Food is more than just Food

Do you guys remembered what you just had for dinner? Remember the corn in your chicken soup or the soybean drink you had earlier? What if I told you that of these food can be used to produce energy? Interesting, isn’t it?

As our global population grows, our energy demand is expected to rise exponentially as well. Currently, we rely heavily on fossil fuels to meet our energy needs. However, fossil fuels are expected to be depleted in the near future since fossil fuel sources take a million years to form, coupled with the significant greenhouse gas emitted into our atmosphere for using it, this makes fossil fuel a very unsustainable source of energy.

This gives rise to an alternative energy source that we humans have extensively researched on to meet the future energy demand, that is, Bioenergy.

Bioenergy is derived from biomass sources including food sources, cellulosic material (plants and wood material) and even food waste. Bioenergy sources are abundant, renewable and emits minimal amount of greenhouse gases.

Remember the corn we talked about earlier? Corn grains can be used to produce bioethanol, which is the renewable form of fuel that can be used to run cars, trains and even aircrafts. This process is called Fermentation that uses yeast to convert corn into glucose, and into the final product ethanol and carbon dioxide gas.

Interesting enough, the oil you guys have used earlier for cooking can in fact used to produce sustainable form of energy too! Fresh or waste vegetable oil can be used to produce Biodiesel that are environmentally safe, low polluting fuel used to run vehicles. This process is called Trans-esterification that uses oil or its fatty acid, with alcohol to produce glycerin and biodiesel. In 2019, 150 million gallons per month of biodiesel is being produced in the United States.

Our energy sources are depleting at an accelerating rate, we therefore urge you to start being mindful of your energy consumption at home. While we can see the initiative in utilising such forms of energy, more thorough development and research has to be conducted, for them to be reliable in providing sufficient energy amount to meet every individuals.