Biofuel is a fuel that is produced from biomass, such as plants or agricultural, domestic, or industrial waste, rather than from fossil fuels. Biofuels can be produced in solid, liquid, or gaseous forms. The two most common types of biofuels are ethanol and biodiesel, both of which represent the first generation of biofuel technology. Ethanol is an alcohol fuel that is blended with petroleum gasoline for use in vehicles, while biodiesel is a liquid fuel produced from renewable sources, such as vegetable oils and animal fats, and is used as a cleaner-burning replacement for petroleum-based diesel fuel. Biofuels offer a solution to one of the challenges of solar, wind, and other alternative energy sources, which is that they cant replace liquid fuels such as jet fuel, gasoline, and diesel fuel that are critical to our transportation needs.
Bioenergy researchers are developing a future generation of advanced biofuels and bioproducts made from wastes, cellulosic biomass, and algae-based resources. These efforts share several important steps, including developing sources of biofuel raw material that are sustainable and environmentally friendly, improving genes in plants to make them easy to break down for processing into biofuels and other bioproducts, designing enzymes and microbes tailored to breaking down plant material into sugars and the substances that give plants their structure, and designing microbes that excel at converting these materials into chemicals used for fuel and other products.
Some of the advantages of biofuels include that they are a source of renewable energy, unlike fossil fuels such as petroleum, coal, and natural gas, and they can lower CO2 emissions by 20–98% compared to conventional jet fuel, depending on which type of biomass is used. However, some of the disadvantages of biofuels apply mainly to low-diversity biofuel sources, such as corn and soybeans, which can lead to deforestation, soil erosion, and water pollution.
In summary, biofuel is a fuel produced from biomass, such as plants or agricultural, domestic, or industrial waste, and can be produced in solid, liquid, or gaseous forms. The two most common types of biofuels are ethanol and biodiesel, and researchers are developing a future generation of advanced biofuels and bioproducts made from wastes, cellulosic biomass, and algae-based resources. While biofuels offer a solution to one of the challenges of solar, wind, and other alternative energy sources, they also have some disadvantages, such as the potential for deforestation, soil erosion, and water pollution.
