Biofuel Reference

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Classes of Biofuels

Solid Biofuels

There are many forms of solid biomass that are combustible as a fuel such as:

· Wood

· Straw and other dried plants

· Animal waste such as poultry droppings or cattle dung

· Crops such as maize, rice, soybean, peanut and cotton (usually just the husks or shells) & sugarcane- or agave-derived bagasse.

Liquid Biofuels

There are also a number of liquid forms of biomass that can be used as a fuel:

· Bioalcohols

· Ethanol – usually produced from sugarcane, also from corn

· Methanol, which is currently produced from natural gas, can also be produced from biomass. The methanol economy is an interesting alternative to the hydrogen economy

· Butanol, formed by A.B.E. fermentation (Acetone, Butanol Ethanol) and experimental modifications of the ABE process show potentially high net energy gains. Butanol can be burned "straight" in existing gasoline engines (without modification to the engine or car), produces more energy and is less corrosive and less water soluble than ethanol, and can be distributed via existing infrastructures.

· Biologically produced oils (bio-oils) can be used in diesel engines

· Straight vegetable oil (SVO)

· Waste vegetable oil (WVO)

· Biodiesel obtained from transesterification of animal fats and vegetable oil, directly usable in petroleum diesel
engines

· Oils produced from various wastes

· Thermal depolymerization from waste materials can extract methane and oil similar to petroleum

· Methane and oils are being extracted from landfill wells and leachate in test sites

Gaseous Biofuels

· Bio-methane produced by the natural decay of garbage or agricultural manure can be collected for use as fuel

    • It is also possible to estimate the number of animals needed for desirable size of biogas driven engine with Biogas Calculator

· Wood gas can be extracted from wood and used in petrol engines.

· Hydrogen can be produced in water electrolysis or, less ecologically, by cracking any hydrocarbon fuel in a reformer, some fermentation processes also produce hydrogen, such as A.B.E. fermentation

· Gasification, that produces carbon monoxide.

Energy Content of Biofuels

The specific energy densities ( in MJ/kg) of various fuels

Solid Fuels

· Wood Fuel – 16-21

Liquid Fuels

· Methanol – 20-23

· Ethanol – 24-27

· Butanol - 36

· Biodiesel - 38

Gaseous Fuels

· Methane – 55-56

· Hydrogen – 120-140

Fossil Fuels (for comparison)

· Coal – 29-34

Other References

Some interesting sites:

  • Plant Oils Database – provides resources and links for over 200 different plant oils and related plant extracts

  • BDPedia – The Biodiesel WWW Encyclopedia

Agriculture Directories

BDPedia.com, the Biodiesel WWW Encyclopedia, provides links, provides directory and web links resources for the biofuels, biodiesel. It is intended to be useful for research and information as well as for buyers, sellers, manufacturers, traders, suppliers, producers, exporters and importers. It will make an effort to provide biofuel feedstock, plant oil feedstocks, vegetable oil info and link, details on oilseeds, bio-fuel, bio-diesel, bio-fuels, plant oils production and uses, and biofuels trade & market resources, data, statistics such as price, prices, demand-supply for buyer, seller, manufacturer, trader, supplier, exporter and producer

GeoDig – Get Local!

Have you checked out the GeoDig directories for over 30 countries? GeoDig provides useful local and regional web resources for over 200 cities around the world. See the list of cities and countries for which GeoDig provides locality-specific web resources.

