ethanol

I have been thinking about biofuels recently. I think it has been on my mind thanks to a recent car rental experience Joy and I had in California, and thanks to a proposal my City Councilman is making that would over time require all heating oil in New York City to be B20 biodiesel.

Biofuels are in one way the easiest alternative to oil-based fuels for transportation and heating purposes. This is because, depending on the biofuel, it requires the least change in our infrastructure and the manufacturing process of our cars and heating systems. For example, up to B20 biodiesel, any diesel car or boiler system can run on a biodiesel/traditional mix with no modification. The modifications to use B100 biodiesel are relatively minor and could be incorporated over time. My understanding is that ethanol based fuels also can be used in mixtures with traditional fuels with no modification, and only minor modifications are needed for pure biofuel. So, in terms of conversion to a new fuel, biofuels are the easiest compared with, for example, electric or hydrogen cars.

There is one major problem with biofuels. There are, depending on where the raw materials come from, limitations on just how much biofuel can be produced without competing with food production, thus driving up food prices and reducing availability, or leading to deforestation. So the challenge is to find sources of raw materials for biofuels that are plentiful AND don't compete with food production or preservation of forests.