Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
biodiesel could be reduced by using low cost oils, such as used frying oils
from restaurants and non-edible oils that are usually cheaper than edible
oils (Azam et al., 2005; Barnwal and Sharma, 2005; Demirbas and Balat,
2006).
Although the higher environmental benei ts from the use of biodiesel
could justify a higher cost (price), for the majority of the customers it
is the price they pay that matters. Thus, unless the price of biodiesel is
competitive with that of fossil fuel diesel, it is unlikely that the average
consumer will look into using biodiesel instead of diesel. Environmentally
aware 'green consumers' may be willing to pay a higher price for biodiesel,
but their use will be negligible in comparison with the use of diesel by the
majority of other consumers. Provision of government subsidies could
lower the price of biodiesel and increase its adoption in the short run,
but subsidies are not a long-term solution. Thus, the only way to increase
adoption of biodiesel by an average consumer in the long run would be to
make it competitive with fossil fuel diesel in terms of price.
What potential for biodiesel to provide double benei ts?
During the past few years biofuels have grown out of being a niche market
fuel into being a mainstream market fuel - more so in countries such as
Brazil, which developed a biofuels programme in the 1970s because of
increased oil prices combined with a low sugar price (Oliveira, 2002).
However, the adoption of biofuels has generally not been very encourag-
ing, especially in developed countries. Of the EU states that were required
to supply their transport fuel market with 2 per cent of biofuels by the
end of 2005, only two countries (Germany and Sweden) met the target.
Biodiesel has been the more popular biofuel in the EU, taking over 80 per
cent of the biofuels market. However, even with a number of incentives,
such as fuel tax subsidies, agricultural subsidies and so on, the adoption
of biodiesel has been poor in EU countries to say the least. In a context
where biodiesel has been touted as a reliable source to supply growing fuel
demands, at the same time as being environmentally friendly, it is essential
to ask if this optimism about biodiesel providing double benei ts - that is,
being a cheaper and more secure source of fuel supply, at the same time as
providing environmental benei ts - is justii able. In this section we explore
this issue from various angles - the demand and supply of biodiesel, the
policies driving its production and use or potential use, and whether this
optimism about environmental benei ts is actually well founded.
It is fair to say that the demand for biodiesel is growing steadily over
the years. This has come about due to a number of reasons: (1) due to
a great insecurity surrounding the production and supply of fossil fuels
from all major oil-producing regions; (2) due to growing environmental
