Alternative Fuels Now

Based on a Discussion Webinar held Friday 26 January 2008

In the industrialized countries, the transport sector is responsible for about one quarter of all energy consumption, so a low carbon solution is imperative.

Biofuel has been promoted as being green, but lately it received more opposition from green NGOs than any other transport fuel.

Is biofuel the long-awaited sustainable solution for the transport sector? Or are the drawbacks bigger than the advantages and should we put our efforts in other solutions?

Leonardo Energy addressed this subject on a Discussion Webinar on 26 January 2008. The following are a few of the major points arising from that discussion.

1) A few key figures

Biofuels are being produced in ever larger volumes. A maize-based ethanol boom in the USA has led to the production of 16 million cubic metres annually. Brazil has a longer tradition and produces 15 million cubic metres of ethanol using sugar cane. Production costs for bioethanol have come down to 0.15 – 0.18 euro per litre. One litre of ethanol is the equivalent of 0.671 litre of gasoline in terms of energy content.