The other main biofuel is ethanol, which can be mixed with petrol and used to power that sort of engine. Ethanol is an alcohol produced by fermenting suitably sugary feedstocks.\u00a0 It\u2019s really popular in Brazil, which has a massive sugarcane industry and all petrol in Brazil has at least 25% ethanol in it. We use a bit over here, too, also using waste from the sugar industry, although we don\u2019t use as much as Brazil does.<\/p>\n
However, all is not rosy in the world of biofuels and biodiesel. Yes, a good chunk of waste bits and pieces can be used to produce biodiesel and ethanol. However, leftovers aren\u2019t going to be enough to power the world\u2019s fleet of vehicles.\u00a0 This means that feedstock will have to be grown somewhere. There\u2019s only a limited amount of land, so feedstocks are going to compete for land and water (and other resources such as fertiliser and labour) with crops grown for human consumption and for animal consumption.\u00a0 This is where a lot of research is being concentrated: how can we solve this problem?<\/p>\n
![\"Sorghum](\"http:\/\/blog.privatefleet.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/sorghum.jpg\")
<\/a>Sorghum – a potential FFF plant.<\/p><\/div>\n
One thing that is being researched in this area is finding suitable plants that are multipurpose \u2013 the so-called FFF (Food, Fodder and Feedstock) varieties. There\u2019s been some pleasing results with varieties of sorghum, a grain used widely in Africa, where the grain is used for people, the leaves are fed to cattle and the sugary stems are used for ethanol production.\u00a0 Research is looking into which varieties are the best and whether or not breeders can come up with the perfect variety. Sweetcorn is another potential FFF plant.\u00a0 Along the same lines, they\u2019re looking into plants that can be grown on not-so-hot land and thus taking up fewer resources \u2013 a recent paper published in the specialist journal Biotechnology for Biofuels<\/i> proposed agave cactus as a possibility.<\/p>\n
Another strand of research is looking into finding bacteria that do a great job of fermenting waste material and turning it into ethanol. If they can find some really good strains that can ferment just about any plant material, then this widens the scope for what can be used as feedstock.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"http:\/\/blog.privatefleet.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/jatropha01-300x225.jpg\")
<\/a>The Jatropha bush.<\/p><\/div>\n
On the biodiesel side of things, as well as hunting for crops that produce decent oil but don\u2019t compete for resources too heavily. \u00a0So far, the best crop is the jatropha shrub, which doesn\u2019t mind drought, is poisonous enough to not have many pest problems and produces a really oily nut. The leftovers after the nut has been pressed for oil can be used for other bits and pieces, such as pesticides, medicines (yep) and as an ethanol feedstock.\u00a0 The issue here is that jatropha wasn\u2019t originally a crop plant, so they\u2019re working on finding good varieties that grow well on marginal land but produce a whacking big crop.<\/p>\n
Also on the biodiesel front, they\u2019re looking into algae. Some algae are oilier than you might think and could be used to produce biodiesel.\u00a0 The good thing about algae is that they can be grown on land that\u2019s useless for farming other things, and they can be grown on wastewater \u2013 settlement ponds at the local sewage works are looking very promising so far.\u00a0 Of course, they\u2019ve got to find the right strains of algae that produce the most oil, improve the extraction and harvesting process, and find a way to do all this commercially.<\/p>\n
![\"Algae](\"http:\/\/blog.privatefleet.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/algae-pool-300x206.jpg\")
<\/a>