Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Biofuels and transport
Both bio-ethanol (made mainly from sugar cane or maize) and bio-diesel
(made generally from oil seeds such as rapeseeds and soybeans) could
theoretically be useful in decarbonizing our transport sector. This is a
particularly difficult task: around 98 percent of road transport in the UK,
and in most countries (with the exception of Brazil - see box on p.143), is
fossil-fuelled. Most of the future growth in CO
2
emissions is expected to
come from transport. And biofuels are the only cleaner alternative road-
transport fuel on the near horizon (see separate sections on electric cars
and hydrogen).
Among the political and economic reasons for favouring biofuels are
that they exert a downward pressure on the oil price and cut countries' oil
import bills; if grown at home, they also increase a country's energy secu-
rity. Moreover, far more countries have the potential to grow and perhaps
export biofuels than to produce oil or gas, the reserves of which are more
The Algeus is the world's first algae-fuelled hybrid car. Like the Prius, it is part-
electric, but unlike the Prius it burns biofuel rather than conventional petrol.
