Advanced BioFuels USA

by Troy Baisden (University of Waikato/The Conversation) A quick look at the numbers suggests New Zealand would have enough land to produce biomass energy to replace the nation’s current fossil fuel use. But this doesn’t mean we have the technology or could do so economically — nor in ways driven by people’s choices.

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Many biofuel feedstocks have environmental impacts, from nitrous oxide emissions and soil carbon loss from crops to methane emissions associated with tallow, which is produced as a meat byproduct in sufficient quantity to offset about 2% of liquid fossil fuel use. Forestry slash and waste are even more plentiful and should have lower impacts, aside from possibly contributing to erosion.

Saving energy

The most beneficial solution is energy conservation. The commission suggests current policies will reduce coal and gas demand to just over 40PJ and 100PJ by 2035, respectively. But growing demand for energy in the transport sector means liquid fossil fuels are expected to increase to a plateau of 400PJ before slowly declining after 2035.

The commission produced a demonstration path, which reduces fossil coal, gas and liquid energy use to 25PJ, 80PJ and 270PJ by 2035, respectively, greatly cutting emissions and the need for new renewable energy.

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After conservation, increasing the use of renewable electricity can play a big role. In addition to electric road transport, short regional flights could also be electrified. But batteries and efficient electric motors require mining for lithium and energy and are far from impact-free.

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The idea of a biofuel economy is both fascinating and uncertain because it could have dramatic effects on land use, across large areas, with potential benefits such as reduced nitrate leaching or erosion.

Future environmental effects are hard to predict because biofuel technologies are still developing, and the future costs of energy and emissions are uncertain. But so are the costs and benefits of many alternatives.

Ideas and debate continue to develop regarding the use of hydrogen as a fuel, either in transport or to augment batteries, if efficiency can be improved, or for combustion where it could even be added to natural gas. But hydrogen is only green if it is produced with clean, renewable power.   READ MORE

NZ Biofuels Roadmap: Growing a biofuelled New Zealand (Scion)

CEAC Claims Biofuel Truck Use Is Found To Damage Environment Far More Than Electric Vehicles (Scoop)

Citizens group in New Zealand pushing against biofuels for trucking (Biofuels Digest)

Excerpt from Biofuels Digest:  In New Zealand, the Citizens Environmental Advocacy Center warns that use of trucks with biodiesel will cause far more damage to environment than using electric trucks, overseas studies have found that production of biofuels for use in diesel truck engines will speed up the climate change, not slow it down. CEAC instead has chosen to support the Labour Government new plans on “Electrification of Heavy Trucks” Rollout. Offering the road freight industry a subsidy to switch reluctant operators of heavy freight trucks, to electric trucks, and further reduce the other half of the remaining (ICE) internal combustion engine fleet to use rail instead.  READ MORE