Conventional oil is extracted through oil wells and refined into oil that is used for heating, to power vehicles, and to produce plastic and other products. Biofuels are a replacement intended for similar purposes. Differences between the two types of fuel include cost, extraction location, sustainability, usability and suppliers.
Biofuels often require conventional oil to produce. For example, the biofuels produced through methods such as growing corn require tractors, fertilizer and other items. Many of the machines and fertilizers used to grow corn require petroleum--sometimes more gallons of petroleum than they produce in usable fuel oil. Switching a farm that produces corn over to renewable sources, such as electric tractors, also requires a large investment. Government subsidies and air-quality improvements improve the cost profile of biofuels.
Extraction location is a big advantage of biofuels. Oil is often extracted from harsh and inhospitable places such as the frozen tundra of Alaska, and nations such as Venezuela that may disagree politically with the United States. Importing oil from other countries often supports unfriendly governments, and some nations such as Japan lack their own oil reserves. Producing biofuels gets around these geographic limitations.
Conventional oil is not sustainable. Oil fields around the world run dry as no more oil can be extracted. Remaining oil costs more to extract every year. This is also a disadvantage of biofuel production methods that rely on the use of conventional oil, or nonrenewable sources such as coal. Sustainability requires biofuel production using power from a renewable source such as wind or tidal power, or a biofuel that does not displace food crops such as algae.
As of 2010, machinery is designed to operate with conventional oil. Some machinery can operate on biodiesel or a blend of conventional oil and biofuel, as biofuel operation requires changes to engine design. A common biodiesel blend, B20, contains 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent conventional diesel. Corn-based plastics are under development and are used in some places, although they require additional research to meet the performance of conventional oil based plastics. Project goals often include the use of biofuels in an unmodified engine.
Suppliers of conventional fuel and biofuels differ. Many biofuel producers are hobbyists who recycle the fuel from sources such as the grease tanks of fast food restaurants. Large-scale biofuel production is performed by companies that already grow crops such as sugar cane in great quantities. Conventional fuel companies specialize in exploring for oil deposits, drilling wells and building refineries, and are usually not farmers.
