Mean Green

Biofuels are moving fuels like ethanol and biodiesel is a diesel that is finished from biomass resources. These fuels are generally merged with the petroleum fuels – gasoline and diesel fuel. They can also be used individually as well. Using ethanol or biodiesel facilitates lesser burning than fossil fuel. However, ethanol and biodiesel are unfortunately, more expensive than the fossil fuels. Nevertheless, they are uncontaminated fuels, producing smaller quantity of air pollutants and are safer and greener to the environment.

Ethanol is an alcoholic fuel prepared from the sugars found in grains, such as corn, sorghum, and wheat, along with potato skins, rice, sugarcane, sugar beets, and yard clippings. Biodiesel is prepared from vegetable oils, fats, or greases. Biodiesel fuels can be used in diesel engines not including any changes in them. It is the best ever budding substitute petroleum in countries such as United States. Biodiesel is a renewable source of energy and thus is safe, recyclable, and decreases the release of the majority air toxins. It is no doubt an eco-friendly version of diesel.

It is frequently asserted that biofuels are carbon-neutral as they release CO2 when burnt that was previously present in the atmosphere. There is a considerable CO2 discharge from the refinery and distillery processes required to make biodiesel or bioethanol, as well as for transport, the use of ranch machinery, and manure production. Biodiesel, in particular, is connected to high releases of the powerful and long-term greenhouse gas nitrous oxide, released by microbes when nitrogen fertilizers are applied to soils, and also throughout the manufacture of nitrogen fertilizers.

There are two main types of biofuels for transport:

Bioethanol, which is an alcohol derivative of sugar or starch, for example from sugar beet, cane or from corn, and

Biodiesel, derivative of vegetable oils, for example from rapeseed oil, jatropha, soy or palm oil.

United States is the world’s biggest bioethanol manufacturer, and this books for 99% of their biofuel for road transport. The region is, as of yet, the world’s chief biodiesel creator, and prefer biodiesel than bioethanol. It is discovered that ethanol has preferably less greenhouse gas releases than petrol.

Among the biofuel crops grown in Europe and the US, biodiesel is usually measured to be more energy competent than bioethanol. A few biodiesel crops, such as oilseed rape are developed with huge magnitude of fertilizers, which compensate for a lot of the greenhouse gas reserves.

To learn much more about the different types of renewable energy sources, visit http://renewable-energy-sources-info.blogspot.com/ where you’ll find this and mucho more, including biodiesel, biofuel, Bioethanol, biomass,geothermal and many more renewable energy sources

Biofuels, simply put, are fuels that are derived from agricultural products. Biofuels are a renewable source of energy that can be used in many applications, from fueling your vehicle, to generating electricity and heating your home.Recently, biofuels have been attracting attention from various sectors. Biofuels are considered to be ‘carbon-neutral’, which simply means that the amount of carbon dioxide which is created when burned, is equal to the amount of carbon dioxide used during growing. It is hoped to be a ‘green’ alternative to petroleum, which has generated a lot of interest from investors and different countries around the World.

Types of BioFuels

Ethanol

Ethanol is a fuel derived largely from corn and sugar cane, although it can also be made from other sources of sugar as well.

Currently, ethanol is largely used as an additive to Gasoline, which could cut are dependence on foreign oil, and has the potential to replace gasoline altogether.Ethanol can also be ‘home-brewed’ and there are many products available online to assist an individual in that dream of brewing their own gas.

Ethanol, does however face some hurdles before it becomes a true replacement for Oil. Considerations such as food supply should take precedence, as much of the stock that is used is derived from food sources. With expected production to e in the billions of gallons, we must take care not to create more problems in the future than solve them. Ethanol can be made from plant sources without starving people, but this will take research and commitment on the part of Government and Industry officials

BioDiesel

Bio diesel is a term used to describe various types of esters derived from vegetable oils. The most common is rape seed oil, however other oils can e used. Some examples are waste vegetable oil from a fryer, soybean oil, sunflower oil and palm oil. Bio diesel is usually made from either the methyl ester or ethyl ester of the base oil.

Bio Diesel use around the World varies. In Brazil, a country already with a huge lead, recently opened a bio diesel refinery, further lessening it’s dependence on Oil. In the U.S., Bio Diesel is becoming an attractive alternative due to rising Gas prices. Bio Diesel’s biggest impact would be in the transportation sector, but it can also be applied to any machine that uses Diesel.

