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8/9/2019 Is energy from biofuel a renewable source, totally environmentally friendly?
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EuropeanPupils
MagazineMichelle Hughes
Priestley College, Warrington, United Kingdom
Introduction
Energy is a very important resource which af-
fects the whole of human population. It is needed for
transport, industry and basic needs such as cooking
and heating the home. The main source of energy
today comes from fossil fuels, which is non renew-
able. This resource cannot be created again for the
next generations. As we use this non renewable re-
source we also release gases such as carbon dioxide
into the atmosphere by combustion. Great amounts
of carbon dioxide have been released into the at-
m o s p h e r e
from power
s t a t i o n s ,
travel and
i n d u s t r y .
The buildup of the
carbon di-
o x i d ecauses the
green house
e f f e c t ,
which in-
creases the
global tem-
p e r a t u r e .
The increasein global
temperature
could have
major ef-
fects to the planet.
Climate changeThe global temperature over the past 100 years
has risen 0.74 degrees Celsius. This is a great in-
crease of temperature in a short time. In Earths his-
tory very low and high temperatures have been ob-served within a long period of time. During this
time, the Earths inhabitants have been adapted
along with the environment. Now with the dra-
matic increase in global temperature, which is taking
place so fast, the Earths inhabitants have not had
time to adapt to the changing environment. This
causes loss of species, which could destroy ecosys-
tems. [1] I think this is unfair to the inhabitants of
Earth, as there will be less diversity of species on the
planet.
Scientists have used ice cores form Greenland
to find out the history of the Earths temperature.
The snow present in the ice cores has different ratios
ofoxygen isotopes existing in layers. This can re-
veal how
cold the air
was at the
time of for-
mation. In
the coldersnow the
concentra-
tion of
light oxy-
gen is
h i g h e r .
This is one
of the
m e t h o d s
that can
help usfind out the
t e m p e r a -
ture of the
earth. [4]
The increase in CO2 levels came from around
the time of the industrial revolution. That period
large amounts of fossil fuels were burnt, which re-
leased vast amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere.
The burning offossil fuels is a major contributor to
the rise in CO2levels in the atmosphere [13].
How does global warming occur?Gases which act as green house gasses are meth-
ane, water and carbon dioxide.35
Is energy from biofuel a renewable source,
totally environmentally friendly?
This graph form NASA shows that there is a dramatic increase
in the levels of CO2 now than any other period in history.[3]
8/9/2019 Is energy from biofuel a renewable source, totally environmentally friendly?
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EuropeanPupils
MagazineBiofuel Energy
The increased level of carbon dioxide has an ef-fect on global temperature, as the sunlight rays can
travel through the atmosphere but carbon dioxide
will trap the infra-red radiation heat. The earth needs
a balance of heat radiation from the sun this can be
explained by this equation:
Total power absorbed = Total power emitted [5]
This means that the release of CO2 is a major
factor in climate change
Bio diesel
Bio diesel is produced when vegetable, animal
and waste cooking oils are put though a process
called trans-esterification. This is when methanol
(alcohol) is put with oil and a catalyst is also added
to speed the chemical reaction. The product of this
reaction can be used as fuel.
This method uses a 65 C temperature and con-
verts 98% of the start products to the end products.
[6][8]Chemistry of the production of biodieselIn order to produce bio diesel a chemical reac-
tion has to occur between a triglyceride molecule
(this can be oil) and a molecule of methanol. This
reaction takes place with a sodium hydroxide cata-
lyst. This will produce bio diesel and glycerol.
The glycerol by-product can then be used in
soaps or cosmetics. [9]
Bio ethanol
Bio ethanol is produced when sugar or starchcrops are grown and put through fermentation to
make the alcohol ethanol.
The plants use photosynthesis to produce glu-
cose, this may be stored as glucose and starch in theplant. Plants such as sugar cane have to go through
hydrolysis which breaks down the complex sugars
(starch) into simple sugars with the use ofenzymes.
Yeast orbacteria will be introduced to the solution.
The yeast orbacteria uses the glucose for respira-
tion and produces ethanol as a by product. [12]
Are biofuels environmentally friendly?Positives for biofuels
We need renewable energy for the future so we
can have energy for heating, cooking and business
and we need jobs for people, so crime and poverty
rates do not increase. We predominately use non
renewable fossil fuels which will eventually run out
and will need to be replaced. As the fossil fuels run
out then the jobs that go along with the fossil fuel
industry will go, leaving people jobless. If there is
biofuel then new jobs will be created so that people
will have access to new jobs. As biofuel is renew-
able then the jobs created will be a lot more sustain-
able. [27] Thousands of jobs will be created in theproduction ofbiofuels in the U.S. [32] I think this is
a good for the economy creating more jobs and
therefore more money and a better quality of life for
people.
