subject: Bio Fuel A Greener Energy Future [print this page] Bio fuels are by definition any fuel that, by being burned, can be converted to energy, and that is produced from a biological source. Bio fuels are reproducible. Alike fossil fuels of which there is a fixed quantity on world, bio fuels can continue to be produced so long as a source of biomass is available. The types of raw stuff that be converted into bio fuel have organic plants, animals (especially animal fat), and even animal and human waste material.
Bio diesel can be example of it. This fuel, which burns cleaner than its petroleum-based cousin, can be used by most diesel engines without any necessity for transition.
Bio fuel is already being made from corn and soy, for example. But using corn and soy has correspondingly driven up the demand for both foods, which while being ideal for bio fuel production, are also consumed as food by people around the Earth. Using these foods for bio fuel has pushed up their amount considerably, which in turn has created food shortages in some areas of the world. This has produced a remarkable quandary for bio fuel proponents.
If bio fuel is ever to become a true option to fossil fuels, a way is needed out of this quandary. One possibility is the use of algae as a bio fuel food stock. Algae have the benefit of being a non-food source which can be produced in areas not already being exploited to grow additional types of food. Corn, soy and cottonseed must be grown on tillable land. Algae can be grown in pools, in warm climates around the world, and acre per acre algae yield over a hundred times the quantity of biomass of soybeans.
Since algae take in, rather than produce, carbon dioxide, the very food stock being used to create bio fuel can itself be a cause for a reduction in a significant greenhouse gas. Algae bio fuel farms could therefore benefit from a dual livelihood stream. The fundamental is from the sale of the algae itself to refineries for the production of bio fuel. The 2nd income generated from the use of the algae farm as a consumer of other forms of pollution.
Some companies have accepted the benefit to poorer communities of developing the market for bio fuels while at the equal time encouraging the evolution of food stock supplies such as algae farms. These companies are planning to encourage production of food-stock for bio fuel in poorer countries to furnish the energy needs of more developed areas of the earth should raise everyone's quality of life, both in economic terms and in terms of encouraging a cleaner global environment.