AlgaeOil

Another source, and quite amazing source, for Bio Fuels, is Algae. Algae Oil can be grown in any water source and can be a great source of base materials for both Ethanol and Bio Diesel production. Algae production in the U.S. is practically non-existent. Algae has a great potential as a source of raw material. The problems concerning food supply associated with producing Ethanol doesn’t matter for Algae. Investment in this source should be perused as the pay-off will be immense.

We are now facing a Global Fuel crisis. Rising fuel prices have the potential to impact global society and security in a very negative way. We must now seek an interim solution to this potentially devastating problem until Hydrogen is perfected as a source of energy. Failure to do this could doom future generations to hardship and misery. The time is now to act.

When the Founding Fathers of America declared its independence, they could not have imagined that, 232 years later, the United States would be so dependent on foreign countries before oil gushed from a well in Titusville, marking the beginning of the global oil economy.

For how long will America depend on foreign countries for oil?

 The US is literally sitting on a massive energy source this is because one quarter of the world’s coal reserves are located within the nation’s borders.

The US generated 3,940 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity in 2004, with more than half of the electricity coming from coal-fired power stations.

President Obama is not even the first president to promise that America will not rely anymore on countries of the Middle East to get oil. President George W Bush said the US was “addicted to oil” which threatens to undermine future economic growth, in one of his state of the union address.

Former President Bush said “I hope to move beyond a petroleum-based economy, and make our dependence on Middle Eastern oil a thing of the past”.

While president barrack Obama said, “The days of Washington dragging its heels are over and it will be my Administration’s policy to reverse our dependence on foreign oil while building a new energy economy that will create millions of jobs.”

In a move seen to bring a ray of hope to Americans on the oil issue, Speaking from the White House, the President on Monday announced that he was directing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reconsider an application by California and 13 other states to set stricter limits on greenhouse-gas emissions from cars and trucks, opening the way for tighter fuel efficiency standards nationwide.

Obama has an ambition of directing the Department of Transportation to issue guidelines that will ensure the U.S. auto fleet reaches an average fuel economy of 35 miles per gallon by 2020 at the latest; therefore, the directives signal Obama’s willingness to take on America’s disastrous auto sector, which is bleeding money even as it contributes heavily to climate change and the country’s addiction to foreign oil.

What America should do to get its oil?

- The government must first become independent of oil. It means giving drivers a choice between oil and other fuels.

- Ending oil dependence will require political leadership; the changes required to end oil dependence are far-reaching. Many current proposals are far too small. For the big change needed to solve this problem, presidential leadership is essential.

-  A keen analysis of the various policy and technology alternatives; plug-In-Cars, Biofuels, Fuel Efficiency, Coal, have effectively no impact on the transportation fleet in the short or immediate term unless more electric vehicles are invented.

Although the White House sees ethanol meeting up to 30% of the nation’s fuel use, it admits that it will take around 15 years to switch the nation’s cars to new technologies.

 The forecast of the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that this figure will exceed 5,840TWh by 2030, with coal still being the dominant player. But coal is the most polluting of all fossil fuels.

 To tackle the environmental impact of burning coal, the president has earmarked a further $281m (£158m) for research into clean coal technology. With all these in mind it remains to be seen whether America will find its own oil.

What exactly is deriving oil prices high. Is less shortage of oil, oil production issues or simply demand for oil has sky rocketed. What we see today is only tip of iceberg. The day is not far when we will see oil barrel at $200 or more. While emerging economies are battling with established economies for control of third world oil for growth of business. The nations have started capturing untapped oil market for future expansion, along with current rising consumption of oil is the leading cause of price touching record high. What exactly, we have options for Fuel To Burn beyond Oil.

According to statistic, the America consumed 20 million barrels of petroleum every day in year 2006. This is really a big number but when we look at the numbers of China and India and other emerging economies the situation looks more grim.

 

There is urgency to come up with alternate fuel solution to oil, the world leaders, corporate leaders and environmentalist are working closely to create alternate fuels. The research universities are working tirelessly and corporate leaders are pumping huge amount for future fuel technologies.

We all know oil is made up of fossilized remains of ancient marine plants and animals, we also know this process takes millions of years to convert fossil into crude oil. The problem is there is a long process to get oil, where as demand for consumption is growing every minute in leaps and bounds.

Now the big question is, where do we stand if we run out oil. Already signs are not good. Refineries are running at high out put still not able to keep consumption requirements, Some of the oil rigs are running dry, sure signs of bad days. Some of the oil regions are involved in long conflict, resulting into delay and short supplies. Bottom line we no longer can depend upon on oil as major energy source.

