Beat Oil Crises with Biofuels

Jatropha plantation can be found in the Philippines

Due to continuous increase in the price of fossil fuel nowadays, people from around the world tend to rely on Biofuel, which is a cheaper alternative. As a matter of fact,Brazil, the world's top producer of ethanol, uses sugarcane for this fuel. Many developing countries such as those in the southern part of Africa produce large amount of sugar and have potential to become ethanol producers. The United States relies on corn to produce nearly one-quarter of the world's ethanol. China is fast emerging as the third largest ethanol supplier.

Ethanol which is also known as bioethanol is a gasoline-type fuel made by fermenting sugars into alcohol. Ethanol can be made from sugar cane, sugar beets, sweet sorghum and starch from corn.

Biodiesel is a diesel-type fuel made from plants that naturally produce oils. These oils are processed so that the glycerine in the oil is removed and is replaced with methyl alcohol. Biodiesel can be made from all kinds of pant oils like soybean, rapseed, coconut, palm, canola, jatropha, sunflower, and olive.