Ethanol+and+Biodiesel

Justin Singer Advantages/Disadvantages of Bio-diesel

There are a variety of different oils that can be used in the production of biodiesel fuel. The availability of these oils is definitely an advantage of this kind of energy. Some examples of the different types of oils that can be used in the production of biodiesel are virgin oils, soybean oils, various crops, waste vegetable oils, animal fat oils, algae, and the oil from halophytes. Looking at the big picture, it would be hard for biodiesel to fuel the transportation needs of our society, but it is a clean and efficient alternative that should be looked into by a small percentage of our population. However, producing biodiesel with these different oils which may have been discarded could replace a small percentage of petroleum diesel usage. Our country is already starting to take advantage of biodiesel fuel. There is currently a biodiesel plant being built that intends to produce 3 million gallons of biodiesel from some of the estimated 2.2 billion pounds of chicken fat.

Although biodiesel is a clean and efficient alternative to petroleum diesel like everything it also has its disadvantages. One of them is the problems that arise when biodiesel absorbs water. Water reduces the heat of combustion, which mean less power, harder starting, and higher emissions. The water in the fuel also corrodes vital elements of engine systems such as fuel lines and fuel pumps. Water has also been proven to increase the presence of microbes in the bio-fuel which can in turn clog a fuel system. The level of water can now be measured and monitored but it continues to be a year round problem for biodiesel users. So water in the fuel is a major disadvantage but it cam be dealt with and isn’t detrimental to the usage of biodiesel. Jason Scarpa

Ethanol is one of the cleanest forms of fuel. Compared to traditional petroleum-based gasoline, it reduces pollution and greenhouse gas emissions because it has a higher percentage of oxygen. When ethanol is used, it burns off more completely than gasoline. It does not pollute the air as much as gasoline does. Although it does not reduce the amount of waste released into the atmosphere, the waste is much cleaner. While gasoline emissions are mostly made up of toxins and pollutants, ethanol emissions contain more oxygen and therefore less pollutants that are harmful to the environment. When ethanol is used as a motor fuel, greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by as much as 46%. In fact, even using 10% ethanol in your gas tank would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 19%. Overall, ethanol is much cleaner than gasoline but comes with the certain disadvantages that hold it back from taking over gasoline as the main source of fuel.

Although biodiesel is a renewable energy source, there are many disadvantages to using it. Many of them involve the production of it. In order to produce biodiesel, land must be used to grow the crops. Switching to biodiesel would force us to farm much of our arable land. This would not only hurt the wildlife, but would also hurt the people. Food shortages would most likely occur, causing major problems. In many European countries, even modest usage of biodiesel would wipe out almost all of their available cropland. This would turn many countries that are net exporters of food products into net importers, severely damaging the economy. Although biodiesel is renewable, the disadvantages make it an inefficient energy source to rely on.

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Matt Orlando Two Advantages for Biodiesel

One advantage of biodiesel is that it is inexpensive. Biodiesel is very similar to diesel, except it is cheaper. Biodiesel is said to be one of the cheapest fuels. While gas prices are continuing to sky rocket biodiesel is still a very inexpensive at around a dollar per gallon. Processing the soybean oil and yellow grease accounts is 80 percent of the price. If research continues, hopefully a less expensive process will be discovered. This would allow biodiesel to be much cheaper and a viable fuel source for millions. Another one of biodiesel’s advantages is that it is a renewable resource. Biodiesel is made from the oils of soybeans. So we could theoretically grow our own fuel by having soybean farms. Biodiesel also can be made from cooking oils, recycled from restaurants. As a renewable resource biodiesel is an alternate resource. While we know we are running out of petroleum, how ever biodiesel could be grown at almost any field in America. Instead of depending on foreign countries for our primary fuel we could manage our own renewable fuel. Sources: [] []