas, solid or liquid form. Liquid biofuels are the most widely used around the world in transportation. Biodiesel, mainly produced in Europe uses vegetable oil, cooking oil and animal fat from meat processing industries. It can be blended in traditional diesel fuel or burned in pure form in compression ignition engine. For example, a refinery in Venice uses 25% of Italy’s recovered used cooking oil to produce biofuel for cars. It produces 360000 tons of biodiesel per year. Venice was the first conventional refinery in the world converted into biorefinery. This technology can be also used to produce jet fuel. Honeywell Green Jet Fuel from Italy doesn’t require any changes to aircraft technology. Ethanol is produced from feedstock containing sugar or starch. The main producers are USA and Brazil. Ethanol can be blended with petrol or burned in pure form in modified spark ignition engine. In the US 94% of ethanol is derived from corn while Brazil uses sugar cane. The US and Brazil produced 83% of the world’s ethanol in 2020. The production of bioethanol and biodiesel has benefits providing by products like animal feed. 

WORLD FUEL ETHANOL PRODUCTION, 2020

 Some down sides to this are, as our population continues to grow so does the demand for food, and well as energy. So, the competition between those growing the crops for food, and those who want the land for the purposes of fuel it is going to be difficult for both needs to be met. As the population grows this will only become a bigger issue. Since more needs will have to be met this will be a challenge. Studies have shown that biofuel consumption and harvesting has cut into the corn crops for human consumption. This has caused the prices to skyrocket, for food, and gas. Not only that but it is in theory that this will severely affect our environment. As it will cause the nitrogen content to raise in our water. 

Now that you understand how biofuels working, and the knowledge behind the fact our future will suffer, you may be wondering can I help? The answer is yes, well a little. Some ways you can help is by avoiding using your car as much as possible, or even carpooling, walking to school bussing etc.