Biofuels

Sugar cane can be used as a biofuel or food.

Unlike other renewable energy sources, biomass can be converted directly into liquid fuels, called “biofuels,” to help meet transportation fuel needs. The two most common types of biofuels are ethanol and biodiesel.

There are two common strategies of producing liquid and gaseous agrofuels. One is to grow crops high in sugar (sugar cane and sugar beet) or starch (corn/maize), and then use yeast fermentation to produce ethyl alcohol (ethanol). The second is to grow plants that contain high amounts of vegetable oil, such as oil palm, soybean, or algae. When these oils are heated, their viscosity is reduced, and they can be burned directly in a diesel engine, or they can be chemically processed to produce fuels such as biodiesel. Wood and its byproducts can also be converted into biofuels such as woodgas, methanol or ethanol fuel.

Biofuel Refinery

It is also possible to make cellulosic ethanol from non-edible plant parts, but this can be difficult to accomplish economically