It is a not so good idea to rely on coal and oil for fuel energy. As after they burn, they both release greenhouse gases. Not only this but they both require extensive yet dangerous collection methods. However, they are both non-renewable as it takes millions of years to regenerate them.
On the other hand, Biodiesel is one of the renewable options. Not only this, but it is a cleaner-burning diesel fuel that can be a good fit for any of the diesel engines.
As a fact, biodiesel is the main commercially available advanced biofuel in America. Biofuels are made from abundant and diversity of resources. Also, biofuels are known to be kinder to our nature as compared to other fuels who damage the environment. In order to address climate change, it is one of the cost-effective and practical methods.
There are many of the countries who are shifting the offset of their reliability on oil and coal and replacing them with biofuels. However, biofuels are prepared by processing organic compounds into usable energy sources. Two common biofuels that we have are ethanol and biodiesel. These are not enough because there are many more ways in which biofuels help our environment. Let’s get to know them.
1) Future source of fresh air
Biodiesel doesn’t consist of sulfur or aromatic compounds that are proven to be safe for breathing. By the year 2000, Biodiesel became the alternative fuel throughout the country by passing the test of EPA Tier 1 and Tier 2 health effects test that comes under the Clean Air Act.
However, these independent tests proved that the biodiesel is not a threat to human health. Also, it consists of potential to:
a) Reduction in the life cycle of greenhouse gases of 86.1%.
b) It also has the potential to reduce the smog and clean air to make it a good fit for breathing.
c) It reduces the hydrocarbon emissions by 67.1%
So, with increased use of biodiesel we can assume the fresh future to breathe. So this will lead to less damage to the environment as well as humans.
2) Effect of biofuel production on water
During the production of biofuel, water is required in a large amount for washing plants and seeds for evaporation and cooling. There are crops which need much more water such as sugar cane, oil palm and maize as they are best suited for the heavy-rainfall areas. Not only this, but plants like jatropha which can be grown in semi-arid areas, do require some session of irrigation during hot and dry climate.
Hence, the large amount of production in biofuel crops has proven to be effective for better water quality.
Biofuels have the potential to provide us with clean and safe water for drinking without any harm.
3) Goods for soil quality
A change in land-use and some intensification for the agricultural production have potential to damage the soil quality. Not only this, but it also depends on the way that land is irrigated.
There are many of the farming techniques which can help give adverse impact or even improve environment quality as well. However, it also increases the biofuel crop production. These also include the conservation tillage and appropriate crop rotation.
There are 25% to 30% of crop residues that we get from grasses or maize that can be harvested without any kind of harm to soil quality. Increase in the use of perennial plants which can be harvested for several years such as palm, short-rotation coppice, sugar cane or switchgrass that is also proven for the betterment of soil quality. This is possible by increasing the soil cover and organic carbon level which are compared to annual crops such as rapeseed, maize or some other cereals as well.
With the case of sugarcane, there is a way to maintain the soil quality which is the application of nutrients from sugar-mill and distillery wastes as well.
4) Biodiesel proven to preserve and protect natural resources
Biodiesel emits a high level of energy balance. This simply means that for every one unit of energy for the production of biodiesel, there are 5.5 units of energy gained. Which is known to be the best balance of any U.S. fuel.
Not only this, but the biodiesel can be gained from waste foods as well as some other agricultural and animal fats. This makes the most use of these resources rather than that of disposing them.
5) Biofuels are good for Biodiversity
Biofuels are known to be effective for the wild and agricultural biodiversity in positive ways. For example, the restoration of degraded lands but it seems to affect it in some negative ways as well. Another example of conversion of natural landscapes into energy-crop plantation or when the peatlands are drained.
There are many of the biofuel crops which are best suited for tropical areas. Well, this results in an economic incentive that converts natural ecosystems into plantations which cause a loss of wild biodiversity in these areas.
6) Biofuels helps reduces the environment threats
The other unique feature of helping biofuels in our environment is that it reduces the danger of the environment. By the year 2010, there was an underwater oil well burst in the Gulf of Mexico. It created a loss of million gallons of oil that really caused damage to the process as well. On the other hand, biofuels are safe where a field of corn is not going to poison the ocean.
7) It helps to secure energy supplies
Day by day we are facing increasing demands of security of supply as the resources are scattered as well. Biofuels are useful to safeguard and enhance energy security by reducing the reliability of fossil fuels energy sources. Not only this, but Biomass is one of the resources which is distributed evenly throughout the globe.
Alongside reduction in use of fossil fuels, we will also need to reduce the consumption of energy.
Alongside reduction in use of fossil fuels, we will also need to reduce the consumption of energy. One of the options is to invest in some other forms of renewable energy then we can stop using them completely.
