Biofuel for thought

They were part of the grand solution to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Biodiesel fuels produced from vegetable oils, grain, sugar crops and waste cooking oil would replace a growing proportion of road transport fuel in a slow but steady process of integration.

It was agreed that biofuels offer carbon savings, since the carbon dioxide that they emit on combustion is partially offset by that absorbed by the crop during its growth. However, the total savings are reduced by the energy required for cultivation, harvesting, processing and transportation. Nevertheless, most biofuels offer a carbon saving of about 50% compared to fossil fuels.

In Europe, ministers agreed that 10% of fuels should be from renewable resources, including biofuels, by the year 2020. This was mirrored in the UK, where a Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation came into force on April 15, 2008, requiring motor fuel suppliers to ensure that some of their product, initially 2.5%, originated from renewable sources.

But all was not well in the biofuels world. The Renewable Fuels Agency reported that biofuels could actually be increasing greenhouse gas emissions, as well as contributing to increasing food prices by taking up farmland. Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth are also concerned that many biofuels are produced from unsustainable crops. In the wake of these negative reports, both the UK and Europe announced cuts to their biofuels targets in September 2008.

Separations Now