Biofuels...Domestically Produced and Completely Natural!
Biofuel is an energy source made from living things, or made from the waste that living things produce. The use of biofuels significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions; while burning the fuels produces carbon dioxide, growing the plants or biomass removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Biofuels can come from a variety of sources and can be roughly divided into four categories or "generations:"
- First generation biofuels are made from sugars, starches, oils, and animal fats that are converted into fuel. These fuels include biodiesel, bio-alcohols, ethanol, and bio-gasses, like methane captured from landfill decomposition.
- Second generation biofuels are composed from non-food crops or agricultural waste. For example, from byproducts such as switch-grass, willow, or wood chips.
- Third generation biofuels are made from algae or from other quickly growing biomass sources.
- Fourth generation biofuels are made from specially engineered plants or biomass that intentionally have higher energy yields, lower barriers to cellulosic breakdown, or are able to be grown on non-agricultural lands or bodies of water.
Biodiesel, a popular form of first-generation biofuel, is domestically produced and can be made from vegetable oils, animal fats, or recycled restaurant grease. It is a replacement for petroleum diesel fuel and is nontoxic and biodegradable and can be used in its pure form or blended at any ratio with petroleum diesel to achieve cost efficiency.
