Biofuels: Marine transport, handling and storage issues
The production and use of biofuels as transport fuels has increased dramatically in recent years. A number of legislative reforms are mandating the integration of fuels derived from renewable sources into the current fuel infrastructure. However, the introduction of biofuels has not been without problems and indeed there is a large amount of research still ongoing into the properties of biofuels and how they behave when blended with conventional fossil fuels. This article will discuss some of the issues surrounding the introduction of biofuels into the present fuel system with particular focus upon the potential implications for those involved in the transportation and storage of these products.
Legislative targets
Biofuels were originally seen by many as an answer to the problems of increasing greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. Unlike transport fuels derived from crude oil, such as diesel and gasoline, biofuels are produced from renewable sources; that is, sources that can be replenished at a rate comparable to or faster than the rate at which they are consumed by humans. Fuels produced from agricultural crops such as corn, wheat, rapeseed and soybean, which could be quickly and easily replenished and, in theory, should have a negative overall impact in terms of carbon dioxide emissions, seemed an ideal solution for governments facing increasingly difficult decisions with regard to the links between pollution and climate change, and legislative targets were quickly put in place mandating the integration of biofuels into the current transport fuel infrastructure.
However, it was not long before serious questions were raised with regard to the environmental credentials and
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overall sustainability of the commercially available biofuels. Issues included the use of crops which would normally be used for food being put into biofuel production, the questionable carbon dioxide emissions savings when considering the overall production process (‘wells to wheels’), deforestation to make way for biofuel crop plantations and the use of environmentally harmful fertilisers and pesticides employed in growing the crop feedstock. Indeed it was suggested by some parties that biofuels could in reality be causing more harm than good to the environment.
Amid these growing concerns, the UK Government has recently decided to amend the targets set out in the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), a directive aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from road transport. The RTFO requires that by 2013/14, 5% by volume of all fuel sold in UK forecourts is to come from renewable sources, with intermediate targets of approximately 3.5%, 4% and 4.5% for the periods 2010/11, 2011/12 and 2012/13 respectively.
These targets represent a slowdown in the required biofuels targets, but they are likely to be reviewed in
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