This article is part of a continuing series explaining what biofuels are, what biofuels are made from, and their pros and cons. For the previous article in this series see: What is Biofuel?
First Generation Biofuels are any fuels made from animal fats, starch, sugar, or vegetable oil. All of these come from renewable sources, although there is criticism that growing the products for these forms of biofuels divert farmland that could be used to grow food crops. There are several different categories of first generation biofuels including:

1. Biodiesel
2. Vegetable Oil
3. Biogas
4. Syngas
5. Bioalcohols

BIODIESEL

Biodiesel has a composition similar to fossil/mineral diesel except that components in biodiesel include animal fats and oils from soy, mustard, flax, and sunflower seeds just to name a few. The oil or animal fat is reacted with an alcohol through a process called transesterification to create the fuel.

Currently, biodiesel can be used in many diesel engines when it is mixed with some mineral diesel. According to biofuel.org.uk, many manufacturers of the diesel engine are making sure that their engines work well with biodiesel. The website also states that biodiesel is the most common type of biofuel used in European countries. Biofuel.org.uk also has a list of cars that work with biodiesel and information on engine warrantees that cover using biodiesel.

PROS:

• In general, biodiesel is cleaner-burning than conventional diesel. You can read a report on emissions done by the EPA which has a detailed comparison chart.
• Biodiesel is biodegradable
• Biodiesel comes from a renewable source

CONS:

• Increase in nitrous oxide in biodiesel emissions (which contributes to smog) – this increase is 10% according to the study done by the EPA
• Biodiesel acts like a solvent. As it runs through an engine, it cleans out deposits which can then create clogs, so if you switch to biofuel, you should clean out your filters often.

Of course, this is just a brief overview. For more comprehensive information on Biodisel, check out the following website: National Biodiesel Board

VEGETABLE OIL

Now don’t go into your kitchen and pour your bottle of vegetable oil into your gas tank! The type of vegetable oil used to create biofuels is of lower quality than what we use in cooking and baking. Vegetable oil is most often used in the production of biofuels, but there are cases where straight vegetable oil is being used as a fuel. I have read that some people have experimented with pouring vegetable oil straight into their tanks but there are companies (Elsbett and Wolf) that offer conversion kits.

PROS:

• Restaurants throw out a ton of cooking oil every year that could be used as fuel. I do know that one of Austin’s local burger joints, TerraBurger, donates their waste vegetable oil to a biofuel facility.
• Vegetable Oil burns similar to biodiesel, so the emissions are similar – see the link to the EPA’s report above in the Biodeisel section.

CONS:

• It would take a lot of farmland to grow enough crops for vegetable oil to be a competitive option.

Read more at Bionomic Fuel

BIOGAS

Biogas is created when organic matter breaks down anaerobically (that means without any oxygen). It can be produced from gunk like manure, sewage, and municpal waste. Some biogas, like landfill gas, contains something called “volatile organic compounds” and can be bad for the environment. The Clean Air Act contains legislation directed at landfill gas and the treatment of non-methane organic compounds (NMOCs).

However some countries, like India, have created ‘micro plants’ that are filled with cow dung and used to power houses. These are called Gober gas plants (the word ‘gober’ means cow dung) and you can read an article about them at Green Trust

PROS:

• Cost is cheaper than putting up and maintaining solar panels and wind turbines
• Is a renewable source – things will always have to poo!

CONS:

• Still releases CO2 and Nitrogen, so there is a little pollution
• Requires a lot of cleaning and bacteria management

Read more at PennState – Biogas

SYNGAS

Syngas is a mix of carbon dioxide and hydrogen. It is created when biomass (stuff from recently living organisms, i.e. manure) is combusted with a certain amount of oxygen. Syngas can be used to produce diesel and can also be converted into methane.

PROS:

• Because syngas comes from biomass, it is considered to be renewable.
• Burns cleaner than fossil fuels, so would reduce pollution.

CONS:

• There is often lower energy recovery efficiency than conventional combustion systems
• There is CO2 formed when syngas is burned

Read more at Biomass Magazine

BIOALCOHOLS

Bioalcohols are produced through the fermentation of starches and sugars. Ethanol is the most common, although there is also butanol and propanol. Just like some biodiesels can be used directly in a diesel engine without a conversion kit, some bioalcohols can be used directly in gasoline-powered engines.

PROS:

• Butanol is not as corrosive as Ethanol and can be transported in gas pipelines
• Again, bioalcohols come from a renewable energy source
• Bioacohols also have less harmful emissions than gasoline

CONS:

• It takes a larger volume of Ethanol to produce the same amount of energy as gasoline
• Ethanol can be corrosive to rubber parts like hoses

Read more at Bioalcohol Fuel Foundation

Whew! That’s quite a bit of information (and I still don’t know what I’m doing!). So, the research continues!

What is Biofuel? <–Previous Article

Next Article–> Second Generation Biofuels