As biofuels are in demand as people are now
more aware of environmental issues farmland is
needed for the crops to be grown. Businesses are
now employing farmers from less economically de-veloped countries. This will give their economy a
boost and improve their quality of life. [15] An In-
dian biofuel company has opened a farm which36
[11]
The picture shows jobs in producing
biofuels for the developing countries.
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EuropeanPupils
MagazineBiofuel Energy
will produce biofuel in Ethiopia. This will give jobsto the people improving the economy. Also the
country will not have to import the fuels which can
be expensive. [36]
To continue to develop new ways, to improve
the efficiency of alternative energy resources, we
need to keep producing different biofuels, so that we
can keep learning how to make them more efficient
for the next generation. So future generations can
come up with new improved ways of biofuels pro-
duction. Second and third generation biofuels made
from algae could be a very efficient source of en-
ergy. [7]. Scientists have programmed bacteria to
self destruct, so the biofuels can produce high en-
ergy fats for high energy biofuels. [33]
Fossil fuels are our main source of energy for
heating and powering our
cars. Fossil fuels are also
a non renewable source
ofenergy so it cannot be
created for millions of
years. As fuel is alwaysin demand, biofuel is a
great alterative as it is a
renewable source of en-
ergy which can be pro-
duced quickly for genera-
tions to come, since the
plants that make the bio-
fuel can be grown again.
[26] As biofuels are re-
newable, developing
countries can grow theirown crops, as fossil fuels
are not readily available to them. [34]
The US government is implementing a new law
which will help people, who have environmentally
friendly cars using biofuels, save money. So if your
car has low CO2 emissions you could save money.
As Biofuels are carbon neutral meaning that they
use as much CO2 as is given out, they do not add to
the CO2already in the atmosphere. [14] So consum-
ers can save money. I think this is good initiative as
it indicates that environmentally friendly productsare supported by the government. This law is impor-
tant as it helps support 23,000 environment jobs.[35]
Biofuels are proven that they do not produce as
much pollution as conventional diesel. This will im- prove the quality of air reducing so respiratory ill-
nesses. [16]
Negatives for biofuel
A model produced by the Argonne National
Laboratory states that biofuels can cut carbon emis-
sions by half. However this did not include land use
change.
Biofuels are carbon neutral, meaning that when
the source of the biofuel (such as a sugar beet plant)
used carbon dioxide from the atmosphere for its
growth, the same amount of carbon dioxide is re-
leased back into the atmosphere when it is used as a
fuel. However this does not include the energy
needed to produce the biofuels, such as the harvest-
ing and transportation
of the biofuels. The
production of the bio-
fuel uses fossil fuels,
therefore making the
production of the bio-fuels not completely
carbon neutral. [17]
This has been proven
by a leading scientist
from Princeton Uni-
versity. He states that
the continual use of
biofuels will increase
the amount of CO2 in
the atmosphere due to
external factors such asirrigation and harvest-
ing. [31] I think this is a very important point as bio-
fuels are being promoted as having no negative ma-
jor effect on the environment, while they do. Biofu-
els are a lucrative product; this is due to the increase
in demand, as the public become more aware of cli-
mate change. It is more profitable to produce biofuel
crops than food crops. The farmers will then use
their land for the biofuel crops meaning there will
be less land for food crops, so less food. This will
drive the cost of the crops up and the cost of thefood for the public. This will affect the consumer as
they will have to pay more for their food. [15]
This is true for poor countries such as Mexico,37
Increasingbiodieselin amixturewithconventional
diesel,the amountofharmfulemissionsisreduced
[16]
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EuropeanPupils
MagazineBiofuel Energy
more harm than good from the release ofCO2. Thisextra CO2 comes from the production of the biofu-
els, with machinery which uses fossil fuels. So this
aspect is not environmentally friendly. Along with
the vast water usage for production. The use of the
unsustainable raw materials does not make this way
of getting energy very sustainable, so it is not very
environmentally friendly. The effect of deforestation
is also a major problem, as the loss of species from
the destruction of habitats may ruin whole ecosys-
tems.
I do not think the continual production of biofu-
els will be good for the environment until biofuels,
which do not emit emissions from their production
and therefore be fully carbon neutral, can be pro-
duced. However, it does bring economic benefits
creating new jobs for people, mainly in the develop-
ing countries. So I think improved methods and
technologies for producing energy should be re-
searched in order to find a truly environmentally
friendly energy source.
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