IEA says biofuel production could drastically cut carbon emissions

The IEA roadmap suggests that biofuels can be produced in a sustainable way without harming food security. The agency estimate that 750 million tonnes of oil equivalent (mtoe) can be produce by 2050, up from a current 55 mtoe.

"While vehicle efficiency will be the most important and most cost-efficient way to reduce transport emissions, biofuels will still be needed to provide low carbon fuel alternatives for planes, marine vessels and other heavy transport modes, and will eventually provide one fifth (2.1 gigatonnes of CO2) of emission reductions in the transport sector," said Bo Diczfalusy,  IEA director of sustainable energy policy and technology.

Technological improvements
To meet the targets set out in the report, the IEA says one of the main changes that needs to be made is advancements in technology. Producing biofuels requires fossil fuels. They are used to produce, transport and convert biomass into biofuels, so improving the technology to use less fossil fuels in production will help give biofuel overall lower CO2 emissions than fossil fuels.

"Further support for advanced biofuel research, development and demonstration is still needed to improve conversion efficiencies and reduce costs," Diczfalusy said. "In addition, investments in commercial-scale production units will be a key to enable advanced biofuels to reach full market maturity."

Land use
The IEA report says its important not to change habitats in order to produce biofuels. Cutting down a forest to make room to grow these crops can actually be counter productive because the trees would suck up CO2 from the atmosphere.

To protect land for food production, the roadmap suggests that using residues and high-yielding energy crops can meet targets without threatening food supplies. It estimates that one billion tonnes of biomass residues and waste from 100 million hectares of land will be needed to do so.

Government involvement
For biofuels to make up a substantial portion of the global fuel market, they need to be a cost-effective alternative to fossil fuels. In order to do this, the roadmap says investments will need to be made in new technologies. The roadmap suggests that between £6.2- £7.9 trillion ($11-13 trillion) will be needed to meet these targets. However, Diczfalusy says this means that the total cost of transport fuels would only increase by a total of one per cent over the next 40 years.

"Government action is needed to provide a stable, long-term policy framework for biofuels that allows for sustained investments in biofuel expansion," Diczfalusy said. "Specific support measures that address the high investment risk currently associated with pre-commercial advanced biofuel technologies will be vital to trigger industry investments in first commercial plants."

Nuffield Council
The IEA report comes a week after the Nuffield Council published a report about the ethical issues associated with biofuels. The council is concerned about food security and human rights from growing crops for biofuel.

Like the Nuffield Council, the IEA believes it is important to impose sustainability standards for biofuels to prevent harmful impacts on land, food production and human rights. It suggests a land use management strategy be imposed along with a reducing in tariffs to encourage trade and production of biofuels.

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Related links:
www.iea.org