Another factor, why alternate technologies for fuel are being pursued is the risk to environment. The most damage to earth has happened in last century, with explosion of industrial revolution and expansion of industries across all fields has created tremendous impact on global warming. People are able to see changes in environment, changing weather patterns, too much or no rain in different part of world, temperature soaring and glaciers shrinking all are signs of global warming.

The future needs are not only alternate fuel to gasoline but the future fuel has to be clean and no hazard to environment, unlike oil which creates greenhouse gases a prime reason of global warming. The next fuel will be clean, environment friendly, cheap and will be available in all countries. One more thing next generation fuel will help in reducing the tension among nations fighting for oil share.

 

The emerging economies China, India and Mexico are buying or leasing oil fields in Asia, Africa and Europe to keep their counties interest intact. The developed countries are busy in filling their oil reserves to safe guard national reserves. All this fight for oil and fierce competition among nation is bound to create conflict and war. The next generation fuel not only will help in reducing consumption demand but also help in keeping peace in world.

Now we have talked in length about the current issues related in respect to gap in demand supply of oil. Let’s look at alternate fuels available and which one are in research. Read more on Green Energies    ”http://www.fueltoburn.com/”

Carbon offsetting provokes a powerful emotional response in some people. They just don’t like the idea that you can pay someone else to mop up your carbon emissions. It smacks of indulgence and cheating. Critics say buying an offset while continuing to fly, or drive an SUV, or live in a mansion with all the lights on, is at best hypocritical, and at worst, downright dangerous. It simply avoids the issue, which is that we should be reducing our carbon footprint, and simply encourages the delusion that we can go on living in an environmentally profligate way.

Some even compare offsetting with the Papal indulgences of the late Middle Ages, where Catholics were offered redemptions for their sins in return for donations to the Church – buying their way out of punishment for wrongdoing. Critics say this is exactly what modern-day carbon offsetters are trying to do. They think money will buy them a clear conscience while they continue to fill the sky with fumes.

Certain high profile stories, mainly about celebrities trying to offset carbon-intensive lifestyles, give credence to the criticisms, but it is far from the whole picture. Offsetting is something that is practiced by thousands of individuals and organizations who are neither hypocritical or delusional. Let’s look at the argument more closely.

First, let’s acknowledge that our number one priority must be to reduce our carbon output in every way possible – switching to a renewable energy supplier, insulating our homes, driving less, etc. But let’s also acknowledge that even if this is done with the best intentions in the world, most of us will reach a point where we cannot easily, or perhaps affordably, do much more in the short term. Few of us have lived our lives entirely by environmental priorities, and most of us have woken up to climate change at a point where we inhabit houses or offices, or own cars, or hold down jobs that were never designed with carbon neutrality in mind.

Even if we take whatever steps we can to reduce, recycle and reuse now, and make a commitment that our next car will run on biofuel and that we will fit solar panels to our house, etc., most individuals or organizations endeavoring to go carbon neutral will be left with a residue of current emissions. Now we have two choices – we can ignore them or we can offset.

Ignoring them might avoid having to think through the ethical issues around offsetting, but it is not going to help the planet. On the other hand, offsetting them will ensure that as long as we continue to produce emissions, they will be counterbalanced by a saving or sequestering somewhere else. It is the environmentally responsible thing to do.

We’ve been talking about the residual emissions left after taking a reduction strategy as far as we can. Now let’s go back to the case of the pop star or movie actor who appears to have no immediate intention of giving up flying, or selling their SUV, but who decides to offset. On the one hand, we could cry, ‘Hypocrite!’ and denounce them for trying to buy environmental redemption. Or we could recognize that they have at least acknowledged that their lifestyle has an environmental price. For the wealthy, this price is relatively trivial at the moment if they are simply accounting for their flying or driving, but it is the start of a cultural process – a process of accepting the cost to the planet of our actions, and building this into our economy.

Over time, the cost of carbon will rise and will be factored into all the products and services we consume, and this will begin to have greater impact on our behaviour as the price differential between our old habits and a new greener lifestyle increases. Celebrities have a part to play in highlighting issues such as climate change, and in endorsing the concept that we must pay for our impact on the planet.

We need to be realistic too. Many people are going to continue to take long-haul holiday flights, drive SUVs and run high energy households no matter what anybody says. The process of persuasion and change will be slow. Denouncing people for taking a step towards environmental awareness and carbon neutrality is counterproductive. It will discourage positive action, and polarise the debate. We should be trying to move people on in their environmental thinking, not alienate them.

