The 100 Year Old Biofuel Revolution
Conservationists are in a quandary about the production of the biofuel Ethanol.It’s true that it does decrease dependency on increasingly scare fossil fuel resources, however acres of often virgin land have to be given over to its production.That land has usually been found by felling forests, clearing vast swathes of irreplaceable habitat or supplanting other equally important, but less profitable, food crops. Growing crops specifically to generate biofuel could therefore have environmental consequences even more catastrophic than the damage done by the continuing use of fossil fuels.
It’s not just the Greens who are interested in solving this dilemma.The auto industry, including car leasing companies, are equally keen on reaching a sustainable long term solution so they can remain in business. Research continues into hybrid vehicles and the alternatives of all electric cars or hydrogen-fuelled cars. Major manufacturers are now investing substantial sums in ongoing development and it may only be a few years before Audi contract hire choices include a hydrogen fuel cell powered hatchback. BMW too has ripped the petrol-heart from the Mini and replaced it with batteries and an electric motor so BMW contract hire may also include similar zero emission options in the near future.The eco-friendly Nissan Leaf is already gathering good reviews and will be built at Nissan’s plant in Sunderland by 2013.
However, a highly calorific liquid fuel is still easier and more convenient to store and distribute and Butanol may be the answer. Not only does Butanol gives 30% more power output than Ethanol, but Scottish scientists have also produced it in what could be commercial quantities by adapting a 100 year old technique.What’s more, they use existing waste products from the Scotch whisky industry as the basis for the process, so it does not impinge on virgin land. Using waste products is more environmentally sustainable than growing crops to generate biofuel and it’s reckoned that this process could account for 10% of total fuel sales in the UK by 2020.
