Wednesday, April 8, 2009

A Hydrogen Conversion Kit, Is It The Real Deal?

By Peter Woop

We can produce Biofuels that we can use for powering our society by converting organic matter into fuel. We will utilize these fuels as energy source replacement to the current fossil fuels that we are using. Its aegis ethanol and what have been derived and drawn from plants like sugar cane, as well as vegetable and corn oils are contained in the biofuels' umbrella. Although often used as an alternative for gasoline, ethanol doe have other uses. Although statistics vary, the use of ethanol as an alternative to gasoline is on the increase, and while it is only a low 2 percent currently, this figure could rise to 30 percent by 2050 if the The International Energy Agency (IEA) is to be believed.

On the other hand, this biofuels research needs to be improved and a study from the Oregon State University showed that it can be convenient and profitable. Unfortunately, despite many people's hatred of petroleum based gasoline products, nothing yet developed is as efficient.

We measure the efficiency of any energy by how much we obtain from it in relation to how much was used to create it. So far man has not managed to find an energy source that did not require more energy to produce it that it gave back. The input energy is what it takes to produce the end-product which is the energy that's essential for our necessities and the process by which these energies are converted and put to use is what greatly matters.

We measure it like this: the input energy is the effort required to achieve the output energy we are looking for. According to a study by the OSU, the energy efficiency of corn-derived ethanol was found to be only 20% and that gasoline made from petroleum is 75% energy efficient with 69% energy efficiency for the Biodiesel fuel. On the brighter side, the study reported that cellulose-derived ethanol weighed up against the extremely efficient nuclear energy showed an even better efficiency of about 85%.

With the enticing and promising effects of biofuels, investors are undeniably anticipating increased profits from it and this may bring about the rise of the grain futures market of the Chicago Stock Exchange that will soon whip away investment activities from the oil futures in NY. This has no become a major topic as scientists are of the opinion that within just over twenty years (2030), we will be using upwards of 30% of this type of fuel for our transportation needs. As what a confident energy markets analyst had said: the growth in demand for diesel and gasoline may slow down significantly if the government would monetarily sustain firms that are distributing biofuels and continuously promote the use of eco-friendly fuel.

There are a number of nations which are concerned and attached with the advance of biofuels. Each year, it generates ethanol of about three and a half billion gallons. The United States, while being the world's greatest oil-guzzler, is already the second largest producer of biofuels behind Brazil. Meanwhile the European Union lags way behind with only four million tonnes per year. Now eighty percent of Europe's biodiesel comes from rapeseed oil with the remaining twenty percent from soybean and a little from palm oil.

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