Some individuals and organisations will no doubt abuse offsetting in order to indulge environmentally irresponsible behaviour, but to condemn all offsetting on this basis is to overlook the best intentions and goodwill of the majority who participate. We are all trying to find a way forward with global warming. We know it will take a combination of many individual, community, corporate, government and international efforts. Offsetting has a role to play. It is empowering at the individual level. And, unlike the Papal indulgences of the past, offsetting can have a real effect in reducing the carbon levels in our atmosphere, and slowing the pace of climate change.

Carbon offsetting provokes a powerful emotional response in some people. They just don’t like the idea that you can pay someone else to mop up your carbon emissions. It smacks of indulgence and cheating. Critics say buying an offset while continuing to fly, or drive an SUV, or live in a mansion with all the lights on, is at best hypocritical, and at worst, downright dangerous. It simply avoids the issue, which is that we should be reducing our carbon footprint, and simply encourages the delusion that we can go on living in an environmentally profligate way.

Some even compare offsetting with the Papal indulgences of the late Middle Ages, where Catholics were offered redemptions for their sins in return for donations to the Church – buying their way out of punishment for wrongdoing. Critics say this is exactly what modern-day carbon offsetters are trying to do. They think money will buy them a clear conscience while they continue to fill the sky with fumes.

Certain high profile stories, mainly about celebrities trying to offset carbon-intensive lifestyles, give credence to the criticisms, but it is far from the whole picture. Offsetting is something that is practiced by thousands of individuals and organizations who are neither hypocritical or delusional. Let’s look at the argument more closely.

First, let’s acknowledge that our number one priority must be to reduce our carbon output in every way possible – switching to a renewable energy supplier, insulating our homes, driving less, etc. But let’s also acknowledge that even if this is done with the best intentions in the world, most of us will reach a point where we cannot easily, or perhaps affordably, do much more in the short term. Few of us have lived our lives entirely by environmental priorities, and most of us have woken up to climate change at a point where we inhabit houses or offices, or own cars, or hold down jobs that were never designed with carbon neutrality in mind.

Even if we take whatever steps we can to reduce, recycle and reuse now, and make a commitment that our next car will run on biofuel and that we will fit solar panels to our house, etc., most individuals or organizations endeavoring to go carbon neutral will be left with a residue of current emissions. Now we have two choices – we can ignore them or we can offset.

Ignoring them might avoid having to think through the ethical issues around offsetting, but it is not going to help the planet. On the other hand, offsetting them will ensure that as long as we continue to produce emissions, they will be counterbalanced by a saving or sequestering somewhere else. It is the environmentally responsible thing to do.

We’ve been talking about the residual emissions left after taking a reduction strategy as far as we can. Now let’s go back to the case of the pop star or movie actor who appears to have no immediate intention of giving up flying, or selling their SUV, but who decides to offset. On the one hand, we could cry, ‘Hypocrite!’ and denounce them for trying to buy environmental redemption. Or we could recognize that they have at least acknowledged that their lifestyle has an environmental price. For the wealthy, this price is relatively trivial at the moment if they are simply accounting for their flying or driving, but it is the start of a cultural process – a process of accepting the cost to the planet of our actions, and building this into our economy.

Over time, the cost of carbon will rise and will be factored into all the products and services we consume, and this will begin to have greater impact on our behaviour as the price differential between our old habits and a new greener lifestyle increases. Celebrities have a part to play in highlighting issues such as climate change, and in endorsing the concept that we must pay for our impact on the planet.

We need to be realistic too. Many people are going to continue to take long-haul holiday flights, drive SUVs and run high energy households no matter what anybody says. The process of persuasion and change will be slow. Denouncing people for taking a step towards environmental awareness and carbon neutrality is counterproductive. It will discourage positive action, and polarise the debate. We should be trying to move people on in their environmental thinking, not alienate them.

Some individuals and organisations will no doubt abuse offsetting in order to indulge environmentally irresponsible behaviour, but to condemn all offsetting on this basis is to overlook the best intentions and goodwill of the majority who participate. We are all trying to find a way forward with global warming. We know it will take a combination of many individual, community, corporate, government and international efforts. Offsetting has a role to play. It is empowering at the individual level. And, unlike the Papal indulgences of the past, offsetting can have a real effect in reducing the carbon levels in our atmosphere, and slowing the pace of climate change.

