Advantages

• Good for environment as the carbon dioxide it releases is only months old so is part of the normal carbon cycle.
• Biomass doesn't emit additional carbon dioxide (CO2), like fossil fuels. It releases the CO2 that it took in during its short lifetime. Using biomass instead of fossil fuels prevents further addition of CO2 in our atmosphere.
• Biomass can be used to make a variety of fuels to generate electricity
• Biomass is used for the production of chemical products
• Biomass waste can help in reducing disposal costs
• Biomass waste can extend the life of landfills
• biomass is renewable.
• it can make our life easier
• Can use waste products and therefore can have negative fuel costs
• Can create several products - electricity/heat/biogas/biofuel
• Very large resource
• Lots of different technology
• released in several ways

Disadvantages

• Biocrops have a higher value than food and can detract food production, leading to food shortages and increased prices
• Heat and some pollutants are released into the atmosphere, adding to global warming

Biofuel releases carbon dioxide that was recently absorbed by plants from the atmosphere. So it is part of the natural carbon cycle.

Burning fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) releases carbon dioxide that has been locked underground for millions of years.

So by using biofuels instead of fossil fuels we can slow the amount of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere, and reduce global warming.

Bio-fuel is a common term that is used to refer to any organic material that can be burnt. Biomass, like bagasse, the waste from sugar cane, is a biofuel.

Common types of liquid biofuel are Bio-Ethanol (Bio-gasoline) and Bio-diesel.

Bio-diesel is made using the transesterification process using new or waste vegetable oil eg. Rapeseed oil, (also known as canola, rape, oilseed rape, rapa, rapaseed). This oil is the preferred oil stock for biodiesel production in most of Europe partly because rapeseed produces more oil per unit of land area as compared to other organic oil sources. A catalyst Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and an alcohol Methanol (CH3OH) produces Methoxide and is added to the oil to make biodiesel. The preparations required are simple for new virgin oil with filtering and titration required for used/reclaimed oils.

Bio-diesel is normally used as a blend with fossil fuel diesel. They can also be used as a 100% fuel in CI engines. With the global demand for vegetable oil, alternate feedstock for the production of bio-diesel is looked at. This type of bio-diesel is called the 'Third Generation Bio-Diesel' and uses agricultural and forest waste for feedstock.

Bio-Ethanol is produced by the Fermentation of high-starch constituents such as corn. They can be used in blends with petrol or as a 100% Bio-Ethanol fuel in IC engines.

Biomass is renewable only if the vegetation it is burning is renewable!

Biomass fuel is really any kind of vegetation that is burnt to produce electricity. Ideally this is residue from other crops, like the remains of sugar cane (bagasse) after they crush out the sugar juice. All these crops can grow quickly, in one season, so they are renewable. We can always grow more.

Two ways:

1. Fermentation and distilling.
2. Burning as biomass.

Fermenting and distilling: The raw sugar cane is washed, chopped and shredded and passed through a mill to extract the juice. The juice is filtered and boiled. The juice is partially evaporated down to a syrup. Sugar is precipitated out of the syrup by crystallization. The crystalline sugar is refined into various sugar products. The remaining syrup is molasses. The molasses is mixed with yeast, which begins fermentation. During fermentation, the yeast consumes sugar and produces carbon dioxide and ethanol. At the end of fermentation the liquid contains 7 to 10 percent ethanol, by volume. The yeast is removed in a centrifuge. The liquid is then distilled to extract the ethanol. At this point, the ethanol may contain as much as 5% water. It is suitable for use as fuel in ethanol-only and flex-fuel vehicles, but the water content must be reduced further if it is going to be mixed with gasoline.

Burning as biomass: The waste vegetation (bagasse) is burnt to heat water into steam. The steam propels a turbine that generates electricity.

Both these methods produce energy that is renewable and does not contribute to global warming and climate change. This is why biofuel is so important.

edit; My 2¢.

Pros. Been around for a number of years. No computer controls. Parts are easy to find. Parts are usually cheap compaired to other diesels. Will basically "bolt in" when swapping out a Chevrolet V8 gas engine. Gets pretty decent mileage. Can be run on other fuels besides diesel fuel such as biodiesel, waste vegetable oil, used motor oil and transmission fluid. A fair amount of info can be found on the internet about different repairs or preventive measures.

