Biofuels for transportThe European transport sector
In Europe, the transport sector uses 30% of EU energy consumption. It is 98% dependent on oil and consumption increased by some 50% between 1985 and 1998. Transport demand has grown continuously over recent decades and is predicted to increase by 2% per year over the coming decade. EU-Enlargement is likely to add significantly to these growth rates as CEEC economies become more closely aligned with those of the EU. It is also predicted that CO2 emissions from EU transport in 2010 will be 39% higher than in 1990.
From 2006 data the share of biofuels in European consumption is estimated at 1.8% (up from 1% in 2005). However, this figure looks likely to rapidly grow due to European Union legislation. In January 2007, the European Commission released the Renewable Energy Roadmap with a target of 10% biofuels by 2020.
This follows on from the previous objectives of 2% and 5.75% for the years 2005 and 2010 respectively which were supported by a specific directive (Directive 2003/30/EC). The target for 2010 is unlikely to be met, this is even acknowledged by the Commission itself. However, there is considerable expansion ongoing in some member states, particularly, Sweden, Germany, France and Austria. And the anticipated legislation from the Renewable Energy Roadmap will reinforce the legislative support for further biofuels deployment.
Stemming from programmes launched at the end of the 1970s to help ease the crush on petrol prices, biofuels have been in a significant phase of industrial development since the mid 1990s. Their success can be explained not only by the fact that they can be substituted for hydrocarbons, but also because of the environmental advantages offered by their consumption in the transportation sector.
Biofuels drivers include:
- increase of security of energy supply;
- reduction of dependence on fossil fuels;
- reduction of greenhouse gas emissions e.g. CO2;
- reduction local air pollution;
- protection of soil and groundwater through the use of biodegradable products;
- reduction of health hazards by using non-toxic products.
Biofuel Controversy:
There is great political and media attention now focused on biofuels and the issues related to food security, food prices, effects on biodiversity and perceived CO2 emission advantages over fossil fuels. Provided that farmers and plant operators adopt sustainable energy crop production, thoughtful management & planning as well as sourcing (where available) energy needs for biofuel production from waste plant residues, then there should be no negative environmental effect. On the other hand job creation and the development of rural economies is an important benefit of biofuel production. The problems of food prices and market changes cannot easily be concluded to be due to one factor. For example the price of oil can affect prices for biofuels. The global market price of sugar has a known impact on the price and production level of bioethanol.
Support for Biofuels from:
WWF supports the biofuels initiative of the EU with some provisions on: mandatory environmental certification for imported and domestic biofuels; need to examine the whole greenhouse gas life-cycle; land with high value nature should not get replaced by energy crops; necessary to have a neutral impact on water, soil, biodiversity; and biofuel should not count to reduced emissions from vehicles. The WWF states: “Oil currently represents 95 per cent of all transport fuels. So long as fuel cells and sustainable hydrogen production remain in their infant stages, biofuels appear as the only alternative.” This is the position of the European Commission as well. And in the anticipated legislation on biofuels which will come towards the end of 2007 or early 2008, they have also stated that Europe cannot afford to wait for 2nd Generation Biofuels if we are to meet our renewable enery targets.
Sustainable Criteria
The EC has indicated that there will be sustainability criteria for biofuels in the legislative packages coming out at the end of 2007, which follows on from the Renewable Energy Roadmap. EUBIA along with EREC would like to see such criteria and a certification system for all biomass. All bases should be covered encompassing every sector and not leaving uncertainty as to the sustainability of the energy production. The European biofuel sector
The European biofuel sector is made up of two distinct sectors, ethanol and biodiesel. Ethanol is obtained from fermenting beets, corn, barley or wheat, which are used for their sugar content that can be transformed into alcohol. Ethanol can be used directly as a fuel in its own right and as a petrol additive such as ETBE (ethyl tertiary butyl ether).
Biodiesel (or FAME – fatty acids methyl ester) is produced from rapeseed or sunflower for use as an additive to diesel fuel. In 2006, the production of biodiesel in the EU25 came to 4,890,000 tonnes, with the majority of production coming from Germany (2,662,000 tonnes, EBB 2007).
In terms of domestic usage the combined European (EU-25) consumption of both of these sectors represented 5,376,296 toe (tonnes of oil equivalent) in 2006 (EUR-ObservER, 2007), with a strong prominence of biodiesel which represents 71.2% of European biofuel consumption. The overall figures represent a growth of 71% between 2005 and 2006 and with the French mandate to have 5-600 E85 (85% bioethanol) vehicle fuel stations by the end of 2007, and the strong market in Sweden, the consumption will only increase in the coming years.
European regulatory framework
A precise regulatory framework for biofuel development in Europe exists since the beginning of the 1990s. The first measures date from 1992 with a section of the CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) that gave member States the possibility of growing non-food crops on fallow lands and exempting biofuels from taxes in respect of price competition. The principle of each country being assigned production quotas dates back to this same period and it still in use for some of the member States. In 2003, European texts appeared that reinforced the conditions of development of the biofuels sector. The first was the directive 2003/30/CE of 8 May 2003 that targeted promoting the use of biofuels in transportation. Towards the end of 2007, the European Commission will look into revising the directive to reflect the new 10% biofuel target. In parallel, they will also investigate the possibility of modifying EU Fuel Quality Directive 98/70/EC. Before the Renewable Energy Roadmap (Jan, 2007) for each Member State, a minimum percentage of biofuel and other renewable fuels had to be put on the markets, with a minimum threshold of 2% by December 2005 and 5.75% by December 2010. The Commission is expected to submit legislation proposals to the European Parliament, designed to support the recent roadmap towards the end of 2007.
