A Renewable Energy Feedstock

Renewable energy comes from a variety of resources made in nature, which include sunlight, wind, rain, etc. Many have an understanding of these new energies that help keep many areas around the world powered but what about a renewable chemical feedstock? To many, biodiesel may ring a bell. Corn is a perfect example of a renewable chemical feedstock because it won’t run out due to the fact that it can be easily grown over and over and has the ability to be used as a source of power.

Fossil fuels have been discovered to be limited on our planet as well as a negative effect on the atmosphere when burnt but with the help of biotechnology, which began in the 1970s, renewable sources of energy have taken flight in “bioprocessing”. With bioprocessing, the technology takes a carbohydrate source (in this example, corn starch) and converts it to a fuel using biological catalysts. From cornstarch, these crops can be made into bioethanol or ethanol, which can be used as a fuel for vehicles in its pure form but is commonly used as an additive in gasoline (ethanol). The use of this ethanol in gasoline is not a positive but the use in pure form of the original cornstarch is a positive because the pure form reduces the use of fossil fuels by 100%.

Biodiesel is another product that can be made from both vegetable oils (corn starch) and animal fats. Like ethanol, biodiesel can be used as a fuel in pure form but is still mostly used as an additive in diesel fuel to lessen the levels of certain substances. These substances could be carbon monoxide or hydrocarbons that are released from diesel-powered cars or trucks. Biodiesel, or vegetable oil isn’t commonly used in cars but still exists nonetheless. There’s actually a Mercedes Benz that can run on this biodiesel fuel and is called the Biodiesel Benz. Below is a link to a case study that was done on a conversion of a diesel Benz that now runs on vegetable oil. 

http://www.noendpress.com/caleb/biodiesel/

Using biodiesel or bioethanol in their pure forms have and will continue to impact other aspects such as gas stations as time goes by when we become more desperate to eliminate polluting the air with fossil fuels. These fuels do help gas companies as additives in gasoline or diesel fuels but overall could potentially put many out of business when the production of cars changes overtime to use these fuels in pure form. With an increase in demand of corn starch or other feedstocks for fuel, the farming market will also begin to boom with business.

Sources:

https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/mcheryan/www/feedstoc.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biofuel

http://www.noendpress.com/caleb/biodiesel/