Process Systems Engineering for Biofuels Development

13Present and Future of Biofuels

Juan Gabriel Segovia‐Hernández, César Ramírez‐Márquez, and Eduardo Sánchez‐Ramírez

Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Universidad de Guanajuato, Noria Alta s/n, Guanajuato, 36050, Guanajuato, México

13.1 Introduction

In today's society and industry, crude oil is the most important source of energy since it contributes approximately 35% to global energy consumption. Given the growing demand for oil, and according to several reports, it has been estimated that reserves reached their maximum production in 2010. Notwithstanding the above, it is expected that petroleum products will continue to be the main source of energy until 2030, at least. On the other hand, despite the outlook regarding oil reserves, renewable products have certainly been revalued and economic income in the countryside has been encouraged (Fortman et al. 2008).

In the same way, research groups have increased their interest in clean and sustainable energies that come from renewable sources. Thus, technological advances have been stimulated and the profitability of many renewable energies has been improved. In addition, environmental protection has benefited, as well as the sustainability of conventional processes. For example, the transport sector has shown the greatest resistance in the effort to reduce carbon dioxide emissions due to its great dependence on fossil fuel. In fact, petroleum derivatives represent approximately 95% of the energy consumed in this sector (Demirbas ...