Biofuel

Biofuel can be broadly defined as solid, liquid, or gas fuel consisting of, or derived from recently dead biological material, most commonly plants. Biofuel is any fuel that is derived from biomass – recently living organisms or their metabolic byproducts, such as manure from cows. It is a renewable energy source, unlike other natural resources such as petroleum, coal, and nuclear fuels.

This distinguishes it from fossil fuel, which is derived from long dead biological material. Biofuel can be theoretically produced from any (biological) carbon source. The most common by far is photosynthetic plants that capture solar energy. Many different plants and plant-derived materials are used for biofuel manufacture.

Biofuels are used globally. Biofuel industries are expanding in Europe, Asia and the Americas. The most common use for biofuels is automotive transport (see Liquid fuels for transportation). Increased demand for biofuels, particularly in America and Europe has led to deforestation (see deforestation) and food shortages (see 2007-2008 world food price crisis? ). This is increasingly making biofuels into a political issue throughout the world. In the transportation sector, ethanol is the most widely used liquid Biofuel in the world.

Ethanol is manufactured from microbial conversion of biomass materials through fermentation. Ethanol contains 35% oxygen. The production process consists of conversion of biomass to fermentable sugars, fermentation of sugars to ethanol, and the separation and purification of the ethanol. Fermentation initially produces ethanol containing a substantial amount of water. Distillation removes the majority of water to yield about 95% purity ethanol, the balance being water. This mixture is called hydrous ethanol. If the remaining water is removed in a further process, the ethanol is called anhydrous ethanol and is suitable for blending into gasoline. Ethanol is “denatured” prior to leaving the plant to make it unfit for human consumption by addition of a small amount of products such as gasoline.

Uses of Biofuel
The use of renewable biofuels in lieu of fossil fuels is said to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase energy security. It increased national energy security, increased rural development and a sustainable fuel supply for the future.

Beyond the use of ethanol for passenger cars, Brazil is also a leader in the generation of electricity from renewable sources. Over 80% of Brazil’s electricity is produced via sustainable technology, mainly through the harnessing of hydroelectric power (77% of all generation). According to the Brazilian Ministry of Energy and Mines, taken as a whole, energy derived from biomass and hydroelectric plants account for 45% of the entire Brazilian energy matrix.The report Biofuel Industry in Brazil is a complete coverage of the ethanol and biodiesel market in the country.