Biofuel: cheaper, more environmentally friendly
Apsara Epasinghe
Fuel from nature
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Biofuel: The recent surge in increase in environmental issues
affecting our planet coupled with the increasing costs of fossil fuels
such as oil and gas have led to an increase in interest in biofuels.
All across the globe countries are now taking a new look at the
potential of Biofuel technology to help supply them with cheaper, more
environmentally friendly fuels.
What is a biofuel?
Biofuel is a fuel that is sourced from non fossilised organisms or
from byproducts of these organisms. For example, Biodiesel can be made
from vegetable oils or animal fats.
Cattle or horse manure is another biofuel and it is the side product
of recently living organisms. Petrol, oil and coal are not biofuels as
they are fossilized. They are not sustainable. Biofuels on the other
hand are sustainable energy sources as they can have a continuous growth
/ burn / growth / burn cycle.
What can biofuels give us that fossil fuels cannot?
Biofuels have an enormous environmental benefit; they can help reduce
the levels of toxins in our air and water. They can reduce the advance
of global warming and can help reduce fuel needs by providing more
efficient models of energy creation.
When a biofuel is burnt to release the energy contained within the
biomass, the carbon that is released has recently been taken from the
atmosphere by the plants that the biofuel derived from.
This is because plants take in carbon dioxide in the process of
photosynthesis to enable them to grow. The effect of this is that
biofuels are carbon neutral , i.e. they release the same amount of
carbon when burnt as the plants that the biofuel derived from took in
when they grew.
Biofuels can also benefit the user through reduced costs; cheap fuel
has long been a goal of man. Biofuels can also provide us with a
sustainable form of energy. This is great news for future generations
but also effects us today as dwindling supplies of oil and gas force
prices upwards meaning that we pay more for our gas and petroleum as
well as fossil fuel generated electricity.
Biofuels can easily be made at home and by local communities and
farming groups. This can again make biofuels a cheap alternative to
fossil fuels and can help to strengthen local communities both socially
and economically. The two major biofuels that are already available and
being used on a large scale are biodiesel and bioethanol (or Ethanol
fuel). These fuels are capable of running many different makes and
models of existing motor vehicles.
What is Bio Ethanol?
Ethanol is alcohol produced from natural sugar and starch plant
growth such as grains (it is sometimes known as grain alcohol), sugar
cane and oil seed rape and it can be used to fuel vehicle engines.
Ethanol is made from the processes of fermentation and distillation.
When people talk about using ethanol as a source of energy they
sometimes refer to it as bioethanol. Ethanol is the type of alcohol that
can be consumed (ethanol as a fuel is not a new idea, indeed Henry Ford
wanted the original Model T Ford to run on ethanol and thought that it
was going to be the vehicle fuel of the future. However the economic
power and influence of the oil companies led to the production and
importing of cheap petroleum oil and petrol was adopted as the everyday
fuel.
Ethanol has been used as a vehicle fuel in the United States for a
number of years but on a very small scale. Recent growing concerns over
the environmental effects of burning fossil fuels and the increasing
price of oil have now forced governments and energy producers to
consider bio fuels such as biodiesel and bioethanol more seriously.
Ethanol is commonly used as an addition to normal petroleum to form
ethanol-blended petrol. These blends are commonly made up of around 10
per cent ethanol and 90 per cent petroleum but now higher ratios of
ethanol are being used in blends and further testing is being done on
new types of blends. The US uses more than 15 billion gallons of ethanol
blended petrol every year which makes up around 12 per cent of the US'
total fuel sales.
Ethanol as a vehicle fuel on a huge scale - Brazil leads the way The
effect of economics on fuel use can clearly be seen from Brazil's
significant use of biofuels. Brazil makes most of its bioethanol from
crops of local sugar cane which is a great candidate for ethanol
production.
Half of all cars in Brazil are run on ethanol (source Sunday Times
31/04/2006). This demonstrates the potential of ethanol as a realistic
alternative fuel to petrol and gives us an idea of the scale of
potential environmental and economic benefits it could give to countries
all over the planet. It is not pie in the sky, it is achievable and
available now.
Sugar Cane thrives in Brazil's climate but is not suited to the
climate of the US. Alternative crops for ethanol production include
grains such as corn and other crops such as oil seed rape, potatoes,
wheat as well as fruit and vegetable waste.
In Britain British Sugar have started developing an ethanol plant in
Norfolk that will convert sugar beet to fuel.
The increasing importance of Bio-fuels
The world's energy demand continues to increase as we use more and
more machines in our day to day lives. New high level energy users such
as China and India have emerged placing a higher demand on the already
short supplies of fossil fuel energy.
How we supply our energy needs and with what fuels is becoming more
and more of an issue, both economically and environmentally.
Recently the US government recognized the need to be more self
sufficient in its energy supplies and reduce its 'addiction' to foreign
oil. The European Union has set targets for biofuels to account for
5.75% of all fuel used in Europe by 2010.
Benefits of ethanol as a fuel
There are many benefits of using ethanol as a fuel including both
environmental benefits of ethanol and economic benefits of ethanol. A
brief summary of these benefits is shown below:
* Reduced harmful exhaust emissions
* Sustainable energy source
* Reduced dependence on foreign sources of oil and gas
* Biodegradable with no toxic effect on environment
* Does not contribute to greenhouse effect due to growth / burning cycle
* Cheap method of achieving high octane fuel
* Many cars are already capable of running on ethanol with no
modifications
* Can reduce levels of disease causing emissions from petrol blends.
* Can be made at home - reducing energy costs associated with
transportation
Sri Lankan Opportunity
Sri Lankan expenditure on imported fossil fuel is totaling to US
Dollars 1,029 Millions in the year 2006 (according to Central Bank
Report) and day by day cost of living is going up. We use fossil fuel
for power generation to lighting lamps and if an alternative energy
source such as renewable energy can be used to save Billions of Dollars
we spent on importation of fossil fuel.
There are 3.5 million households in Sri Lanka with a high potential
of promoting ethanol production at domestic level.
We are never late
Sri Lanka needs a positive change. We, a team of motivated students
reading for a Master in Business Administration at The University of
Colombo are aligned to create the positive change to Sri Lanka with bio
fuel. We have formed a society called REBIL to further experiment on the
possibilities of producing Ethanol out of illicit liquor.
REBIL stands for Renewable Energy through Illicit Local Liquor and
promotes bio fuel to reduce the nations' dependency on imported crude
oil, helping to reduce environmental effects of daily life and to create
job opportunities to 3.5 million rural families.
We invite you, the responsible citizen's of Sri Lanka to join hands
with us to make this dream a reality. |