1.1: Why Biofuels?
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)Part of the purpose of the course is to help you to understand why biofuels are needed and how to make them, at the current state-of-the-art.
Why biofuels? To look at the situation a little more broadly, the question then becomes: why alternative fuels?
As climate change becomes an issue of ever-stronger concern in the world, stronger efforts are being devoted to tackling this issue. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has recently proposed the 2 °C scenario (2DS) as a way to handle the climate change issue. The 2DS has become a largely used quote for many policymakers and scientists. The 2DS scenario requires that carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2060 should be reduced by 70% in comparison to the 2014 level. The transport sector plays an important role to achieve this goal considering that the transportation sector is responsible for about 23% of total CO2 emissions. Although electricity has been considered as a promising option for reducing CO2 emissions in transportation (Yabe, Shinoda, Seki, Tanaka, & Akisawa, 2012), transport biofuel is estimated to be the key alternative energy in the transport sector (Ahlgren, Börjesson Hagberg, & Grahn, 2017). The share of biofuels in total transportation-fuel consumption by 2060 is predicted to be 31%, followed by electricity at 27% based on the mobility model results of IEA for the 2DS. Biofuels production must be increased by a factor of 10 to achieve this goal (Oh, Hwang, Kim, Kim, & Lee, 2018). In addition to the need for climate change adaptation, the increasing concerns over energy security is another main driver for the policy-makers belonging to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to promote the production of renewable energy (Ho, Ngo, & Guo, 2014). Last but not least, world energy demand will continue increasing. The world energy demand was 5.5 x 1020 J in 2010. The studies predict an increase of a factor of 1.6 to reach a value of 8.6 x 1020J in 2040. The bioenergy delivery potential of the world's total land area excluding cropland, infrastructure, wilderness, and denser forests is estimated at 190 x 1018 J yr-1, 35% of the current global energy demand (Guo, Song, & Buhain, 2015).
In short, there are three main reasons to develop biofuels (Fig 1.1):
- to meet the needs of increasing energy demand;
- dependence on foreign fuel sources can be problematic, depending on US domestic fuel production;
- to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
We will explore each of these reasons in more depth in the following sections.
References
Ahlgren, E. O., Börjesson Hagberg, M., & Grahn, M. (2017). Transport biofuels in global energy–economy modeling–a review of comprehensive energy systems assessment approaches. Gcb Bioenergy, 9(7), 1168-1180.
Guo, M. X., Song, W. P., & Buhain, J. (2015). Bioenergy and biofuels: History, status, and perspective. Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, 42, 712-725. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2014.10.013
Ho, D. P., Ngo, H. H., & Guo, W. (2014). A mini review on renewable sources for biofuel. Bioresource Technology, 169, 742-749. doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2014.07.022
Oh, Y. K., Hwang, K. R., Kim, C., Kim, J. R., & Lee, J. S. (2018). Recent developments and key barriers to advanced biofuels: A short review. Bioresource Technology, 257, 320-333. doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2018.02.089
Yabe, K., Shinoda, Y., Seki, T., Tanaka, H., & Akisawa, A. (2012). Market penetration speed and effects on CO2 reduction of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in Japan. Energy Policy, 45, 529-540.