by Liquid biological fuels are transportation fuels derived from biomass feedstocks such as crops and waste materials. They include fuels like ethanol, biodiesel, renewable diesel, and many others. As renewable fuels produced from biological sources as opposed to fossil fuels, liquid biological fuels provide an alternative fuel option that can help reduce dependence on petroleum and lower carbon emissions.
Types of Liquid Biofuels
Ethanol
Ethanol is the most common type of liquid biofuel in use today. It is primarily produced from corn and sugarcane and is used primarily as a gasoline additive or replacement fuel in vehicles compatible with high-ethanol blends. In the United States, most gasoline contains around 10% ethanol by volume, denoted as E10. More than 90% of gasoline sold in Brazil contains around 27% ethanol.
Biodiesel
Biodiesel is a renewable diesel replacement or additive manufactured from vegetable oils, animal fats, or recycled cooking greases. Liquid Biofuels is most commonly produced from soybeans in the U.S. but can also be made from palm, canola, or other feedstocks. Pure biodiesel (B100) can be used in many diesel vehicles although it is more commonly blended with petroleum diesel at levels like B20 where biodiesel makes up 20% of the total.
Renewable Diesel
Renewable diesel, also known as green diesel, is a cellulosic or waste-derived diesel fuel that is chemically identical to petroleum diesel. It can provide a “drop-in” replacement with no engine modification needed. Made through thermal decomposition known as gasification followed by catalytic processing, renewable diesel is produced from various biomass inputs at facilities built by companies like Neste, Diamond Green Diesel, and others.
Advantages of Liquid biological fuels
Renewable Source
As Liquid Biofuels are made from biomass feedstocks, they are considered renewable sources of energy since plants and crops used to produce them regrow over time. This means liquid biological fuels can provide a long-term sustainable alternative fuel source unlike fossil fuels which are non-renewable.
Lower Carbon Emissions
When produced and used correctly, liquid biological fuels can provide significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions compared to petroleum fuels. Emissions are lowered since the carbon dioxide released during combustion is roughly equivalent to the amount absorbed by the original feedstock. Over the full fuel lifecycle, studies have shown corn ethanol reduces emissions by around 39-43% compared to gasoline.
Reduce Petroleum Dependence
By displacing a portion of transportation fuel needs, biofuels can help decrease reliance on imported petroleum. In 2020, biofuels accounted for around 10% of total road transport fuel use in the United States and over 40% of fuel consumption in Brazil’s transport sector. Increased liquid biofuel production and use can bolster energy security.
Potential for Carbon Capture
Further development of cellulosic and waste-derived renewable diesel could enable new pathways for producing liquid transportation fuels while concurrently capturing and utilizing carbon dioxide emissions in other applications like enhanced oil recovery. This could even enable “carbon negative” fuel production in the future.
Challenges of Liquid biological fuels
Feedstock Constraints
Large-scale production of conventional biofuels has depended heavily on corn and soybean crops, which raises issues of limited arable land, competition with food production, and indirect land use impacts. Cellulosic biofuels made from non-food feedstocks like agricultural residues or wood wastes have faced challenges achieving commercial scale due to technical and economic hurdles.
Fuel Consumption Impacts
When produced from annual food/feed crops, ethanol and biodiesel utilization may raise overall fuel consumption by decreasing fuel economy compared to gasoline and diesel. However, other advanced biofuels similar to petroleum-based fuels can provide equal or improved efficiency.
Incentives Required
Liquid biofuel production remains more expensive than petroleum-based alternatives and requires a combination of subsidies, tariffs and mandates to encourage development and expansion. Future breakthroughs that significantly lower costs will be needed to achieve widespread adoption without policy support.
Overall, liquid biological fuels show much potential as a renewable transportation fuel option. Continued technology advances, shifting to cellulosic and waste feedstocks, and further optimizing fuel production pathways could help address current challenges around costs, land use, and fuel consumption impacts. If produced and used sustainably, biofuels appear poised to play an important role as one part of a balanced, low-carbon energy portfolio moving forward. However, more work remains to fully realize their benefits at a large commercial scale.
*Note:
1. Source: Coherent Market Insights, Public sources, Desk research
2. We have leveraged AI tools to mine information and compile it
