Fuel for the Future: Development of New Fuels, e.g. Biofuels

Abstract

Whether we like it or not, climate change is to some extent affiliated with the emission of green house gasses, and specifically CO2 emissions, which are rising due to the global increased use of fossil fuels. As a result, political enthusiasm is high when it comes to implementing new initiatives aimed at better protection of the global environment. However, environmental concerns are just one aspect of the issues associated with the use of fossil fuels, since fossil fuels are a natural reserve and, therefore, a limited resource. Prognoses vary, but within the next decades the fossil fuel reserves will be exhausted leading to reduced oil production, rising oil prices, and the risk of international bellicose conflicts caused by adverse national interests. Additionally, fossil fuel as a natural reserve is unevenly distributed, meaning that a few countries possess the main energy reserve of the entire world. The incorporation of alternatives to fossil fuel into the existing fuel infrastructure is currently under intense development in the Western world, both to cut the oil dependency and to counter the depletion of oil reserves. This political enthusiasm to decrease the use of fossil fuel is emphasised by the fact that according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) more than 80% of the global primary energy consumption in 2007 accounts from fossil fuels and half of this is oil. More than 60% of the oil is used in the transport sector.