Cons. Not exactly a powerhouse. Has about the pulling power of a 305 gas V8. Problems on some older engines of the same family were cracked engine blocks, broken crankshafts, cracked heads, to name a few.

Cost:

• Once the technology is widely available, biofuels can be significantly less expensive than gasoline and other fossil fuels, particularly as worldwide demand for oil increases, therefore increasing oil and gasoline prices to unheard of levels.

Source Material:

• Whereas oil is a limited resource that comes from specific materials, biofuels can be manufactured from a wide range of materials including crop waste, manure, and other byproducts, making it a efficient step in recycling.

Renewability:

• It takes thousands of years for fossil fuels to be produced, but biofuels are much more easily renewable as new crops are grown and waste material is collected.

Security:

• By reducing dependence on foreign fuel sources, countries can protect the integrity of their energy resources and make them safe from outside influences.

Economic Stimulation:

• Because biofuels are produced locally, biofuel manufacturing plants can employ hundreds or thousands of workers, creating new jobs in rural areas. Biofuel production will also increase the demand for suitable biofuel crops, providing economic stimulation to the agriculture industry.

Biodegradability:

• Biofuels are easily biodegradable and far safer to handle than traditional fuels, making spills less hazardous and much easier and less expensive to clean up.

Neutral Carbon Emissions:

• When biofuels are burned, they only release carbon that was recently acquired, that is, part of the natural carbon cycle. This is an important difference to the carbon released by fossil fuels, which has been sequestered under the ground for millions of years. CO2 from fossil fuels is responsible for the runaway greenhouse effect that is causing global warming.

• The disadvantage of biofuels is that despite being a renewable source of energy the levels of power/energy it produces are not high enough (compared to fossil fuels) to be used commerically i.e. for industry, power stations etc.
• Despite the many positive characteristics of biofuels, there are also many disadvantages to these energy sources. The main issue is producing biofuels in a sustainable way. This means an emphasis on agricultural practices that do not use rainforests / other endangered habitats or food crop producing land or extensive irrigation or fertilization. Some Biofuels are more harmful than others.

Rainforest and natural habitat destruction:

• Palm oil can be especially damaging but is cheaper than other alternatives. Most palm oil is produced on destroyed rainforest habitat.) Unilever is the world's biggest purchaser of palm oil. The Center for Orangutan Protection concluded orangutans there could be extinct in Borneo by 2011.

Greenhouse gas reduction:

• Rapeseed may produce more CO2 than fossil fuels - (link below).
• Shell is working to develop the fuel ethanol from wheat straw to reduce waste and emissions - (link below).
• It takes 840 years for a palm oil plantation to soak up the carbon emitted when rainforest is burnt to plant the crop.
• Modern agriculture uses a lot of farm machinery and a lot of petroleum-based fuel to run that machinery, so that the fuel invested to create biofuel can offset any possible savings from using biofuel as a substitute for petroleum-based fuels.
• Several studies have been conducted to analyze the carbon footprint of biofuels, and while they may be cleaner to burn, there are strong indications that the process to produce the fuel - including the machinery necessary to cultivate the crops and the plants to produce the fuel - has hefty carbon emissions.
• Biofuels have a lower energy output than traditional fuels and therefore require greater quantities to be consumed in order to produce the same energy level.

Affect on existing agriculture and water supplies:

• Biofuel production can adversely affect food and water supplies to poorer communities and income from agriculture for those communities. It can contribute to deforestation and soil erosion.
• Also, because land ownership is so important to survival, human rights are often very sensitive to any change in land use.
• As demand for food crops such as corn grows it could also raise prices for necessary staple food crops. Malaysia & Indonesia currently meet about 87% of global palm oil demand. China is currently the world's largest importer of palm oil, accounting for one third of all global trade. Biofuel is made from things such as corn, which may be more needed in the form of food than they are as fuel.

Advantages

1. Biofuels are any solid, liquid or gas that has been derived from biomass. It can be produced from any carbon source that is easily replenished such as plants. This means it is very eco-friendly as the fuel is a renewable resource.

2. The waste products can be recycled as they are natural resources. The waste product will also be bio-degradable.

3. Biofuels are carbon neutral meaning they will not give off greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide.

