Biofuel: how plants are fueling the future
A lot of fuel is required to keep our country running. Americans consume an average of 390 million gallons of motor gasoline and 197 million gallons of aviation gasoline, per day, to fuel planes, trains, and automobiles. Most of the fuel that we currently consume is fossil fuel formed from the fossilized, buried remains of plants and animals that lived millions of years ago. One such fossil fuel, petroleum, is refined into other fuels, such as diesel and gasoline.
Because of their origins, fossil fuels have a high carbon content, meaning they produce a lot of energy when they are burned. However, burning fossil fuels can have negative impacts on our environment through air and water pollution and the release of carbon dioxide, a known greenhouse gas thought to contribute to global warming. Another limitation of fossil fuel is that they are an exhaustible resource that will eventually run out. Our growing fuel needs compounded with the risks and limitations of fossil fuels have led to a renewable energy movement aimed at reducing the production and use of fossil fuels in favor of cleaner, more sustainable fuel sources.
