What is Biofuel?
My article is about biofuels and attempts to answer the question ‘what is biofuel?’.
Biofuels are combustible fuels derived from the remains of living organisms. Whilst fossil fuels are also derived from the remains of living things, they are not regarded as being biofuels as they come from the decomposed remnants of organisms which lived millions of years ago and have therefore been removed from the carbon cycle for millions of years, whereas biofuels are produced from renewable biomass sources such as plant biomass and food waste.
https://euobserver.com/energy/21067
Examples of biofuels include bioalcohols and biodiesel, which are both liquids. However, biofuels can also be solids (eg. wood) and gases. Biogas is produced by the anaerobic decomposition of biodegradable organic wastes such as manure and contains combustible methane as well as carbon dioxide, water and other byproducts of the process.
Bioalcohols are produced by the microbial fermentation of sugars, starches and cellulose. The most common chemical constituent of bioalcohols is ethanol but they can also contain propanol and butanol. Biobutanol is also known as biogasoline and is claimed to be an effective substitute for motor vehicle gasoline.
Another liquid biofuel which can act as a motor fuel is biodiesel. This bio fuel can be used as a substitute for diesel or as an additive to diesel in diesel powered vehicles which reduces the production of pollutants.
