Biomass and biofuels
Is used a lot in developing countries
Should be a renewable energy source
A big amount of people are consuming fuelwood resources faster than they are being replenished
Population pressure
According to WWF
Could provide 15 per cent of the electricity needed in developed countries (by 2020)
In contrast to the 1 per cent it contributes at present
2 per cent of the land area would be needed
From which crop, forest, and livestock products and their residues could be collected
Can be stored and used when needed
Fuels made from crops and mainly used for transports
Obtained from
Vegetable oils
(methyl esters)
Used in diesel engines
Fermented and distilled products of crops
Corn and sugar cane (ethanol)
Lower toxic exhaust emissions
Used in petrol engines
Brazil
Launched his National Alcohol Programme
Make ethyl alcohol from sugar cane
Massive amounts of sugar canes
There was spare capacity in its sugar mills
Production of petrol-only vehicles had stopped
New vehicles running on pure
Ethanol
Were created
Gasohol
Mixture of petrol and ethanol
How environmentally friendly are biofuels?
They are carbon neutral
Creates less greenhouses gas emissions than fossil fuels
Are produced by intensive agriculture
Lead to
Agriochemicals
Monoculture
This made air pollution to reduce in huge amounts
The cost of producing biofuels is too expensive
Not all farmers and governments trust on this fuels