Biofuel Rules!

In the flurry of talk about renewable resources common themes seem to be wind and solar. While both of these are viable options, today we’re going to delve into something that has been on the rise as of late. Biomass Fuels. Surely you’ve heard of bio-diesel cars but lets look a little further. Biomass fuels can also heat homes and create electricity.



WHAT IS BIOMASS?
Biomass fuel is anything that can decompose or burn. Some examples are fast growing grasses, trees, and even urban and agricultural waste such as grease from restaurants or sugar cane husks.



HOW DOES IT HELP?
There are many positive effects to using bio-fuels in our homes and vehicles. Here are a few environmental/economic gains:
1) By growing our fuels here in our own country, we reduce the need to import oil and reduce our exposure to disruptions in that supply.
2) Farmers and rural areas gain a valuable new outlet for their products, a whole new market in a way. & also creating a large amount of jobs.
3) Construction and demolition wood, yard trimmings and non-recyclable organic material are all consumer waste that can be used as biomass to create energy. Grease from restaurants can also be turned into fuel.
4) It reduces water pollution because there are fewer pesticides used to grow energy crops. It also reduces erosion by catching runoff if planted near waterways cleaning up streams.



WHAT ARE SOME BIO-FUELS
The 2 most common are Ethanol and Biodiesel.
ETHANOL: is an alcohol, made by fermenting biomass that is high in carbs, like corn. The process in which this is done is similar to brewing beer. It is added to vehicle fuels to cut down on harmful emissions like CO2.
BIODIESEL: is made using vegetable oils, animal fats, algae, or recycled cooking greases. It can be used as a diesel additive to reduce vehicle emissions or in its pure form to fuel a vehicle. There are even converters that can be installed into existing vehicles that allow them to run on this fuel.


You may be thinking that this is not a very viable option but the Department of Energy states that we could produce four percent of our transportation fuels from biomass by 2010, and as much as 20 percent by 2030. And as for electricity, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) estimates that energy crops and crop residues alone could supply as much as much as 14 percent of our power needs.



In fact, the father of a personal friend of mine develops biodiesel in his own back yard! I talked to him and got the scoop on how he does this:
The process includes some very common household items and then again some not so common, but attainable. He begins by collecting the used grease from local restaurants. On each collection run he estimates gaining about 100 gallons of used grease. The first step of the process is to clean the grease thoroughly and get out all the “crud” from the restaurant grease as possible i.e. bits of food, etc. He does so by using a very large pair of pantyhose and coffee cans. He pours the grease through the pantyhose into the coffee can. He repeats this process so in the end he has strained the oil through the pantyhose twice. He then moves this to a larger container and mixes with methanol and lye which are both toxic so it is extremely important to be careful. These chemicals are obtained from chemical warehouses and require special permits to transport. The chemicals mix with the grease and break down the fatty acids in the vegetable oil so much so that it changes the chemical composition of the oil. You then let the mixture sit for 24 hours and all the fat separates from the oil in the bottom of the tank like a thick sludge. The sludge gets thrown away in a special container at the dump. You then use water to wash the oil you have from the reaction. This removes the chemicals and fat. Then it gets drained off and the rest of the product is able to be burned in order to heat your home or fuel a biodiesel car. Out of a 50 gallon tank of raw restaurant oil he reports that he is able to use about 45 gallons to heat his home directly. The amount he makes from one run heats his large home for about 15-20 days. You should not try this process at home unless you have more knowledge than I have provided about it. Certain steps are very dangerous such as the use of toxic chemicals. Because of this only someone who deals with these substances professionally should only conduct it.


for more info check out these links! They're some places I looked:
COPY AND PASTE INTO YOUR URL BAR

http://www.alternative-energy-resources.net/biomassfuel.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AlternativeEnergyResourcesBlog+%28Alternative+Energy+Resources+Blog%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/technology_and_impacts/energy_technologies/how-biomass-energy-works.html

http://www.nrel.gov/learning/re_biomass.html