Volume 44, Issue 12 pp. 9266-9282
SPECIAL ISSUE REVIEW PAPER

Sustainability of the four generations of biofuels – A review

Nurul Syahirah Mat Aron

Nurul Syahirah Mat Aron

Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Semenyih, Malaysia

Search for more papers by this author
Kuan Shiong Khoo

Kuan Shiong Khoo

Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Semenyih, Malaysia

Search for more papers by this author
Kit Wayne Chew

Kit Wayne Chew

School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University Malaysia, Sunsuria, Malaysia

Search for more papers by this author
Pau Loke Show

Corresponding Author

Pau Loke Show

Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Semenyih, Malaysia

Correspondence

Pau L. Show, Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Jalan Broga, Semenyih 43500, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.

Email: [email protected]

The H. P. Nguyen, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Email: [email protected];

Search for more papers by this author
Wei-Hsin Chen

Wei-Hsin Chen

Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan

Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, College of Engineering, Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan

Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Chin-Yi University of Technology, Taichung, Taiwan

Research Center for Energy Technology and Strategy, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan

Search for more papers by this author
The Hong Phong Nguyen

Corresponding Author

The Hong Phong Nguyen

Faculty of Applied Sciences, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Correspondence

Pau L. Show, Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Jalan Broga, Semenyih 43500, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.

Email: [email protected]

The H. P. Nguyen, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Email: [email protected];

Search for more papers by this author
First published: 15 June 2020
Citations: 337

Funding information: Fundamental Research Grant Scheme, Malaysia, Grant/Award Number: FRGS/1/2019/STG05/UNIM/02/2

Summary

Biofuel has emerged as an alternative source of energy to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and combat global warming. Biofuels are classified into first, second, third and fourth generations. Each of the biofuel generations aims to meet the global energy demand while minimizing environmental impacts. Sustainability is defined as meeting the needs of the current generations without jeopardizing the needs of future generations. The aim of sustainability is to ensure continuous growth of the economy while protecting the environment and societal needs. Thus, this paper aims to evaluate the sustainability of these four generations of biofuels. The objectives are to compare the production of biofuel, the net greenhouse gases emissions, and energy efficiency. This study is important in providing information for the policymakers and researchers in the decision-making for the future development of green energy. Each of the biofuel generations shows different benefits and drawbacks. From this study, we conclude that the first generation biofuel has the highest biofuel production and energy efficiency, but is less effective in meeting the goal of reducing the greenhouse gases emission. The third generation biofuel shows the lowest net greenhouse gases emissions, allowing the reduction of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. However, the energy required for the processing of the third generation biofuel is higher and, this makes it less environmentally friendly as fossil fuels are used to generate electricity. The third and fourth generation feedstocks are the potential sustainable source for the future production of biofuel. However, more studies need to be done to find an alternative low cost for biofuel production while increasing energy efficiency.

The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties.