Biofuels 3.0 - monitoring progress towards sustainable alternatives

In the biofuels world, the Renewable Fuels Agency (RFA) updates progress since the introduction of the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) in UK on 15 April 2008. We are reminded that the first biofuel used in transport could be considered as the feed for horses, an estimated 100 tons of manure being dumped daily on the streets of London. The emergence of powered vehicles stemmed from the early Model T Ford designed to run on ethanol, with the first Diesel engine running on peanut oil. Recent activities in this sphere therefore represent the second phase of biofuels, and their history has not been without severe social problems due to their competition with food, and the trashing of rainforests. The RFA supports the definitions of the third phase of biofuels as including:
* reduction in conventional quantities of greenhouse gas emissions.
* sustainable feedstocks.
* best environmental process practices.
* no compromise of land use.
The RFA also reports that the UK imports biofuels from at least 17 different countries, manufactured from 7 different crops and 4 different types of waste. Recently, a reduction of 85% in carbon emissions was realised for biodiesel made from UK used cooking oil, but a 35% increase from sugar cane grown in Pakistan.