A Short Note on Biofuel Production

^*Correspondence: Dr. Meka Pavan Kalyan, Department of Environmental, Avanthi Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cherukupally, India, Email:

Description

Biofuel is a fuel developed from biomass, as opposed to the relatively slow geological processes required in the development of fossil fuels such as oil. Because biomass may potentially be used directly as a fuel (e.g., wood logs), some people use the words biomass and biofuel interchangeably. However, more frequently than not, the term biomass merely refers to the biological raw material from which the fuel is manufactured, or to some type of thermally/ chemically changed solid end product, such as wood pellets or briquettes.

This naming convention is followed by the United States Energy Information Administration (EIA). Drop-in biofuels have the same functional properties as petroleum fuels and are entirely compatible with current petroleum infrastructure. They do not necessitate any engine modifications to the automobile.

Plants (i.e. energy crops) or agricultural, commercial, home, and/or industrial wastes can be used to make biofuel (if the waste has a biological origin). Biofuel generally involves modern carbon fixation, such as that which occurs in plants or microalgae via photosynthesis. Biofuel's ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions varies greatly, ranging from levels equivalent to fossil fuels in certain circumstances to negative emissions in others. Bioenergy is defined as a renewable kind of energy by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).

The two most common types of biofuel are bioethanol and biodiesel.

Bioethanol is fermented alcohol derived mostly from carbohydrates generated by sugar or starch crops such as maize, sugarcane, or sweet sorghum. Cellulosic biomass, which is obtained from non-food sources such as trees and grasses, is also being researched as a feedstock for ethanol production. In its pure form, ethanol may be used as a car fuel, but it is more commonly employed as a gasoline additive to raise octane and reduce vehicle emissions. In the United States and Brazil, bioethanol is widely utilized.

First-generation biofuels are fuels derived from arable land-grown food crops. Transesterification or yeast fermentation is used to transform the crop's sugar, starch, or oil content into biodiesel or ethanol.

Second-generation biofuels are those derived from lignocellulosic or woody biomass, as well as agricultural residues/waste. The feedstock for the fuels is either cultivated on fertile land as a byproduct of the primary crop, or it is farmed on marginal land. Straw, bagasse, perennial grasses, jatropha, waste vegetable oil, municipal solid waste, and other second-generation feedstocks are examples. Algae may be grown in ponds or tanks both on land and at sea. Algal fuels offer large yields, can be developed with minimum impact on fresh water resources, can be created using salty water and wastewater, have a high ignition point, and are biodegradable and relatively innocuous to the environment if spilled.

Large amounts of energy and fertilizer are required for production, the resulting fuel degrades quicker than other biofuels, and it does not flow well in freezing temperatures. Most efforts to create fuel from algae had been abandoned or shifted to other applications by 2017, owing to economic reasons. Electro fuels and solar fuels are examples of biofuels in this category. Electro fuels are created by storing electrical energy in liquid and gas chemical bonds. Butanol, biodiesel, and hydrogen are the principal goals, although additional alcohols and carbon-containing gases such as methane and butane are also included. A solar fuel is a synthetic chemical fuel that is produced using solar energy. Light is often turned to chemical energy by converting protons to hydrogen or carbon dioxide to organic molecules.