biofuel
noun
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Since the early 19th century, "fossil fuel" has been used to refer to fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas which are formed from the remains of plants and animals which have lain in the earth for millions of years. In the 1970s, a new word, "biofuel," began to be used to describe a different kind of fuel, one taken from more contemporary organic matter. These fuels include ethanol, which can be derived from such products as corn and sugarcane, and biodiesel, which can be formed from vegetable oils. These organic sources are reflected in the prefix, bio-, meaning "life" or "living organisms or tissue." The prefix bio- was borrowed from the Greek bios, meaning "mode of life."
Examples of biofuel in a Sentence
Anna Spoerre, Kansas City Star, 12 Apr. 2024
California, for example, doesn’t account for greenhouse gases leaking out of unplugged oil wells or carbon emissions from biofuels, such as power plants that burn woody waste.
—Tony Briscoe, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2024
The wearer’s natural tears—more specifically the electrolytes within them—serve as a biofuel to generate power.
—IEEE Spectrum, 1 Apr. 2024
For all of California’s big talk on electric vehicles, staffers at a powerful state agency are seemingly working just as hard to promote biofuels — even though many experts and actvists say those fuels risk hurting the climate more than helping.
—Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times, 26 Mar. 2024
The sponsons will be able to store plenty of fuel, too, with tanks designed to hold the renewable biofuel of the future.
—Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 22 Mar. 2024
There are generators that use biofuels and diesel as needed, but solar is the big player in the Brando’s energy future.
—Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2024
Environmentalists worry that a push for biofuels could lead to deforestation, reversing the gains that Indonesia had made in protecting its rich forests.
—Somini Sengupta, New York Times, 14 Feb. 2024
Measuring emissions by intensity means a company can technically increase its fossil fuel output and overall emissions while using offsets or adding renewable energy or biofuels to its product mix.
—Reuters, CNN, 14 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'biofuel.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near biofuel
Cite this Entry
“Biofuel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/biofuel. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.
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