4. Biofuels can be created anywhere in the world.

5. Once the technology is widely available, it will be much cheaper than fossil fuels as it is made from renewable resources.

Disadvantages

1. At the moment the energy created from biofuels is not sufficient enough for industrial facilities and factories.

2. To create more land to create crops for biofuels it could affect habitats of wild plants and animals as we would still need land to grow crops for food.

3. At the moment biofuels are not sustainable without affecting food prices and production.

4. Farmers would make more money growing biofuel crops therefore they may stop growing food crops and this would lead to a rise in food prices and put people at the risk of starvation.

• The disadvantage of biofuels is that despite being a renewable source of energy the levels of power/energy it produces are not high enough (compared to fossil fuels) to be used commerically i.e. for industry, power stations etc.
• Despite the many positive characteristics of biofuels, there are also many disadvantages to these energy sources. The main issue is producing biofuels in a sustainable way. This means an emphasis on agricultural practices that do not use rainforests / other endangered habitats or food crop producing land or extensive irrigation or fertilization. Some Biofuels are more harmful than others.

Rainforest and natural habitat destruction:

• Palm oil can be especially damaging but is cheaper than other alternatives. Most palm oil is produced on destroyed rainforest habitat.) Unilever is the world's biggest purchaser of palm oil. The Center for Orangutan Protection concluded orangutans there could be extinct in Borneo by 2011.

Greenhouse gas reduction:

• Rapeseed may produce more CO2 than fossil fuels - (link below).
• Shell is working to develop the fuel ethanol from wheat straw to reduce waste and emissions - (link below).
• It takes 840 years for a palm oil plantation to soak up the carbon emitted when rainforest is burnt to plant the crop.
• Modern agriculture uses a lot of farm machinery and a lot of petroleum-based fuel to run that machinery, so that the fuel invested to create biofuel can offset any possible savings from using biofuel as a substitute for petroleum-based fuels.
• Several studies have been conducted to analyze the carbon footprint of biofuels, and while they may be cleaner to burn, there are strong indications that the process to produce the fuel - including the machinery necessary to cultivate the crops and the plants to produce the fuel - has hefty carbon emissions.
• Biofuels have a lower energy output than traditional fuels and therefore require greater quantities to be consumed in order to produce the same energy level.

Affect on existing agriculture and water supplies:

• Biofuel production can adversely affect food and water supplies to poorer communities and income from agriculture for those communities. It can contribute to deforestation and soil erosion.
• Also, because land ownership is so important to survival, human rights are often very sensitive to any change in land use.
• As demand for food crops such as corn grows it could also raise prices for necessary staple food crops. Malaysia & Indonesia currently meet about 87% of global palm oil demand. China is currently the world's largest importer of palm oil, accounting for one third of all global trade. Biofuel is made from things such as corn, which may be more needed in the form of food than they are as fuel.

You can by cars made for biofuels. The Saab 9-3 is avalible with an E85 model (for not much more) that uses 85% ethonal. This means the car is cheaper to run, uses less fossil fuel and also runs better. E85, however had limited avalibility. For example it is avalible in the UK but only at a few places in Australia. So if you live in Europe it could be worth it, these cars can run on regular petrol too.

Limited in the quantity of electricity it can produce on the global scale.

There is little or no control on the rate of gas production, although the gas can, to some extent be stored and used as required.

There are other factors as well. Check the Wikipedia page on Issues relating to biofuels for more details.

The two biggest obstacles to bio-fuel are:

1. It take up space - the amount of space required to produce 1 barrel of biodiesel from vegetable (soy bean) oil is 2/3rds of an acre. It would take therefore 880,000 acres to produce in one year the amount of oil produced by drilling, in the state of Texas, in one day. or more succinctly it would take an area twice the size of Texas to replace the oil produced there.

2. It is costly: It costs $2.80 per gallon to produce 1 gallon of bio-diesel. It costs $0.75 per gallon to produce diesel from petroleum.

** statistics for corn oil are higher, and for rapeseed oil are slightly lower.

A third disadvantage would be soil depletion, growing a single crop on a given property depletes essential nutrients for that crop.

That being said, biodiesel produced as a part of a more diversified renewable energy plan is not a bad idea.
Plants used for biofuels could be used for food.