Living plants take in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during their lifetime and once their life is over, carbon from the plant is let back into the atmosphere as a mixture of carbon dioxide (C02) and methane (ch4). Once that carbon hits the air, the methane is converted into carbon dioxide (C02), which multiplies the amount of carbon as the end result. This is why when burned as an oil, fossil fuels and biofuels release identical levels of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. However, when allowing the materials to “break-down” for energy use, the methane is removed from the plant materials to use as energy and held back from entering the atmosphere. Using this method, there is still carbon dioxide entering the ecosphere, but the levels are much less and are offset by all the plants needed to produce the biofuel.

The reason why biofuels are considered a renewable source of energy, despite the production of C02, is attributed to the plants natural photosynthesis processes which will later convert that carbon dioxide into oxygen for us to breathe. Due to the amount of C02 that is deposited in the environment, it seems that bioenergy may someday revolutionize the clean energy field, but it is not close enough to a “perfect” source of renewable energy. We can hope, that with more research in the alternative energy sector, biomass will yield more earth-friendly results in time.

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