Biofuels

Question 1

What are biofuels?

Answer 1

Biofuels are literally fuels that are biological in origin. They exist in a variety of forms, for example, alcohol, methane gas, and oil substitutes such as biodiesel.

Question 2

What does biofuel production involve?

Answer 2

Biofuel production often involves making use of “waste” biomass. In other words, using the considerable energy locked up in plant and animal material that is neither fully digested nor assimilated in food chains.

Question 3

What is biogas used for?

Answer 3

Biogas (principally methane) is used on a small scale to power generators in many parts of the developing world.

Question 4

What is the process of using cattle dung for biogas

Answer 4

Cattle dung is digested by anaerobic bacteria in underground vessels, producing a roughly 60:40 mix of methane and carbon dioxide. When the CO2 is removed, the methane is a clean and efficient fuel that can be used for both heat and power.

Question 5

What are two drawbacks of the cattle dung process?

Answer 5

The need to remove CO2 and the relatively slow gas production are two drawbacks to this process.

Question 6

What is used in the ethanol production process?

Answer 6

fermentation of carbohydrate-rich crops, such as sugar cane, is used to produce ethanol, which can then be used as a petrol substitute in cars.

Question 7

What’s the advantage of producing ethanol with this type of crop?

Answer 7

It has the advantage of being far less polluting.

Question 8

What is the drawback to ethanol production becoming a worldwide biofuel?

Answer 8

the need to pre-treat the tough cellulose

found in much “waste” biomass before it can be fermented.

Question 9

look at the biodigester drawing

Answer 9

please

Question 10

What is biodiesel?

Answer 10

Biodiesel is an oil substitute manufactured from oil seed rape.

Question 11

How is R.M.E produced? (rape methyl ester)

Answer 11

300kg of oil can be extracted from 1 tonne of rape and then converted into rape methyl ester

Question 12

Where is 90% of rape seed oil being used currently?

Answer 12

in food industries

Question 13

What are the major drawbacks of diesel of petroleum origin?

Answer 13

biodiesel represents an attractive biofuel owing to the absence of oxides of sulphur and the low emissions of particulates, unlike diesel of petroleum origin

Question 14

Fuels using the energy in biomass may play…

Answer 14

an important role in replacing finite fossil fuels, as well as being less polluting to the environment.

Question 15

Learn to draw the biodigester

Answer 15

ty

Question 16

What happens when brewing the sugar cane

Answer 16

As with brewing, the fermentation of sugar cane involves yeast respiring the sugars under anaerobic conditions to produce ethanol.