North America

USA - Alabama (AL) > Birmingham; Alaska; Arkansas (AR) > Little Rock; Arizona (AZ) > Phoenix, Las Vegas, Tucson; California (CA) > Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, Fresno, Bakersfield; Colorado, CO > Denver; Connecticut, CT > Hartford; District of Columbia, DC > Washington DC; Delaware (DE) > Wilmington; Florida > Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Orlando, Sarasota, West Palm Beach, Jacksonville; Georgia > Atlanta; Hawaii > Honolulu; Idaho; Illinois > Chicago; Indiana > Indianapolis; Iowa; Kansas (KS); Kentucky (KY) > Louisville; Louisiana (LA) > New Orleans, Baton Rouge; Maine; Maryland (MD) > Baltimore; Massachusetts > Boston, Springfield; Michigan > Detroit, Grand Rapids; Minnesota > Minneapolis-St. Paul; Mississippi (MS); Missouri (MO) > Kansas City, St. Louis; Montana; Nebraska (NE) > Omaha; Nevada (NV) > Las Vegas; New Hampshire; New Jersey (NJ) > Jersey City, Newark; New Mexico (NM) > Albuquerque; New York > New York, Buffalo, Rochester, Albany, Syracuse; North Carolina (NC) > Raleigh-Durham, Charlotte, Greensboro; North Dakota; Ohio> Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Toledo, Youngstown, Dayton; Oklahoma (OK) > Oklahoma City, Tulsa; Oregon > Portland; Pennsylvania > Philadelphia, Allentown, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Scranton, ; Rhode Island (RI) > Providence; South Carolina (SC) > Greenville; South Dakota; Tennessee (TN) > Knoxville, Memphis, Nashville; Texas > Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, El Paso, Austin, McAllen; Utah (UT) > Salt Lake City; Vermont; Virginia (VA) > Norfolk, Richmond; Washington > Seattle; West Virginia; Wisconsin (WI) > Milwaukee; Wyoming

Canada - Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, Ottawa-Gatineau, Edmonton, Quebec City, Winnipeg, Hamilton, London

Europe - UK - London, Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Sheffield, Leeds, Bristol, Edinburgh, Leicester; France - Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Nice, Nantes, Strasbourg, Montpellier, Bordeaux; Germany - Frankfurt (Frankfurt am Main), Munich (München), Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Cologne (Köln), Essen, Dortmund, Stuttgart, Bremen, Duisburg, Hannover, Nürnberg (Nuremberg), Dresden, Leipzig; Italy - Milan (Milano), Rome (Roma), Napoli (Naples), Torino (Turin), Palermo, Bologna, Firenze (Florence), Genova (Genoa); Spain - Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Sevilla, Zaragoza, Malaga, Murcia, Las Palmas, Bilbao; Scandinavia - Finland - Helsinki (Helsingin), Espoo, Tampere (Tampereen), Vantaa, Turku, Oulu, Sweden - Stockholm, Goteborg (Göteborg), Malmo (Malmö), Uppsala, Vasteras (Västerås), Denmark - Copenhagen (Københavns), Aarhus (Århus), Odense, Aalborg (Ålborg), Norway - Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger, Trondheim; Benelux - Belgium - Brussels (Brussel), Antwerp (Antwerpen), Ghent (Gent, Gand), Charleroi, Liège (Liege), Netherlands - Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Eindhoven, Tilburg, ‘s-Gravenhage (sGravenhage), Groningen, Luxembourg - Luxembourg City; Portugal – Lisbon; Greece – Athens; Hungary – Budapest; Poland – Warsaw; Switzerland - Zürich (Zurich), Geneva (Geneve, Genève), Basel, Bern (Berne), Lausanne; Austria - Linz, Vienna (Wien), Graz, Linz, Salzburg, Innsbruck; Ireland – Dublin

Asia - India - Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore; China & Hong Kong - Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Wuhan, Shenyang, Guangzhou, Harbin, Xian; Japan - Tokyo, Osaka, Yokohama, Nagoya, Sapporo, Kyoto, Kobe, Fukuoka, Kawasaki, Hiroshima; South Korea - Seoul, Pusa, Taegu, Incheon, Taejeon, Taiwan - Taipei; Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur; Singapore; Russia - Moscow, St Petersburg

Middle East - Turkey - Istanbul, Israel - Tel Aviv

Oceania - Australia - Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide

Africa - South Africa - Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban