biofuels

temperature on earth increases, results in: changes in agriculture, and changes in biodistribution due to desertification and loss of cold-water

why are greenhouse gases so bad:

• they allow shortwave radiation from the sun to pass through the atmosphere but absorb the longer wave IR radiation that is reradiated from earth’s surface. this is because CO2 is IR active, this means the dipole changes by stretching and bending

Photosynthesis- converts light energy into chemical energy, by a series of redox equations.

ethanol as a biofuel

• made from biomass by fermenting plants high in starches and sugars. this process is done at about 37 degrees c, in the absence of oxygen by adding yeast as the enzyme to catalyze the reaction.

gasohol- mixture of 10% ethanol and 90% unleaded gasoline

advantages of gasohols- its renewable, produces lower emissions of carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides, decreases countries dependence on oil

disadvantages of gasohols- uses land that could be for food, high cost of harvesting and transporting in large volumes, takes nutrients from soils and uses lots of fertilizers, lower specific energy than fossil fuels, ethanol can absorb water as it forms hydrogen bonds with water in the atmosphere, this leads to the ethanol separating from the hydrocarbon