Annually in the UK we use approximately 38 million tonnes of motor fuel, of which 20 million tonnes is petrol and 18 million tonnes is diesel (DERV). All of this ends up as carbon dioxide emitted from vehicle exhaust pipes and contributes significantly to the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere which in turn leads to global warming and climate change. Additionally, as North Sea oil reserves deplete there will be the need for the UK to import more and more crude oil to meet our fuel needs. Is there a renewable and sustainable alternative to crude oil?

In a seminar to be presented to the South Gloucestershire section of the Friends of the Earth (Wednesday 2nd Feb 2005, 7.30pm, Greenfield Centre, Winterbourne) Stuart Shales from UWE will address this issue.

Diesel fuel can be substituted by biodiesel manufactured from vegetable oils such as rapeseed oil. Petrol can be substituted by bioethanol (alcohol) produced by the fermentation of sugars from a variety of plant products. Furthermore, with talk of a hydrogen-based economy it is possible to produce hydrogen biologically (ie on a renewable basis).

Moving over to biofuels will not only provide renewable and potentially sustainable sources of motor fuels it will also reduce our need for imported crude oil and will serve to stimulate the rural economy. Considering biodiesel in more detail, this can be produced from a variety of vegetable oils. In the UK the most likely starting material will be rapeseed oil.

Elsewhere sunflower oil and soya oil could be used. Diesel powered vehicles will not need to be modified to run on a blend of biodiesel and diesel, indeed some vehicle warranties cover engines to be run on 100% biodiesel (eg all Volkeswagen TDI series since 1996 and the new Sdi series[EURO-3]).

In 2003 in Germany 715,000 tonnes of biodiesel was produced and in France the corresponding production was 357,000 tonnes. That year 1.4 million tonnes of biodiesel was produced in Europe as a whole…… How much was produced in the UK? Answer: 9,000 tonnes! That represents just 0.6% of the European total.

In his seminar Stuart will consider the hurdles to biodiesel production in the UK. He will also discuss the production of bioethanol and biohydrogen and will introduce the concept of Fuel Farms which will provide renewable, sustainable sources of motor fuels and biomass crops for electricity generation.

Stuart W. Shales, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Biotechnology, University of the West of England, Bristol