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Most transportation fuels are liquids, because vehicles usually require high energy density, as occurs in liquids and solids.

First generation biofuels 'First-generation' or conventional biofuels are biofuels made from sugar, starch, and vegetable oil.

Biofuels have been around as long as cars have. At the start of the 20th century, Henry Ford planned to fuel his Model Ts with ethanol, and early diesel engines were shown to run on peanut oil.

By "biofuels" on this page, I mean fuels for vehicles, such as "biodiesel" and "bioethanol" - although you can also use the term "biofuel" to cover any kind of fuel made from living materials or their waste.

How it works Biofuels are made from two main sources: Growing crops such as corn, sugar cane, soya or rapeseed; or from palm oil Growing algae

Biofuels are made from two main sources: Growing crops such as corn, sugar cane, soya or rapeseed; or from palm oil Growing algae

Where does the first phase for biofuel production begin? The sun takes credit for the very first step in this process. The sun helps to grow crops and plants, which are then eventually used to produce biofuel. Biofuel is actually derived from biomass, which can come from gas, solid and liquid states.

These crops that are specifically grown to be used to produce biofuels are referred to as feedstocks. These feedstocks are the raw and unprocessed form that the bio fuel is derived from. Among the more common types of feedstocks and crops that are used for the production of biofuels are corn, sugar crops, and forests. In addition, even some of the byproducts of materials such as those that come from wood can be used in this process. These special byproducts are often converted to the liquid forms of biofuels, which include methanol and ethanol. With the ability to use these byproducts, production methods have gotten a lot less expensive since there is much less waste involved.

In addition, there are also certain natural oils that are also used to help produce this special type of fuel. For example, oil palm, soybean and algae are surprisingly capable of being burned directly in certain types of furnaces and engines and can also be blended with certain types of fuels or petroleum based fuels for a more powerful blended mixture.

Biofuels are basically any fuel that can be burned in air to produce heat that is produced by biological means, normally by plant growth. Currently the most prominant biofuels are ethanol and bio-deisel because these can be burned in existing internal combustion engines and are thus a direct replacement for oil. The most important biofuel historically is wood with oth

Biofuels are currently cheaper than oil although this is only because we are seeing very high oil prices at the moment. Under what might be termed more 'normal' market conditions, biofuels lack any meaningful price advantage. Biofuel production is very labor intensive and very land intensive. Production of ethanol from sugar cane was pioneered by the Brazilians in the 1970's as a solution to an oil import bill they could ill afford. It worked for them as they have plenty of land they can convert to growing sugar cane and at the time, plenty of cheap labor with which to harvest it.

he simple truth is the world does not have enough land to produce anywhere near the quantity of biofuels we need to make any dent in our oil consumption. They are only in fashion now oil prices are high and it is cost effective to produce them. Sooner or later food prices will rise to such a point that biofuel production will cease to be economic.

most all biofuels used today cause more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional fuels if the pollution caused by producing these "green" fuels is taken into account, two studies published Thursday have concluded.

The benefits of biofuels have come under increasing attack in recent months as scientists have evaluated the global environmental cost of their production. The new studies, published by the journal Science, are likely to add to the controversy.

When you take this into account, most of the biofuel that people are using or planning to use would probably increase greenhouse gasses substantially," sai

ofuels can be derived from almost any type of "biomass," a broad term that refers to living or recently alive biological material. Because biomass is produced on a short time scale, it is considered a renewable resource. I will describe types of biofuels—ethanol, biodiesel, syngas, bio-hydrogen, biogas, and solid biofuel—and their use. I'll also identify the crops and wastes being used to produce biofuels, and some issues surrounding biofuel production. How are biofuels being used? Biofuels are already used to supply a small fraction of our energy needs, with significant opportunities to expand their use as infrastructure is developed. In addition to ethanol and biodiesel for transportation, biofuels are currently used for power production, heating and cooling of buildings, and the thermal needs of industry. Biomass is today the largest non-hydroelectric renewable source for electricity produced in the U.S. Most of this is produced in pulp and paper mills, which often generate electricity by burning wood chips, bark, or the sludges and "liquors" that are byproducts of the paper-making process. At the same time, they recover waste heat from electricity generation to meet the thermal needs of the mill. This highly efficient combination is referred to as combined heat and power (CHP) or cogeneration. The electricity generated may be used onsite and/or supplied to the local utility for distribution to the public.

Biofuels in the solid form has been in use ever since man discovered fire.

Wood was the first form of biofuel that was used even by the ancient people for cooking and heating

This form of fuel was discovered even before the discovery of the fossil fuels, but with the exploration of the fossil fuel like gas, coal, and oil the production and use of biofuel suffered a severe impact.

