Biofuels an Alternative Energy Source
Biofuels are an alternative energy source to the fossil fuels and are produced by converting organic matter into fuel for powering primarily our cars and trucks. We are currently far to dependant on fossil fuels. Biofuels include under their umbrella ethanol and other derivatives of plants such as sugar cane, as well as vegetable and corn oils. Maybe it should be noted here that not all ethanol products are designed to be used as a kind of gasoline. Officials do tell us that though ethanol presently only comprises two percent of the world’s usable gasoline, by 2025 it could be up to 10 percent, and up to 30 percent by 2050.
We still have a long way though to be able to refine and make these biofuels economic and practical. We have yet to develop biofuels that are as energy efficient as gasoline made from petroleum a study by Oregon State University says. Energy efficiency is the measure of how much usable energy is able to be made from a certain amount of input energy. This University study found corn-derived ethanol is only 20% energy efficient while gasoline made from petroleum is 75% energy efficient. Biodiesel fuel was a lot better at 69% energy efficiency. A study that did turn up positive was cellulose-derived ethanol which charted at 85% efficiency. That is even higher than that of the fantastically efficient nuclear energy.
Even the stock market seems to be saying things are changing. Oil futures have been down on the New York Stock Exchange recently. Analysts from several different countries believe this is because people are predicting a surge in biofuel availability which would offset the value of oil. This has dropped crude oil prices on the international market to around $40 per barrel. Not only that; but the grain futures market is starting to “steal” investment activity away from the oil futures market. Investors are definitely expecting better profitability to start coming from biofuels. It is being predicted by a majority of analysts that biofuels will be supplying seven percent of the entire world’s transportation fuels by the year 2030. If the government goes forward with subsidizing firms distributing biofuels and continues the push to promote the use of eco-friendly fuel, it is expected that growth in demand for diesel and gasoline will slow down dramatically.
There are several countries that are seriously involved in the development of biofuels.
- Brazil, which happens to be the world’s biggest producer of ethanols. It produces approximately three and a half billion gallons of ethanol per year.
- The United States is the world’s greatest fuel user and is not doing too bad as it is already the second largest producer of biofuels behind Brazil.
- Canada is in the mix and has started to seriously produce biofuels.
- The European Union’s biodiesel production now has a capacity in excess of four million (British) tonnes. The EU’s biodiesel fuels are 80 percent derived from rapeseed oil and soybean oil. A marginal quantity of palm oil comprises the other 20 percent.
In the continuing battle on global warming and with diminishing oil reserves Biofuels are an important weapon in our arsenal. Unlike other alternative fuels, biofuels force little or no changes in our modes of transport used by most consumers today. The technology used to create biofuels is getting better all the time and the “bio” parts of the ingredients are totally renewable. It is certainly a move for the better.
Alternative Energy on a Larger Scale
When it comes to renewable fuel sources the Germans have become one of the major players in the alternative energy game. With their nation’s electricity feed laws, the German government set a world record in 2006 by investing over $10 billion (US) in alternative energy research, development, and implementation. This included investment in wind turbines, biogas power plants, and solar collection cells. Germany’s electricity feed laws permit the German homeowners to connect to an electrical grid with some source of renewable energy they are generating. 
They then can sell back to the power company any excess energy produced at retail prices. (This is now available in parts of Canada, Us and other countries.) This economic incentive has moved Germany into the number-one position among all nations when it come to the number of operational solar arrays, biogas plants, and wind turbines. There was/is 50-terawatt hours of electricity produced by these renewable energy sources. This amounts to 10% of all of Germany’s energy production per year. In 2006 alone, Germany installed 100,000 solar energy collection systems.
In the US there are also moves towards finding and using alternative energy. One such initiative is by the BP Corporation. It has established an Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) located at the University of Illinois, to establish extensive new research and development efforts into clean burning renewable energy sources. 
Most prominently this means biofuels for cars and trucks. Their investment will be $50 million (US) per year over the next decade. The University has established a partnership with BP, and it will be responsible for research and development of new biofuel crops. They will also be researching the biofuel-delivering agricultural systems, and machines that will produce renewable fuels in liquid form for automobile consumption. The University will specifically concentrate on efforts in the field of genetic engineering related to creating the more advanced biofuel crops. This institute will also focus on technological innovations for converting heavy hydrocarbons into pollution-free and highly efficient fuels.
There is also a battle raging in the US, between Congress and the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) on geothermal energy, its potential, and the role of federal research. The GEA’s concern is Congress’ irrational insistence on terminating the geothermal research program. The GEA says that recent studies by the National Research Council, the Western Governors’ Association Clean Energy Task Force and the Massachusetts 
Institute of Technology all support expanding geothermal research funding. This is necessary in order to develop the technology necessary to utilize this vast, untapped domestic renewable energy resource. Supporters of geothermal energy are amazed at the small amount of awareness people have about the huge benefits this research could have to the US, both practically and economically. Did you know that geothermal energy is already less expensive to produce in terms of kilowatt-hours than the coal that the US keeps mining? Geothermal energy is readily available, sitting just a few miles below our feet and is easily accessible through drilling. Some companies are already producing geothermal energy in the US and around the world. Geothermal energy is certainly economically viable and is already a billion dollar per year business.
It is important that we support these alternative energy sources whenever and however possible.