Biofuel Advantages & Disadvantages

Monday 6 February 2012 | rachmad afriantoro at 10:29 |

Biofuels are derived from the decomposition of biological or organic waste. Most biofuels are formed from plant matter. They are found in liquid, solid or gas states.

Biofuels differ from fossil fuels in some important ways.

• They are a completely renewable energy type

• They emit much fewer pollution-causing green house gases

There are different "generations" of biofuels. • First generation biofuels come from sugar, other starches, as well as animal and vegetable oils. • Second generation oils are derived from industrial waste products, such as wood chips. Ethanol biofuel, other alcohols and diesels fall into this classification.

• Algae biofuel is the third generation. • Micro-organisms are utilized in forth generation biofuels. As previously stated, all biofuels are extremely renewable. Compared to the extraction, processing and transporting of fossil fuels, manufacturing biofuels is much less expensive. Everyone is looking for home energy saving tips these days.

Biofuels are more environmentally friendly. Less green house gasses are emitted from them than from fossil fuels.

Biofuel Disadvantages:

In the creation of first generation biofuels, huge amounts of land are needed. This reduces acreage for good food crops and shrinks food production. The belief by those who protest large-scale production of food crops for biofuels is that food should be solely for eating. They maintain that many poor people have already been negatively impacted by the production of biofuels.

Biofuel creation also requires enormous amounts of material. With much land devoted to this, less is available for growing edible food crops. Here, where fossil fuels may be in short supply or unaffordable, small-scale biofuel production may be a viable renewable energy type. Weighing the advantages and disadvantages of biofuels, we can see that they are not the perfect green energy source.