BIOFUEL FEEDSTOCK
For thousands of years, humans have been using biofuel. In the beginning, only feedstocks such as straws and wood were used; they were only used for heating and cooking. As technology became more advanced, other kinds of food crops like corn and wheat were utilized to produce oil. These consumable crops are known to produce first generation biofuels. Later, scientists discovered that lignocellulosic matters could also produce fuels, because bio-ethanol and bio-methane could be extracted from those matters. After that discovery, second generation biofuels appeared. Then the third generation biofuels were produced and microalgae are known to be the raw material representative of that generation. The fourth generation biofuels are derived from specially engineered crops and are still under research.
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Common First Generation Feedstock
Please note that the feedstocks listed below are not all the feedstocks that are able to produce biofuel, they are just the more common ones.
First generation biofuels are derived directly from food crops, though the fuels are ultimately produced from the sugar, starch, and vegetable oil found within the crops. Crops such as corn, sugar canes, and wheat are all first generation feedstocks.
Biomass feedstocks are the plant and algal materials used to derive fuels like ethanol, butanol, biodiesel, and other hydrocarbon fuels.
Click on the images below to learn more about each feedstock.
Citations, I-58, I-59, I-60, I-61
Click on the images below to learn more about each feedstock.
Second generation feedstock must be unsuitable for human consumption. Though it is not a requirement for second generation feedstocks be grown on non-agricultural land, the majority of the feedstock grows on marginal land, which is land that cannot be utilized for arable crops, which means it is unable to successfully grow food. It is common for second generation feedstock to not require fertilizer or much amount of water to grow.
Common Second Generation Feedstock
Common Third Generation Feedstock
Third Generation biofuel feedstock are aquatic microorganisms. Microalgae are leading development of the third generation biofuel. Microalgae have numerous advantages: such as high carbon adsorption ability, high lipid contents, simple growth environment and short time growth. The lipid contents of microalgae are 25 to 200 times more than that of soybeans. The oil extracted from microalgae can be made into biodiesel, its carbohydrate can be fermented to alcohol, and the nitrogen and phosphorus can be recycled as fertilizer.
Microalgae, compared with other biofuel feedstocks, can save much more arable land and fresh water sources. However, large scale production of microalgae biofuel is still not achieved due to the immature production techniques of microalgae bioenergy production and unknown environment impacts.
Citations I-67, I-68
Common Fourth Generation Feedstock
Fourth generation feedstock are purpose designed energy crops with improved carbon storage capacity and high biomass yield. Those crops are considered as efficient “carbon capturing” machines that take CO2 out of the atmosphere and lock it up in their leaves, branches, and trunks. They will produce fuels that are not only renewable, but also effectively carbon-negative, reducing CO2 in atmosphere.
Around 2007, two teams of scientists announced that they have successfully designed trees that store significantly more carbon dioxide than their ordinary counter parts. The feat has been achieved for eucalyptus, a prime biomass crop suitable for cultivation in the tropics and for the Dahurian Larch, found in Northeastern Asia.
Citation T-14
Citation T-15
Dahurian Larch
Citation I-69
Citation I-65
Citation I-66