BIOFUEL AS A RENEWABLE ENERGY Energy - natural resources which are renewable - sunlight, wind, rain, tides, etc. Mainstream forms of renewable energy: Wind power / Hydropower / Solar energy / Biomass / Biofuel / Geothermal energy About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables 10% - traditional biomass / 3.4% from hydroelectricity / NR’s - wind, solar, geothermal & biofuels - 3%

 Earth's geothermal energy originates from the original formation of the planet (20%) and from radioactive decay of minerals (80%) o C  World's largest geothermal power installation Geysers in California (750 MW)  Indian has 400 medium to high enthalpy geothermal springs, clustered in 7 province, The Himayala Province / Cambay Province / West coast province / SONATA province / Bakreswar province / Godavari province / The Barren Island

Fig: Steam rising from the Nesjavellir GTP Station in Iceland Renewable PowerPotentialAchieved Wind Power 20,000 MW1,000 MW Small Hydro Power 10,000 MW172 MW Biomass 20,000 MW141 MW Solar photo- voltic Power 20 MW/sq.km810 KW Table: Power production status of non-conventional energy in India

Share of renewables in global electricity generation - 19% (16% - hydroelectricity & 3% NR’s) Wind power - growing at over 20% annually / End of 2011, worldwide installed capacity-238,000 MW / widely used in Europe, Asia & USA Since 2004, photovoltics passed wind as the fastest growing energy source Since 2007, has more than doubled every two years

 End of 2011, PV cap. worldwide - 67,000MW  PV power stations - popular in Germany & Italy  Solar thermal power stations - USA & Spain  Largest STPS at Mojave Desert (354 MW) - USA - SE california  Brazil - largest RE programs in the world - Ethanol from sugarcane - Ethanol provides 18% of the country's automotive fuel & also widely available in USA

Biofuels  Wide range of fuels derived from biomass  It covers solid biomass, liquid fuels & various biogases  Liquid biofuels - bio alcohols like bioethanol, oils like biodiesel  Gaseous biofuels - biogas, landfill gas and synthetic gas  LFG - complex mix of different gases created by the action of Mo’s within a landfill

 Bioethanol by fermentation of sugar components of plant materials - sugar & starch crops  With advanced technology, cellulosic biomass - trees & grasses - feedstock for ethanol prodn.  Ethanol (pure form) - fuel for vehicles, usually - gasoline additive to increase octane and improve vehicle emissions  Bioethanol is widely used - USA & Brazil  Biodiesel - vegetable oils, animal fats or recycled greases

 Biodiesel (pure form) - fuel for vehicles, usually - diesel additive to reduce levels of particulates, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons from diesel- powered vehicles  Biodiesel is produced from oils or fats using Transesterification - Process of exchanging the organic group R″ of an ester with the organic group R′ of an alcohol - Eg:- polyester / Methanolysis & Biodiesel Production  Most common biofuel in Europe  Biofuels provided 2.7% of the world's transport fuel in 2010