Renewable Fuel Niches

This is the final installment of a three-part series that examines some of the renewable energy options that are presenting themselves as possible contenders to step up as petroleum steps down the depletion curve.

Today I want to talk about Biofuel Niches. Here is how I would define a Biofuel Niche: A technology that is capable of supplying, long-term, up to 10% of our present liquid fossil fuel consumption, often by utilizing specific, localized synergies.

This definition covers a great number of possibilities, and I don’t pretend that I will even cover a large fraction of them. But I want to cover some specific fuels – like cellulosic ethanol – that I believe can work in a niche. If readers can think of others, let’s discuss them. I want to lead off with some of the options I categorized as “Pretenders”, and then discuss corn ethanol which I did not discuss in the previous installments.

http://www.theoildrum.com/node/5780