Why are biofuels a key element of Europe’s transport sector?

What will transport vehicles use as an energy source in 2030? Those of you who answered gas, electricity or hydrogen may be on the right track – as these sources are becoming increasingly useful to meet our clean energy requirements. Yet future energy scenarios such as the International Energy Agency's World Energy Outlook predict that liquid fuels will still be the main energy provider for transport– especially so for sectors such as aviation and road haulage.

Biofuels offer a way to produce transport fuels from renewable sources or waste materials and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared to fossil fuels. At the Europe–wide level they are also attractive in contributing to security of energy supply and to help Member States hedge against spikes in oil prices. 

In Europe the most common form of biofuel for transport is biodiesel, which accounts for about 70 % of the biofuels market, and while biodiesel will continue to be part of the mix, ethanol (and possibly other oxygenate fuels like butanol) and drop-in diesel substitutes will provide most future supply. These will need to be sourced from sustainable feedstocks, largely waste and residues.

To show how the European Commission could realistically achieve its goals through biofuels, E4tech has developed a harmonised Auto-Fuel biofuel roadmap for the EU to 2030. The key findings show that by 2030, biofuels could contribute between 12 and 15 % of energy for the transport sector, representing overall GHG savings of around 8 to 11 %. 

Read the entire article at euractive.com.