New Energy World™
New Energy World™ embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low-carbon technologies.
Biofuels’ potential in the energy transition
15/2/2023
6 min read
Feature
Prospects for biofuels production face significant challenges and some opportunities from region to region. Nevertheless, biofuels will have a strong role to play in hard-to-abate sectors like aviation and maritime, explains New Energy World’s Features Editor Brian Davis.
The future of biofuels for transport faces significant challenges due to the looming food supply crisis which will impact grains and virgin oil. Indeed, the use of energy and food crops that compete with food or animal feed to produce ethanol or biodiesel, beyond the existing RED II (Renewable Energy Directive II) framework, is in the balance.
As a result, attention is focused on the potential of waste-based resources. New European Union (EU) policy targeting faster decarbonisation (especially in aviation) is stimulating the development of renewable diesel capacity based on hydrotreated vegetable oils (HVO) and hydro-processed esters and fatty acids (HEFA), which can be produced from waste oils such as used cooking oil (UCO) and animal fat.
A recent European Parliament policy report points out that Europe is a major importer of UCO from Asia and the US. However, rapid increase in the use of waste oil could compromise sustainability. While sustainable biofuels are still expected to have a role to play in decarbonising transport, especially in aviation and maritime operations, ‘they are not expected to make a substantive contribution to the rapid phase out of fossil energy sources in the short-term to 2030’, says the report.