Alternative Fuels: Bio Diesel Ethanol

SOLAR WIND HYDRO GEOTHERMAL ALTERNATIVE FUELS EASY TIPS TO CONSERVE ENERGY NOW

Biodiesel is an alternative or additive to standard diesel fuel that is made from biological ingredients instead of petroleum (or crude oil). Biodiesel is usually made from plant oils or animal fat through a series of chemical reactions. It is both non-toxic and renewable. Because biodiesel essentially comes from plants and animals, the sources can be replenished through farming and recycling. Biodiesel is safe and can be used in diesel engines with little or no modification needed. Although biodiesel can be used in its pure form, it is usually blended with standard diesel fuel. Blends are indicated by the abbreviation Bxx, where xx is the percentage of biodiesel in the mixture. For example, the most common blend is B20, or 20 percent biodiesel to 80 percent standard. So, B100 refers to pure biodiesel. Ethanol is grain alcohol. In the United States, it's usually made from corn. In Brazil, it's most commonly made with sugarcane. Ethanol can be made from other grains like wheat and barley, and you can even produce it from potatoes. There are a couple of ways to make fuel-grade ethanol, and one of the most common ones is the dry-mill method: The corn (or other grain) passes through a grinding meal. It comes out as a powder. A mixture made of this grain powder, water and an enzyme enters a high-heat cooker, where it is liquefied. The enzyme helps to break down the grain compound to aide in the liquefaction process. The liquefied mash is cooled, and another enzyme is added to the mix. This enzyme converts the starch into sugars that can be fermented to create alcohol. Yeast is added to the sugar mixture to begin the fermentation process. The sugars break down to ethanol (a form of alcohol) and carbon dioxide. The fermented mixture is distilled. The ethanol separates from the solids. A dehydration process removes water from the separated ethanol. A small amount of gasoline is added to the ethanol in order to make it undrinkable. All ethanol used as a fuel must be made nonpotable. Byproducts of this process, including distiller's grain and carbon dioxide, are both useful in the farming and ranching industry and may be sold by the ethanol-manufacturing plant for various purposes. In its current status as a low-percentage fuel additive, the benefits of ethanol are obvious. Added in small amounts (typically one part ethanol, nine parts gasoline) to the gasoline that fuels our cars, it reduces greenhouse emissions like carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides. Since ethanol contains a lot of oxygen in its chemical structure, it burns pretty cleanly. The addition of ethanol to the fuel mix also reduces the amount of fossil-fuel-based gasoline we consume when we drive, and any car can run on this 10-90 ethanol mix (called E10). The 85-15 ethanol mix (called E85) that only fuels special "flexible fuel vehicles" (FFVs) burns even cleaner, further reducing the release of harmful gasses into the atmosphere that can cause air and water pollution, global warming and smog.