Bio-Fuels As Alternative Sources Of Energy - Are They As Efficient As Petroleum?

Bio-fuels are created by converting organic matter into energy for powering our society. These Bio-fuels are an alternative energy resource to the energy sources that we currently depend upon.

The Bio-fuels umbrella includes under its aegis, ethanol and derivatives of plants such as sugar cane, as well as vegetable and corn oils. Nevertheless, not all ethanol products are developed to be employed as a kind of gasoline.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) tells us that ethanol could comprise up to 10 percent of the world's usable gasoline by 2025, and up to 30 percent by 2050. Currently, the percentage figure is two percent.

However, we have a long way to go to improve these Bio-fuels that we're researching. A study by Oregon State University proves this.

We have yet to develop Bio-fuels that are as energy efficient as gasoline made from petroleum. Energy efficiency is the measure of just how much usable energy for our needed purposes is derived from a specific amount of input energy.

(Nothing that mankind has ever used has derived more energy from output than from what the needed input was.) The OSU study discovered corn-derived ethanol to be only 20% power efficient (gas made from petroleum is 75% energy efficient).

Bio-diesel fuel was recorded at 69% energy efficiency. However, the study did turn up one positive: cellulose-derived ethanol was charted at 85% efficiency, which is even higher than that of the fantastically efficient nuclear power.

There are several countries that are seriously involved in the development of bio-fuels.

There is Brazil, which happens to be the world's biggest producer of ethanol derived from sugars. It produces approximately three and a half billion gallons of ethanol annually.

The European Union's bio-diesel production capacity is currently greater than four million (British) tonnes. 80 percent of the EU's bio-diesel fuels are derived from rapeseed oil; soybean oil along with a marginal quantity of palm oil comprise the other 20 percent.

The United States, while being the world's greatest oil-guzzler, is already the second largest manufacturer of Bio-fuels behind Brazil. Small businesses in America are now producing products like the keppe motor which is readily available on the keppe website.

If you'd like more information on the "Green" transition, visit the keppe motor wiki page.

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