Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Different generations of biofuels
First generation
First generation biofuels are processed from crops. They have a lot in
common with that well-known biofuel, alcohol. There are two main types.
Bio-ethanol, which is made in large quantities in Brazil and in the US, is
processed by taking food crops such as corn maize, releasing the sugar
and fermenting it. It has advantages over ordinary petrol or gasoline,
because it has a higher octane ratio (a fuel's resistance to detonation),
which improves controlled burning of fuel, enabling increased compres-
sion of air in the cylinder and more efficient combustion.
Apart from having - like all substitutes for fossil fuels - a lower energy
density, ethanol's main disadvantage is that it is corrosive. Most car engines
Construction underway at the main processing works for one of the largest
biomass co-firing projects in the world - the 4000 MW power station in North
Yorkshire. Owned by Drax Power Ltd, it will co-fire renewable biomass materials
alongside coal in its boilers. The company has set itself the target of producing
ten percent of its output from co-firing.
