Page 315 - Refining Biomass Residues for Sustainable Energy and Bioproducts

284 Refining Biomass Residues for Sustainable Energy and Bioproducts

replacement for diesel and bioethanol can be used as supplement for petrol.
Common biofuel feedstocks originating from lignocellulosic materials are derived
from nonedible crops (Murphy and Kendall, 2015) and agricultural crop residues
(Hadar, 2013). Other feedstocks such as algae (USEPA, 2011), corn (Elbehri et al.,
2013), physic nut (Koh and Ghazi, 2011), palm (De Gorter et al., 2015), soybeans
(Thoenes, 2007), sugarcane (De Gorter et al., 2015), sweet sorghum (Elbehri
et al., 2013) are used to some extent. Postharvest rice crop residues are better in
this context. Postharvest rice residues are renewable in nature and produced in
successive cropping seasons. These are the products of transformation of trapped
solar energy.

13.6 Overview of biofuel generation and consumption
on a global scale: opportunities and challenges

The world has seen an upsurge in the development, production, and utilization of
biofuels in the current century. This may be attributed to the interest generated
among nations worldwide to increase the level of self-sufficiency in energy, reduce
the costs incurred due to fuel imports, and to further strengthen the domestic agri-
cultural development (Arau ´jo, 2017; Kovarik, 2013). In order to control pollution
from vehicular emissions and to maintain environmental sustainability, many
regions have started to strategically focus on bio-based fuels for transportation pur-
poses (REN21). It can be assumed that the transportation sector, which accounts for
one-third of the global energy consumption, half of the global oil consumption, and
one-fourth of the carbon dioxide emissions due to combustion of fossil fuels, is the
major driving force behind the uprise in interest toward biofuels (IRENA, 2016;
International Energy Agency (IEA), 2016).

13.6.1 Global biofuel scenario

The global biofuel production for the year 2014 accounted for 127.7 billion liters
out of which 74% included fuel ethanol. Fatty acid methyl ester and hydrotreated
vegetable oil derived biodiesel accounted for only 23%. However, the growth in
biodiesel production has been more than double in comparison to the ethanol fuel
produced during the period of 2000 14. Table 13.6 provides the global production
statistics of bioethanol and biodiesel for the year 2014. The leading nations in bio-
fuel production in 2014 were the United States, Brazil, Germany, China, and
Argentina (REN21). United States and Brazil are the two leading ethanol producers
accounting for approximately 82% of total ethanol produced in 2014. However, the
biodiesel production is somewhat evenly distributed among different countries and
regions. According to the 2015 statistics, Brazil and United States lead the global
biofuel scenario responsible for the production of approximately 70% of the world’s
biofuel supply (REN21, 2015). Asian countries and the European Union are the
emerging markets that have cropped up in the last two decades. The European