Biofuels and Climate Change

Global warming is defined as the increase of the earth's surface temperature because green house gases trap heat and light from the sun. This further creates a rise in temperature in the earth's surface. Green house gases include carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, and water vapor.

The major cause of global warming is pollution using electricity. As much as electricity is important in industry, its production and excessive use is harmful to the environment. Electricity is produced through combustion of fossil fuels (made from plants and animals) like oil and petroleum which when burned produces gases that pollute the atmosphere (Maslin 7). Another cause is garbage disposal where heaps of garbage are burnt and thus increases the amount of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and other gases in the atmosphere. The other main sources are the automobile industry. Almost all kinds of vehicles use fossil fuel energy like gas, diesel, and petrol. These fuels when burnt produce gases like sulphur dioxide that pollute the air.

Cutting trees and deforestation also increases global warming because plants use carbon dioxide for respiration and without the trees, there will be high amounts of carbon dioxide in the air. Human beings and animals breathe in oxygen and release carbon dioxide, so if there are fewer plants are left there will be less oxygen for both animals and humans to breathe (Stein 21). Another cause of global warming is the waste produced from industries. During operations, most industries produce pollutants like smog, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and both carbon monoxide and dioxide which pose danger to both animals and plants survival. They may cause respiratory problems, cancer. These gases combine with rain, causing acidic rain, which is harmful to plants and damages buildings.

Over the past years, global warming has been associated with various environmental and health problems. Increase in the earth's temperatures has been associated with spread of diseases like malaria whereby disease-carrying mosquitoes are migrating from colder to warmer regions. Numerous deaths have been linked to respiratory complications and heat strokes as observed in countries like Australia, Canada, USA, and some countries in Europe. Global warming has also lead to rise in temperature and level of water in seas and oceans leading to more floods and hurricanes than there have been in the past (Stein 52). On the contrary, some parts of the earth have become drier due to global warming. Such areas have experienced drought and heat waves that have been associated with wild fires like those in Australia. The major effect of global warming is melting of ice caps and glaciers. This leads to rise in sea and ocean water level and may be dangerous to some species of animals like polar bears. Ice caps melting will dilute the oceans' salty water therefore affect the ocean currents that are useful in regulating temperature (Morris 34).

Global warming can be prevented by reforestation and recycling of non-biodegradable products like plastics, paper, and glass instead burning. However, the most significant means is using clean energy like solar panels, wind energy, water tides, and recyclable batteries. Governments should fund research on clean means of transport like use of bicycles, electric and hydrogen cars that do not rely on fossil fuels. The result will be a clean environment due to less reliance on fossil fuels. It is also important to note that human beings need to change their behavior. People need to share their cars to reduce on the emissions that they make per day. A culture that embraces clean energy means that they are taking care of the future generations.

Global warming is increase in earth's average temperature near the surface and oceans. This started around mid twentieth century and continues to be a challenge globally. Global warming results due to an increase in green house gases concentration as a result of human activities which includes deforestation, fossil fuels use, global dimming from high concentrations of aerosols which block rays of sunlight from reaching earth surface. During the twenty first century, global warming is on the rise as indicated by projections of climate models. Increase in global temperature causes rise in sea levels resulting to precipitation pattern changes and subtropical deserts e expansion. In arctic regions it results to permafrost, sea ice and glacier retreat. Global warming also associated with species extinction, extreme weather changing agricultural yields. It varies with the region and is uncertain. Increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere causes oceans to be more acidic. It is associated with health hazards such as skin cancer, respiratory diseases such as asthma and greater damage to the poor (Keppler 2006 p. 13)

Global warming reduction through decreased greenhouse gas and carbon emissions will certainly save money, improve standards of living and reduce pollution. As carbon dioxide is emitted during combustion and fermentation of corn, it is cancelled out during greater crop uptake in the growth process to produce the biomass. Ethanol from corn is therefore a less pollutant as compared to the other fossil fuels. Reducing future climatic changes is called mitigation and one way to accomplish that is through the use of corn ethanol.

In developing countries, ethanol could replace the use of kerosene for cooking and lighting. Ethanol stoves could replace charcoal, wood and kerosene as a source of bio-fuel. This can be locally made in rural areas. The organic origin of ethanol is an advantage. Ethanol burns cleaner than gasoline. Cars which use E85 ethanol in a blend of 85/15 ethanol to gasoline have less toxic emissions. Ethanol has fewer amounts of toxic substances like benzene. Green house and ozone gases from car exhaust is lower in ethanol as compared to gasoline. Corn ethanol is a sustainable and renewable source of energy.

