The first generation biofuels are those that are characterized by mature commercial markets and well understood technologies3. Some examples are sugarcane ethanol in Brazil, corn ethanol in the United States, oilseed rape biodiesel in Germany, and palm oil biodiesel in Malaysia. The development and use of first generation biofuels are encouraged by the desire to … Read More

Initial efforts to produce biofuels date back to the early days of the automobile. However, they were quickly replaced as the fuel of choice by cheap petrol, which continued relatively unchallenged until the oil crisis of the 1970s, inducing governments to explore alternatives sources of fuel. In 1975 the Brazilian Government launched the PROALCOOL Programme … Read More

Biofuels can be defined as liquid fuels produced from biomass for either transport or burning purposes. They can be produced from agricultural and forest products, and the biodegradable portion of industrial and municipal waste. This paper concentrates on two types of transport biofuel: bioethanol and biodiesel, which account for more than 90 per cent of … Read More