Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
France, Spain, Italy, and Austria. This pattern is not surprising given the greater use of diesel
vehicles in Europe than in the United States.
The EU Biofuels Directive, officially 2003/30/EC—the directive on the promotion of the use
of biofuels and other renewable fuels for transport—entered into force in May 2003. The Biofuels
Directive initially set a target of 2% biofuels for 2005, which was not met. This measure mandated
that national measures among member countries must be taken that will result in the replacing of
5.75% of all transport fuels (i.e., gasoline and diesel) with biofuels by December 31, 2010 and 10%
by 2020. Differentiation of national target levels was allowed for various reasons, such as limited
national production potential and allocation of resources to biomass production in sectors in addi-
tion to transport. For example, France had a 7% target for 2010 whereas Italy's was 2.5%. This
became moot, however, when controversy over its effects led to repeal of this Directive in 2009. The
replacement EU Directive 2009/28/EC promotes biofuels that can significantly reduce greenhouse
gas emissions through a shift to second-generation biofuels, similar to that required in the United
States, and that sustainability criteria be met. The latter criteria are being developed internationally,
although the Swedish firm SEKAB already has a sustainable ethanol standard (Solomon 2010).
The greenhouse gas reduction and sustainability criteria for biofuels in the EU will be insti-
tuted in response to the Fuel Quality Directive 98/70/EC approved in Brussels in December 2008.
This directive focuses on the incorporation of sustainability criteria for biofuels to reduce life-cycle
greenhouse gas emissions, among other considerations, and will be coordinated with the broader
EU Renewable Energy Directive (Rosch and Skarna 2008).
12.2.3 E
lSEwhErE
Brazil's modern sugarcane ethanol industry is older than that of the United States because it began
as the Pro-Alcool (National Alcohol) Program in 1975 to wean the nation off of oil imports. Today
Brazil is the world's second-largest ethanol producer, after the United States, and has a modest but
growing biodiesel program based on soybeans and castor oils. Brazil is also the world's leading
exporter of ethanol, mostly to the United States and the Netherlands.
Brazil has supported its ethanol industry with various policies (Reel 2006). First, since 1976
the federal government has mandated the blending of anhydrous ethanol with gasoline at levels
that have varied from 10 to 25%. In addition, the Brazilian government has guaranteed ethanol
purchases by Petrobras (the state-owned oil company), subsidized sugarcane growers, provided
low-interest loans and credit guarantees to ethanol refiners, mandated that gasoline service station
owners in towns of more than 1500 people install ethanol pumps, and instituted price controls that
made ethanol available for 59% of gasoline prices. Ethanol-only automobiles (technically ethanol
with a E95 blend with gasoline) were even promoted in the 1980s by tax breaks, and over half of the
nation's cars ran on the fuel in the late 1980s. Most of the ethanol price supports and subsidies were
eliminated by the mid 1990s because greater efficiency and lower production costs have allowed
Brazilian ethanol to compete without government support (Gallagher 2007).
There are small but growing biofuels programs elsewhere in South America, most notably in
Colombia and most recently in Venezuela, Argentina, and Uruguay. Another new player to the
biofuels scene is Africa. For example, in South Africa, seven corn ethanol refineries are planned
as well as one each based on sorghum and sugarbeets, plus a biodiesel plant based on waste veg-
etable oil. Other ethanol plants are at various stages of development in Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya,
and Mozambique that are based on cassava, sugarcane, and sorghum along with a biodiesel plant
in Zimbabwe that is based on cotton and sunflower seeds, soybeans, and possibly jatropha oil
(Solomon 2009).
There are also several important biofuels markets in Asia. The leading ethanol producer in the
region is China, although its output in 2008 was only 5.6% that of the United States and 7.8% that
of Brazil (RFA 2011). Like the United States, China subsidizes its ethanol industry. China has had
plans to expand its ethanol production by 650% from 2007 to 2020, although in the summer of 2007
