Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 8
Biofuels for Transport: Prospects
and Challenges
Rafael Luque, Sara Pinzi, Juan M. Campelo, Juan J. Ruiz, Iosvani Lopez,
Diego Luna, Jose M. Marinas, Antonio A. Romero, and M. Pilar Dorado
Abstract
Environmental issues, the growing demand for energy, political concerns
and the medium-term depletion of petroleum created the need for the development
of sustainable technologies based on renewable raw materials. The so-called biofu-
els might help to meet the future energy supply demands as well as contributing to a
reduction of green house gases emissions. In this work, we aim to provide the latest
update of the production and potential of biofuels in the transport sector including
type of biofuel, feedstocks and technologies as well as some realistic engine tests
for the widespread use of biofuels in our society.
·
·
·
·
·
Keywords
First generation biofuels
Biodiesel
Biogas
Bioethanol
Biobutanol
Second generation biofuels
·
Synthetic fuels
·
Engine performance
·
Emissions
8.1 Introduction
There is now a general scientific consensus that observed trends in global warming
are been caused by fossil-fuel combustion and anthropogenic emissions of green-
house gases (GHG) including nitrous oxide (N
2
O) and specially carbon dioxide
(CO
2
) and methane (CH
4
) [1]. Initial concerns about the impact of GHG in our
society led to the development of the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (1992) which in turn resulted in the 1997 Kyoto Protocol as a way
to tackle the problem. In 2002 the European Union ratified the Kyoto Protocol
and emphasised the potential for scientific innovation as a means of countering
GHG emissions. Neither these targets nor the Kyoto targets have so far been met.
However, judging from the figures of energy consumption over the last few years,
the current scenario is believed to complicate in the future. Transport has shown the
