What are Biofuels?

Biofuel/Biomass is organic materials from decomposing plants and animals.

How do they turn into usable energy?

Some biomass such as wood and garbage can be directly burned for heat, other biomass such as compost or decomposing organisms turns to energy through a process that includes deconstruction and upgrading. During deconstruction the waste breaks down in an oxygen free environment to create a vapor which condenses into the liquid biofuel. This liquid can be burned directly to create energy or be processed to further refine it and add it to other mixtures such as gasoline for later burning.

How to create this energy:

The process starts with biomass. First crops and such are grown and transported to refineries when ready. The next step is to break down the plants to produce liquid and gas that are condensed into the actual biofuel. The plants can be broken down in many ways, the most popular being through extreme heat and pressure which turn the plants to liquid, char, and gas. The char is discarded and the rest is condensed and refined into fuel such as ethanol and biodiesel.

Who discovered biofuel?

Nikolaus Otto, a German man, was one of the first people to convince others to use Ethonal due to the shortage of fuel that occurred during WWII.

The future of biofuel:

The future of biofuels is hard to determine due to the interweaving factors that go into it. Usage tripled between 2000 and 2007, yet this lead to higher world food prices. Despite the increase of crops due to demand, biofuel may play a large part in the future world because of its sustainability and eco-friendly methods.

Pollution and toxin emission from fossil fuels.