As the new millennium begins, people have never been so eco-conscious. In recent years, the imminent threat of global warming has compelled us to re-consider how we do and make things. This is most especially true when it comes to our daily means of transport — the car — which unfortunately, ranks among the major contributors of air pollution (and noise pollution) in the world. Thankfully, scientists are continuing to explore new ways to address this. One of these is the use of alternative fuel vehicles (AFV).

An AFV is any vehicle that doesn’t run on petrol or diesel fuel, although a car can be considered an AFV if it doesn’t rely exclusively on petroleum to function (like hybrid cars, which rely on petrol fuel and electricity). What are the different kinds of AFV? Let’s find out.

Hybrids. Hybrids use both gasoline and electricity to run. These vehicles normally feature an internal combustion engine and a battery pack which combine to give the vehicle its propulsion power. Hybrid cars have gained popularity over the years — the most common examples are the Toyota Prius and the Honda Insight.

Battery Electric Vehicles. As its name applies, a BEV depends on the power of its battery pack. BEVs are among the cleanest vehicles because they don’t produce any carbon emission at all. Battery types may include nickel cadmium, lithium-ion, zinc-air or lead-acid batteries.

Biofuel Cars. Bioalcohol (or Ethanol) and Biodiesel are two types of biofuels that can be used on automobiles. There are still biofuel cars available today but most prefer the flexible-fuel vehicle.

Flexible-fuel Vehicles. With FFVs, you can use more than one type of alternative fuel. This is possible through the use of a multifuel engine which allows you to mix certain alternative fuels in the tank and is combusted as one. These cars are mostly found in the US and South America.

“Gas”-Powered Cars. Certain types of AFVs also run using compressed natural gas, biogas, liquid petroleum gas (or autogas), nitrogen gas, propane and hydrogen. Usually, these cars are your standard petroleum-using vehicles whose engines are modified to burn the alternative gaseous fuels.

The Solar Car. Solar cars use solar panels in order to harness the power of the sun. This type of AFV has been around for decades but unfortunately, no practical prototype has been developed yet for the masses. Nevertheless, countless solar car contests and races are being held every year and participated in by schools and universities all over the world.

AFVs may be environment-friendly but it has its disadvantages, too. AFVs are still a bit more expensive than the usual cars in the market and the availability of alternative fuels is still very limited. But still, the future promises more developments, new possibilities. Who knows? The first commercially-successful AFV may just be around the corner.

Record high prices at American gas pumps and continued trouble-brewing in the Middle East, Nigeria, and other areas of importance to the oil-driven economy have made it clear to Americans that we are in need of developing many new avenues of energy supply and production. In short, we need to reduce our dependency on oil, for it is ultimately finite and, frankly, the cheap sources of oil (not all oil-just the stuff that is cheap to remove from the earth) are running out. Energy consultants and analysts are insistent that cheap oil has “peaked” or is very soon going to peak. What this means for us is an expensive future-unless we can find new sources of powering our mechanized and electronic civilization, new sources which are alternatives to oil.

We must also switch to alternative forms of energy because our present forms are too damaging to the atmosphere. While this write does not believe that the global warming trend is much, if at all, sustained by the activities of mankind (in short, it’s a natural cycle and there’s nothing we can do about it except prepare for the effects of it), we certainly do contribute at present to the destruction of the environment and to things like air pollution with our energy sources as they are. Coal is another source of energy that we need to wean ourselves off of-again, it is finite, and it is filthy, and the mining of it is dangerous and environmentally disruptive. We can also explore new, streamlined methods for producing electricity that we presently generate so much of via hydro-power so that we are less disruptive of the environment when we have need of constructing things such as large dams.

Developing nations which have turned industrialized in recent decades especially will need the benefits of alternative energy research and development, for they are presently doing much more environmental damage than the United States. The United States, Japan, and some European nations have been implementing studies into and programs for the development of alternative energy sources, and are therefore already leading the way in doing less environmental damage. The developing nations such as China and India need to look to Japan and the West as examples of what research and development to give government backing and private investment currency to. We could also add great robustness to our own economy by being at the forefront of such alternative energy sources development and then marketing the technologies and services to nations like India, China, Brazil, and so on and so forth.

Biofuels from things like “supertrees” and soybeans, refined hydroelectric technology, natural gas, hydrogen fuel cells, the further building of atomic energy plants, the continued development of solar energy photovoltaic cells, more research into wind-harnessed power-all of these are viable energy sources that can act as alternatives to the mammoth amounts of oil and coal that we presently are so dependent on for our very lifestyles. The energy of the future is green.