Biofuel for cleaner air

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• By Phalguni Prabhu

Our earth is warming up at an alarming rate with the increased combustion of fossil fuels because they have been reported to be the largest contributor to air pollution. Apart from them, there are many other emissions from coal combustion, biomass burning, etc. that pollute our air. To limit greenhouse gas emissions and improve the quality of air, a new energetic resource has been researched, which is a biofuel. Biofuels act as an alternative fuel source and they are derived either in the form of liquid or gas from biomass, such as agricultural residues, forest products, and industrial and urban residues. The production of biofuels is mainly from biomass, such as plant and animal waste, which can be replenished easily; hence, they are a renewable source of energy. Biofuel is also called as clean fuel owing to its less carbon dioxide emission. Biofuels are produced from conversions of ethanol. Ethanol produced by fermentation of organic waste contains oxygen that effectively burns fuel and reduces pollution. Biofuels can be used as a substitute in diesel engines, as the composition of the two is approximately similar. In India, researches are conducted on Jatropha seed oil for the production of biofuel. Jatropha is preferred over corn and sugarcane so that food demand is not compromised. All the developed and developing countries are conducting experiments to produce biofuels at a lower cost, which is being the major limitation in the present scenario.

Keywords: Fossil fuels, Air pollution, Greenhouse gases, Biomass, Renewable resources

Image source:
Biofuel pumps by Mariordo Mario Roberto Duran Ortiz, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Biofuel_pumps_DCA_07_2010_9834.JPG

Citation:
Phalguni Prabhu. Biofuel for cleaner air. The Torch. 2020. 1 (8).
Available from: https://www.styvalley.com/pub/magazines/torch/read/biofuel-for-cleaner-air/.

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