Advantages of Biofuels
Common biofuels include bioethanol, biomethanol, vegetable oils, biodiesel, biogas, biosynthetic gas or biomass-derived syngas, bio-oil, bio-char, and bio-hydrogen. The benefits or advantages of biofuels can be broadly classified into three groups: economic, environmental, and energy security and these factors are outlined below [9, 6].
Economic impacts:
• Sustainability in relation to economic growth
• Increased number of rural manufacturing jobs in biorefinery
• Opportunity for certain developing countries to reduce their dependence on oil imports
• Increased investments in plant and equipment
• Fuel diversity
• Agricultural development
• International competitiveness, especially for developing countries with land resources
Environmental impacts:
• Greenhouse gas reductions
• Reduction of air pollution—bioethanol’s high oxygen content reduces carbon monoxide levels more than any other oxygenate
• Biodegradability
• Improved land and water use
• Carbon sequestration
Energy security:
• Supply reliability independent of international political climate
• Ready availability
• Ability to set domestic targets for production and markets
• Domestic distribution
• Renewability
In addition to these, there may be other socio-economic and environmental implications for developing countries to benefit from increased global demand for biofuels. In developed countries there is a growing trend towards employing modern technologies in large-scale production of biofuels. Furthermore, with recent advances like genetic manipulations of microorganisms, and efficient bioenergy conversions, biofuels are becoming cost competitive with fossil fuels [10].