Types of Biofuels

Do you cultivate CEREALS or BEET?

Are you a FARMER of SOYBEAN or PALM?

Want to make BIOFUELS for SELF-CONSUMPTION?

Definition of Biofuels

A biofuel is a liquid mixture of hydrocarbons derived from a biological process of plant organic matter and used as an energy source, especially as fuel in internal combustion engines. Also called agrofuels. (Wikipedia).

Biofuels are derived from agricultural species rich in carbohydrates (eg maize or cassava), or from oilseeds (eg soybean or sunflower). You can also use forest species such as eucalyptus and pines.
During the growth phase of these plants, CO2 absorption is equivalent to the emission of CO2 during combustion, so it is considered almost neutral in the net emission of carbon dioxide. The fuels of biological origin can substitute part of traditional fossil fuel consumption in petroleum, net CO2 emitters.

Bioethanol

Bioethanol is produced by alcoholic fermentation of sugars from various plants such as sugar cane, beet or cereals. Is the most common type of Alcohol fuel. (Wikipedia)

Alcoholic fermentation: This is the same process used to produce alcoholic beverages.Consists of an anaerobic fermentation by yeast led in which a mixture of sugar and water (wort) is transformed into a mixture of alcohol and water with carbon dioxide emission.

For ethanol is necessary a final distillation process in which water is removed from the mixture. Ethanol production as a fuel can not use the traditional method of distillation in stills, as they lose more energy than is obtained.

When the raw material is dry (i.e. cereals), it is first necessary to produce a sugary wort through different processes of crushing, acid hydrolysis and separation of mixtures.

Biodiesel

Biodiesel is produced from the transformation of fatty acids of various vegetable oils, which may already be used or unused. In the latter case is commonly used rapeseed, canola, soya and Jatropha, which are grown for this purpose.(Wikipedia).

Transformation of fatty acids: Vegetable oils and animal fats can be converted into a mixture similar to diesel oil through a complex process of esterification, water removal, transesterification, and distillation with methanol, after which glycerol and soap are also obtained.

Biofuels self-consumption

There are research and development in biofuels of second and third generation (not using land for food), such as algae, but they are not yet on the market.

The current controversy on biofuels comes from the use of scarce fertile soil for the cultivation of species to be transformed into biofuels, which increases the price of food crops. It seems not logical to use the scarce resources of land and water to make species which are then burned, when in many parts of the world can not be reached locally enough food for the population.

So modestly from my blog, I would like to find specific cases in which farmers have been able to produce their own biofuel for use on his farm, from the waste or surplus food crops. It won’t be easy, but I hope to find cases of self-profitable biofuels.

What is your opinion about biofuels? Could you explain experiences of self-production of biofuels? Your opinions matter to many farmers.

Related articles

• Biofuels Will be as Profitable as the Oil Industry (beta.fool.com)
• China seeks to develop biofuels industry despite production difficulties (eco-business.com)
• Microbubbles Could Boost Algae Biofuel Harvest (earthtechling.com)
• Mapping Grasslands for Biofuel Potential (naturenplanet.com)
• Amyris to demo jet fuel from sugar cane (news.cnet.com)
• Biofuels may be short on access (news.cnet.com)
• Biofuel (wikipedia)