Corn in Relation to Global Warming

Corn is used increasingly to produce heat by use of wood pellets and maize kernels in corn stoves. Maize cobs are source of biomass fuel. Maize is also used as ethanol fuel in feedstock production. Ethanol is added to gasoline so as to reduce pollutants when used in motor vehicles. With increasing fuel prices, ethanol is highly demanded. Corn ethanol has higher density than fuels like methanol thus less volume is required to cover equal distance. Aromatics, hydrocarbons and olefins associated with gasoline combustion are toxic and are eliminated with use of ethanol.

Corn Ethanolis produced as a biomass from corn by a process of industrial fermentation, chemical reactions and distillation. In Unites States ethanol production is derived from corn and used in gasoline oxygenation resulting to a less pollutant form of fuel.

The corn ethanol results to less greenhouse gas emission and is biodegradable. This ethanol reduces greenhouse gas emission by twenty percent as compared to gasoline. It is more efficient form of renewable energy. Future prospects show that the fuel could result to about eighty two percent reduction of greenhouse gas emission compared to gasoline. Fuels blended with ethanol meet the required standards. Ethanol biodegrades readily causing no harm to environment and is a safe replacement as a high performance fuel additive as compared to others such as MTBE.

Corn ethanol in United States is derived from yellow corn. Other alternatives in the production of bio-fuel are corn Stover which could replace food corn. Cellulosic biomass for ethanol production is a rising trend in bio-fuel production. Food/fuel debaters consider second generation bio-fuels as a solution. (Goettemoeller et al 2007 p.42)

 Production of Corn Ethanol

Corn ethanol is produced in two ways. These are wet milling and dry milling. In wet milling, corn grains are added to a solution of water and dilute sulphuric acid for a period of twenty four to forty eight hours so as to separate the corn grain into various components. The slurry mixture is taken to series of grinders so as to separate corn germ. Corn oil is extracted as a by-product. The remaining fiber, starch and gluten are segregated by use of hydroclonic, centrifugal and screen separators. Gluten is extracted, dried and is filtered for corn gluten meals especially used for poultry meals.

Corn starch and water is fermented to ethanol. Corn ethanol production uses water for irrigation and processing. Ethanol processing could either be wet or dry with difference being on the initial treatment of the grain. In wet milling, the grain has to be steeped in water and separated for processing. Eighty percent of corn ethanol production in United States is through dry grid process. This is where the milled grain is slurred using water so as to create a mash where enzymes are added and cooked for hydrolysis of starch to glucose. The sugars are fermented by yeast to produce carbon dioxide and ethanol. Ethanol is then purified through molecular sieve dehydration and distillation to get fuel ethanol.

Dry milling is where the grain is ground into floor called a meal. The meal is slurred with water and enzymes are added for conversion of starch into dextrose. Addition of Ammonia follows so as to control pH as well as a nutrient for yeast. High temperature processing of the mixture is done so as to decrease the level of bacteria. The mixture is cooled in fermenters where it is transferred. Addition of yeast is done which converts sugar to carbon dioxide and ethanol as the final product. The whole process takes about forty to fifty hours and mash is agitated and kept cool so as to facilitate the activity of yeast. Completion of the process is followed by distillation. Ethanol is dehydrated using molecular sieve and denaturant like gasoline is added to make it undrinkable. The product is used as livestock feed and carbon dioxide for carbonating beverages and making dry ice.

A positive net energy value of corn ethanol shows that it is highly efficient. When ethanol is produced from domestic corn, united States reduce overreliance on imported fuel. As production of corn increase, energy value of corn is expected to increase. Cellulose ethanol has helped the United States to be 1.5% independent and by twenty seventeen, it is estimated to rise to 3.7%. These figures ignore the foreign input of fossil energy for ethanol production.

Corn Ethanol is a source of bio-fuel that is a less pollutant and cause less emission of greenhouse gases which causes global warming. Countries should consider using this form of alternative fuel so as to preserve the environment and reduce over reliance to fossil fuels which are hazardous to the environment. This not only safeguards people's health but also improves their economic status through use of domestic corn to produce fuel. Corn production should increase so as to attain the required biomass for energy production to run various activities.