Our age has always been considered the fossil fuel age because of the very reason that in our era, almost all of our energy sources are obtained from fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are the energy sources of the world when it comes to electricity and transportation energy needs. Even most of the hundreds of industrial plants throughout the world are powered by fossil fuels. However, as its name implies, fossil fuels are not forever available to mankind. Nevertheless, in this fast-paced changing world, new resources are being discovered and surely, some already existing alternative energy sources are being development and utilized again.
Some of these so-called alternative fuels are biofuels. Biofuels have been deemed to be good and environment-friendly alternatives to fossil fuels, but is this truly so? Recent studies have uncovered some not so good outcomes in the use of biofuels. Thus, it is the goal of this paper to discuss sources of energy, especially alternative fuels with emphasis on biofuels, their advantages and disadvantages. Energy sources can either be considered renewable and nonrenewable sources depending on the ease of production of such sources.
Renewable resources are those that can be replenished easily and so are considered unlimited as well as easy to replace, while nonrenewable sources of energy are those that run out through time and are difficult to replace. Examples of renewable sources of energy are wind and solar energy. On the other hand, the most commonly used nonrenewable source of energy is oil. Since the discovery of oil and petroleum, this type of energy sources became the main source of all kinds of energy. Thus, collectively, they can be labeled as conventional sources of energy or in more common terms, conventional fuels.
Oil and petroleum are also called fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are sources of energy derived from long-buried plants and animals that have disintegrated for a long time (Whitney). Thus, with the extensive use of fossil fuels such as oil, it is a possibility that such source of energy will someday be depleted. And truly, in the present situation, oil reserves are becoming depleted. Therefore, the search for alternative fuels has become the subject of many research fundings not only by the government but also by large companies that have been depending on oil and petroleum sources.