Ethanol yields 25% more energy than the energy invested in its production, whereas biodiesel yields 93% more. Compared with ethanol, biodiesel releases just 1.0%, 8.3%, and 13% of the agricultural nitrogen, phosphorus, and pesticide pollutants, respectively, per net energy gain. Relative to the fossil fuels they displace, greenhouse gas emissions are reduced 12% by the production and combustion of ethanol and 41% by biodiesel. Biodiesel also releases less air pollutants per net energy gain than ethanol.

Lignocellulosic biofuels are predicted by oil industry body CONCAWE [1] to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by around 90% when compared with fossil petroleum, in contrast first generation biofuels were found to offer savings of 20-70%

Increased biofuel demand has contributed to higher world food and feed prices.

Global biofuel production has tripled from 4.8 billion gallons in 2000 to about 16.0 billion in 2007, but still accounts for less than 3 percent of the global transportation fuel supply.

Cellulosic ethanol could raise per acre ethanol yields to more than 1,000 gallons, significantly reducing land requirements. Cellulosic ethanol is made by breaking down the tough cellular material that gives plants rigidity and structure and converting the resulting sugar into ethanol. Cellulose is the world’s most widely available biological material, present in such low-value materials as wood chips and wood waste, fast-growing grasses, crop residues like corn stover, and municipal waste.

y growing plants can be achieved by producing biofuels from

Balance between the carbon released by biofuels and carbon uptake by growing plants can be achieved by producing biofuels from feedstocks (raw materials) that come from managed forests or sustainably cultivated crops.

Much of the gasoline in the United States is blended with a biofuel—ethanol. This is the same stuff as in alcoholic drinks, except that it's made from corn that has been heavily processed. There are various ways of making biofuels, but they generally use chemical reactions, fermentation, and heat to break down the starches, sugars, and other molecules in plants. The leftover products are then refined to produce a fuel that cars can use.

Biofuels have the potential to be significantly less expensive than gasoline and other fossil fuels. This is particularly true as worldwide demand for oil increases, oil supplies dwindle, and more sources of biofuels become apparent.

There have been studies that prove the many benefits of substituting fossil fuels (petroleum, etc) with biofuels such as biodiesel and ethanol. In its simplest sense, such biofuels are biodegradable which means they are derived from organic materials. They are naturally renewable. It can create numerous jobs since our own farmers can practically make them domestically. Consequently, our reliance on foreign sources of fossil fuels will be significantly reduced. Moreover, these biofuels emit nontoxic and cleaner emissions in comparison to traditional fuels. These alternative fuels also do not promote global warming, since the carbon they emit is taken back to the environment.

biofuel is far more simple and easy to use

Biofuels are liquid fuels which have been derived from other materials such as waste plant and animal matter. There are two main types of biofuels – bioethanol and biodiesel. Bioethanol is used as a replacement for gasoline and biodiesel is used as a replacement for diesel.

biofuel has been recently grown, rather than stored and processed over many years. Biofuel is made from what can be grown today whereas fossil fuel comes from biomatter grown millions of years ago – and is therefore not renewable

Biodiesel is a clean, renewable and domestically produced diesel fuel. Both biofuels and fossil fuels are of an organic nature (made from biological matter) but biofuel has been recently grown, rather than stored and processed over many years. Biofuel is made from what can be grown today whereas fossil fuel comes from biomatter grown millions of years ago – and is therefore not renewable . Biofuel is not a finite resource - we are only limited by what we can grow.

Biofuels are fuels made from recently living organisms. They can be divided into three categories: First-generation biofuels are made largely from edible sugars and starches. Second-generation biofuels are made from nonedible plant materials. Third-generation biofuels are made from algae and other microbes.

biofuel

a gaseous, liquid, or solid substance of biological origin that is used as a fuel

Biomass is organic material made from plants and animals (microorganisms). Biomass contains stored energy from the sun. Plants absorb the sun's energy in a process called photosynthesis. The chemical energy in plants gets passed on to animals and people that eat them. Biomass is a renewable energy source because we can always grow more trees and crops, and waste will always exist. Some examples of biomass fuels are wood, crops, manure, and some garbage. When burned, the chemical energy in biomass is released as heat. If you have a fireplace, the wood you burn in it is a biomass fuel. Wood waste or garbage can be burned to produce steam for making electricity, or to provide heat to industries and homes.

Crops like corn and sugar cane can be fermented to produce ethanol. Biodiesel, another transportation fuel, can be produced from left-over food products like vegetable oils and animal fats.

Ethanol and biodiesel were the fuels used in the first automobile and diesel engines, but lower cost gasoline and diesel fuel made from crude oil became the dominant vehicle fuels. The Federal government has promoted ethanol use in vehicles to help reduce oil imports since the mid-1970s.