BIOFUELS:
AN EMERGING SOURCE OF ENERGY
The development of biofuels over the years...
1908
The Ford Model T, was also designed to run on ethanol in 1908. (T.1)
1930s
In the 1930s, an interest in splitting the fatty acids from the glycerin in vegetable oil (a process known as transesterification) developed in order to create a product similar to petroleum diesel (biodiesel). (T.3)
1938
A year later, 1938, a bus powered by palm oil ethyl ester traveled the route between Brussle and Louvain. (T.3)
1950s
In the early 1950s, production of methane gas from algae was proposed. (T.6)
1985
In 1985, the first biodiesel manufacturing plant was started at an agricultural college in Austria. (T.3)
1992
The Energy Policy Act in 1992 required car makers to use alternative fuels in their vehicles. Also in 1992, biodiesel became commercially manufactured, with Germany being the largest producer. (T.2)
2004
Production of biodiesel has increased rapidly with 25 biodiesel plants in the United States by 2004 and worldwide, biodiesel production increased 1 billion liters in 2001 to 6 billion liters in 2006. (T.3)
1890s
Another engineer, Rudolf Diesel invented the diesel engine in the 1890s, which ran on peanut oil. (T.3)
1914
Towards the early 1900s, the demand of biofuels greatly increased because of its use as an alternative for imported fuel. Alexander Graham Bell was an innovator of biofuels. Bell started to explore the alternatives to fossil fuels in 1914 and identified that alcohol or ethanol are the next best fossil fuel substitute. (T.5)
1937
Later in the decade, in 1937, G. Chavanne was granted a Belgain a patent for an ethyl ester of palm oil(commonly known as biodiesel). (T.3)
1939-1945
During World War II (1939-1945), ethanol was used to make 75 percent of all synthetic rubber, which was in high demand at the time. Also during this time, several countries began to turn towards vegetable oil as petroleum supplies were interrupted. (T.3)
1970s
The ethanol industry began to grow when petroleum-based fuels became fossil fuels became expensive and harmful to the environment during the 1970s. Because of its ease of transformation into alcohol, corn became the main crop for ethanol production. (T.3)
1991
Biodiesel was first manufactured in the United States in 1991 in Kansas City, Missouri. (.3)
1995
In 1995, Yellowstone National Park used biodiesel provided by the University of Idaho to fuel a truck that has been driven several hundred thousand miles and no damage to the engine has been shown by the use of biodiesel. (T.3)
2010
In 2010, the National Renewable Fuels Standards Program required the use of ethanol and biodiesel hoping to double their use by 2012. (T.3)
1861
One of the first inventors of biofuels was the German engineer Nikolaus August Otto. He used alcohol to successfully develop the first gasoline-powered engine in 1861. (T.2)
1850s
Humans have been using biofuels since man discovered fire. Wood can be seen as the first form of biofuels. Later, biofuels were used as ways to produce electricity. For example in the 1850s, ethanol began to be used as a lighting fuel. (T.1)