In February 2006, the Commission released the EU Strategy for Biofuels which contained further specification following on from the Biomass Action Plan (BAP), released in December 2005. The report is based upon a threefold objective: further promotion of biofuels in the EU and in developing countries, preparation for the large-scale use of biofuels, and heightened cooperation with developing countries in the sustainable production of biofuels. Areas of particular interest in the strategy document are that they stress the importance of national targets for biofuels; they will pay particular attention to the tax benefits included in the 2003 Energy Taxation Directive; investigate the possiblity of a framework for incentives linked to the environmental performance of fuels; they intend to expand feedstock supplies by including sugar production for the manufacture of bioethanol in CAP aid schemes. Also they will highlight the advantages of biofuels in terms of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and development of economic activity and job creation. There is also emphasis put on enhancing trade opportunities by separate customs codes for biofuels, as well as supporting developing countries by, for example, specific aid programmes for biofuels and a framework for effective cooperation.
The second text was the directive 2003/96/CE of 27 October 2003 restructuring the Community taxation framework of energy products and electricity. The article 16 authorises partial or total tax exemption for biofuels when used in their pure state or in mixtures. The goal is to encourage countries to exempt biofuels from taxes to make them more competitive. Lastly, beginning in 2004, the CAP has provided a 45 €/ha assistance for "energy crops", other than industrial fallow land, limited at a maximum guaranteed area of 1.5 million hectares. At the same time, the industrial fallow land system has been maintained with, nevertheless, a reduction in the obligatory freeze rates for crop harvests (which go from 10% to 5%) following the drought of the summer of 2003.
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Most promising bio-fuels for transport
- Biodiesel is a methyl-ester produced from vegetable or animal oil, of diesel quality to be used as biofuel. Note the difference with pure vegetable or animal oil, which can be used in adapted diesel engines as well. Application: compression-ignition engines.
- Pure vegetable oil is oil produced from oil plants through pressing, extraction or comparable procedures, crude or refined but chemically unmodified, when compatible with the type of engines involved and the corresponding emission requirements. Applications: direct use in adapted CI-engines.
- Bioethanol is ethanol produced from biomass and/or the biodegradable fraction of waste, to be used as biofuel. Bio-ethanol can be produced from any biological feedstock that contains appreciable amounts of sugar or other matter that can be converted into sugar, such as starch or cellulose. Also ligno-cellulosic materials (wood and straw) are often hinted at, but their processing into bio-ethanol is more expensive. Application: Spark ignition (SI) engines.
- Bio-ETBE (ethyl-tertio-butyl-ether) is ETBE produced on the basis of bioethanol. The percentage by volume of bio-ETBE that is calculated as bio-fuel is 47%. Application: SI-engines (blends with petrol).
- Biogas is a fuel gas produced from biomass and/or the biodegradable fraction of waste, that can be purified to natural gas quality, to be used as biofuel, or wood gas. This definition covers two main gases derived from different processes:
- Methane rich (55-60% by volume) gas produced by means of anaerobe digestion of wet biomass.
- Carbon monoxide rich gas made via thermal gasification. Also some hydrogen and methane are present in this gas type.
- Methane rich gas made via thermal gasification, followed by a methane shift reaction.
After de-sulphurisation, biogas can be used directly to fuel adapted SI and CI engines. Alternatively methane can be separated out from biogas to be fed into the distribution grid for natural gas, and thus it could be used as a transport fuel in the same manner as fossil compressed natural gas. Application: SI-engines.
- Bio-methanol is methanol produced from biomass, to be used as biofuel. Methanol can be produced from syngas (a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen). Virtually all syngas for conventional methanol production is produced by steam reforming of natural gas into syngas. In the case of bio-methanol, a biomass is gasified first to produce a syngas from which the bio-methanol is produced. Application: SI engines (blended with petrol), CI- engines (pure), fuel cells.
- Bio-MTBE (methyl-tertio-butyl-ether) is a fuel produced on the basis of biomethanol. The percentage by volume of bio-MTBE that is calculated as biofuel is 36%. Application: SI-engines (blends with petrol).
- Biodimethylether (DME) is dimethylether produced from biomass, to be used as biofuel. Bio-DME can be formed from syngas by means of oxygenate synthesis. It has emerged only recently as an automotive fuel option. Storage capabilities are similar to those of LPG. Application: CI-engines.
- Synthetic biofuels are synthetic hydrocarbons or mixtures of synthetic hydrocarbons, which have been produced from biomass. This broad definition includes Fischer-Tropsch Diesel which is manufactured from syngas, using a large-scale production process. Syngas is usually produced from coal or natural gas via auto-thermal reforming, but can also be derived via gasification of biomass or gasification of pyrolysis oil. The process was applied in times of mineral oil scarcity. Application: CI-engines.
- Bio-hydrogen is hydrogen produced from biomass, and/or from the biodegradable fraction of waste, to be used as biofuel. Application: fuel cells.
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