https://thenewswheel.com/vw-and-shell-join-forces-for-biofuel/
[Hard to know if this is really cause for enthusiasm when the proponents
are both reeling from scandals related to their core businesses -
Dieselgate and Niger Delta decades of oil pollution. Couple that with
the EU report that says biofuels create more GHG emissions than fossil
fuels, and the whole thing looks rather suspicious. I suppose they'll
come out in favour of hydrogen as a transport fuel next.
It still fascinates me that no auto manufacturer has shown any interest
in an electric-biofuel hybrid, given the supposed level of interest in
reducing GHG emissions from the transportation sector.
As for the claim that older combustion vehicles can be retrofitted to
run on biofuels, I have seen little evidence of that to date. AFAIK, no
North American spark ignition vehicle can run on E100; at least 15%
gasoline is required for engine starting. While some diesel vehicles
can move to B100 (in warm weather) by changing fuel hoses, many will
require changes to fuel pumps or even fuel injectors, per current OEM
automaker literature.
links in on-line article]
When it comes to helping our planet, there seems to be two camps in the
automotive world, with one advocating for electric cars, and one group
looking to biofuels. The Paris Climate Conference last year agreed on
some pretty strict emissions targets for 2025 and 2030, and the EU is
currently putting plans in place to meet the standards. The government
is leaning towards advocating for electric cars, while Volkswagen and
Shell are setting their sights on biofuels.
Each side of the debate has its pros and cons. For example, cars that
run solely on electric have no emissions from the actual vehicle, and
charging is easy with quick charging stations. Electric cars, though,
aren’t entirely sin free, as the power plants used to create the
electricity for the cars create a fair amount of pollution on their own,
especially if they are powered by coal or nuclear energy. Biofuels have
emissions, but do not rely on fossil fuels retrieved from the earth with
damaging processes.
Another big thing going for biofuels is that there are already so many
fossil fuel vehicles on the road today. While switching to electric cars
would require new car purchases, older vehicles could be modified to run
on biofuels while the world prepares the massive infrastructure required
for a switch to all-electric cars. The Auto Fuels Coalition, led by VW
and Shell, released a study that is very optimistic about the use of
biofuels and how they could be best used to help the environment to
support their claims.
Time will which solution the European Union decides to work towards.
Either way, it’s exciting to see governments working towards actually
lowering greenhouse emissions to help our planet as much as possible.
_______________________________________________
Sustainablelorgbiofuel mailing list
Sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org
http://lists.eruditium.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel
