Skip to main content
Engineering LibreTexts

11.6: Summary and Final Tasks

  • Page ID
    48620
  • \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

    11.6 Summary and Final Tasks

    Summary

    The economics of biofuels depends on the overall economic health of the country as well as what is going on in the fuel industry for fossil fuels. Biofuels have come a long way in becoming a part of US industry, but issues with gasoline and diesel prices, as well as government involvement, will continue to dictate the use of biofuels.

    Are you beginning to grasp the complexity of the issues surrounding how the biofuel production industry will survive going forward? If it reduces the carbon footprint, isn’t it worthwhile to continue to support biofuel production?

    References

    Vanek, F., Albright, L., and Angenent, L., “Energy Systems Engineering: Evaluation and Implementation”, Second Edition, McGraw-Hill, 2012.

    Pryor, Scott; Li, Yebo; Liao, Wei; Hodge, David; “Sugar-based and Starch-based Ethanol,” BEEMS Module B5, USDA Higher Education Challenger Program, 2009-38411-19761, 2009.

    Xiaodong Du and Lihong Lu McPhail, "Inside the Black Box: The Price Linkage and Transmission Between Energy and Agricultural Markets," Energy Journal, Vol. 33, No. 2, 2012, pp. 171-194.

    Nasib Qureshi, Adriano Pinto Mariano, Vijay Singh, Thaddeus Chukwuemeka Ezeji, “Biomass to Butanol,” BEEMS Module B6, USDA Higher Education Challenger Program, 2009-38411-19761, 2009.

    Haas, M.J., McAloon, A.J., Yee, W.C., Foglia, T.A., “A process model to estimate biodiesel production costs,” Bioresource Technology, 97, 671-678, 2006.

    Duncan, J., “Costs of biodiesel production,” Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority Report, 2003.

    Chisti, Y., “Biodiesel from microalgae: A research review,” Biotechnology Advances, 25, 294-306, 2007.

    Davis, R., et al., “Renewable diesel from algal lipids: An integrated baseline for costs, cost, emission and resource potential from a harmonized model,” Technical Report, prepared for US DOE Energy Biomass Program, ANL/ESD/12; NREL/TP-5100; PNNL-21437, June 2012.

    Richardson, J.W., Outlaw, J.L, and Allison, M., “The economics of microalgae,” AgBioForum, 13 (2), 119-130, 2010.

    Reminder - Complete all of the Lesson 11 tasks!

    You have reached the end of this lesson! Double-check the Road Map on this lesson Overview page to make sure you have completed all of the activities listed there before you begin the next Lesson.

    Questions?

    If there is anything in the lesson materials that you would like to comment on, or don't quite understand, please post your thoughts and/or questions to our Throughout the Course Questions & Comments discussion forum and/or set up an appointment for office hour. While you are there, feel free to post responses to your classmates if you are able to help.


    This page titled 11.6: Summary and Final Tasks is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Hilal Ezgi Toraman (John A. Dutton: e-Education Institute) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.