Green Driving- the Rise of Biofuels and Their Advantages

Since the early 20th century, global energy demand has risen steadily, particularly in transportation. At the same time, the need to preserve the environment and to source fuels to complement oil have become major concerns. Biofuels, a renewable energy source derived from biomass, provide a response to these new issues.

The Time Is Ripe for New Fuels

The two oil crises of 1973 and 1979 led governments to rethink their energy security policy. They wanted to secure their own energy supply regardless of the global geopolitical situation.  In 1975, Brazil launched the ProAlcohol program, and experimented with biofuels. They were made from cane sugar and also offered farmers a new outlet.

Biofuels offer a new outlet for farmers.

Since the end of the 1990s, reducing greenhouse gas emissions has become key to combating global warming. Because they have a better carbon footprint than fossil fuels, biofuels can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Biofuels- a Possible Response to Energy and Environmental Challenges

Biofuels provide the means to diversify energy sources in the transport sector.

   • Contrary to oil, they are a renewable energy source

   • Their main environmental advantage is the impact on global CO₂ emissions. When total CO₂ emissions from production to end use are added up, they often have a better carbon balance than fossil fuels. This is mainly because biofuels are made from plants that have absorbed CO₂ during the growing phase.

"From well to wheel", the biofuel industry causes as many greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and uses up as much energy as the oil industry.

False. An ecological assessment of biofuels must take a number of factors into account (such as: the conditions under which raw materials are grown, manufacturing procedures, and using biofuel production by-products).

With good agricultural practice, it is estimated that biofuels produced and used in France would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 35-60% and save a similar proportion of non-renewable energy sources. These figures correspond to savings made in comparison to extracting and using equivalent quantities of oil¹.

Biofuels produced from energy crops that lead to the disappearance of fields or forests would have a negative rating.

Given the environmental qualities of biofuels, the European Commission supports their development and has set ambitious targets, such as increasing the share of renewable energy in transportation in EU countries to 10% by 2020. France set a target of blending 7% (in energy content) of biofuels by 2010.

Energy crops compete with food crops for agricultural land. This means that foodstuffs become rarer on the market and push up food prices.

True and False. The debate over the effect of biofuels on food price increases first surfaced in 2008, a year when all agricultural and non-agricultural commodity prices soared. This price rise was due to bad harvests in a number of major cereal-exporting countries and to low stock levels. By encouraging speculation, biofuels may have pushed prices upwards.

What Are the Advantages of Biofuels Everyday?

Apart from their reduced impact on the environment and their availability, biofuels have other technical and economic advantages. They provide additional outlets for agriculture. Moreover, growing energy plants generates by-products used in the chemical industry (glycerines) and for animal feed. For example, a liter of biodiesel generates 1.5kg of rapeseed cake that will feed poultry, pigs or cattle².

You need a special vehicle to use biofuel.

True and False. Standard vehicles and engines run very well on fuels containing a small amount of biofuel. Consequently, green fuels have been blended in gasoline and diesel sold in service stations with no specific indication required at the pump since the early 1990s.

Since 2010, French drivers have been driving with fuel containing up to 7% of biofuel (in energy content)³, sometimes without knowing it!

However, engines need to be specially adapted to use gasoline or diesel with large amounts of biofuel. This is the case with flex-fuel vehicles specially designed to run on gasoline or a mix of up to 85% ethanol.

[1] Source: French Ministry of the environment, energy, sustainable development and the sea
Étude sur l’analyse du cycle de vie des biocarburants de 1ère génération, April 9, 2010
[2] Source: Diester, Vous avez des questions ?
[3] Source: IFP Les carburants alternatifs and Diester Vous avez des questions ?