Biofuels

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Biofuels
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When talking about biofuls we are discussing
SUSTAINABILITY
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Why Biofuel?
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Why Biofuels?

• Oil prices are part of the reason
• High oil prices allow alternate fuels to become
  financially feasible
• Higher gas prices raise awareness of oil
  dependency
• Politics

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Environment
Keeling curve -45 years of CO2
Michael Mann hockey stick model
According to Mann, the earth is warming
unnaturally. The evidence for human-caused
warming includes temperature trends over the past
millennium that indicate gradual cooling up until
the start of the 20th century followed by a sharp
upturn that continues today. A temperature graph
of the period shows a characteristic "hockey
stick" shape.
The rise of carbon dioxide gas in our atmosphere
has been measured continuously since 1958 and
follows an oscillating line known as the "Keeling
Curve," named after Dr. Charles David Keeling,
professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
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CO2 Emissions

• We need to limit our CO2 emissions
• Kyoto protocol (1997) implementation (2005)
• Targeted developed nations developing nations
  not required to sign (including China and India)
• Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol (2012)
• Reduce greenhouse gas amounts more
• Reduction needs to be prompt

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CO2 emissions
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Biofuel is An Old Idea

• The carbon cycle was balanced
• Biofuel, until recently, has always been our
  source of fuel
• Fire
• Feeding the horse/oxen power

• Rudolf Diesel envisioned vegetable oil as fuel
  for the Diesel engine
• Henry Ford thought to run his vehicle with
  Ethanol obtained from corn

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What Made Us Switch?

• When oil was first used, it was cheaper
  (financially)
• Consequence pulling carbon from deep in the
  Earth and putting it back in the atmosphere harms
  the environment

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How Can We Get Back to Biofuel?

• Where can we get renewable energy from?

BIOMASS
WIND
SOLAR
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Why Plants as Biofuel?

• Plants have lots of fixed carbon
• They fix it in uniform hydrocarbon chains
• We already harvest the plants in large amounts
• We can change the carbon to a flammable fuel

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Why Plants as Biofuel?

• Lipids can release fatty acid alkyl esters
  (combined with methanol to make biodiesal)
• Long chain sugars can be broken and fermented to
  release ethanol