3 Bio and Hydrogen Fuel
Savana Wolf
3.1 Introduction
Keywords
- Biomass – plant material
- Biofuel – biomass which has been converted into liquid fuels
- Hydrocarbon – a carbon-hydrogen structure found in organic molecules
- Ethanol – a type of alcohol made from biomass and is usually mixed with gasoline to reduce greenhouse gas emission in vehicles
- Biodiesel – diesel made from oils and fats (both plant and animal based) combined with alcohol
- Steam-methane reforming – a method of hydrogen production which involves reacting methane with high pressure and temperature steam using a catalyst to produce hydrogen with by-products of carbon monoxide and dioxide
- Electrolysis – a method of hydrogen production which uses an electric current to split hydrogen from oxygen in water
Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter, students should be able to:
- Identify the different types and process of production of biofuel and hydrogen fuel
- Give a brief history on the development of biofuel and hydrogen fuel
- Describe the current benefits and drawbacks to biofuel and hydrogen fuel
- Give a prediction for the future of biofuel and hydrogen fuel
“U.S. primary energy consumption by energy source, 2020” by U.S. Energy Information Administration is in the Public Domain
As humanity strides into the future, new technologies continue to be developed with the aim of solving the newfound problems faced in the journey forward. One of the biggest problems, of course, is that of energy and the current state of the environment, and finding a way to consume energy while mitigating the subsequent environmental consequences. Already the movement away from non-renewable towards renewable energy sources has begun, and there are many currently developed technologies and forms of energy which aim at being the solution to this problem (as discussed in the previous chapter). However, the limitations of these forms of energy mean they must undergo much more development before they are able to be a viable source of energy.
Instead of limiting themselves to a limited number of renewable energy sources, humanity has worked to expand their technologies and have begun developing new forms of renewable energy which are even more efficient and practical than their predecessors: renewable fuels. With much of the human energy consumption and dependencies stemming from non-renewable fuel sources, the development of renewable fuels is a practical and logical stepping stone in the path towards completely green energy consumption. These renewable fuels in development will ultimately provide long term solutions to the current energy crisis and bring majority positive benefits to the environment and society.
In this chapter, the renewable fuels of bio- and hydrogen fuel will be explored, including what they are, their history as forms of renewable energy, their benefits and drawbacks, and their outlook as future forms of energy.
3.2 Biofuels
“Growing a greener future with algal biofuels”