Ethanol (or bio-ethanol): The biofuel which offers the greatest potential to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from road transport. Produced from sugar beet, sugar cane and other types of biomass (such as pulped timber waste). Ethanol fuel for commercial vehicles is known as E95, which comprises 95% ethanol and 5% ignition improver.
FAME: Standing for Fatty Acid Methyl Ester, FAME is a general term for a variety of vegetable oil-based fuels. Examples include:
RME: Rapeseed Methyl Ester
SME: Soy Methyl Ester
Reclaimed cooking oil
PPO: Pure Plant Oil (not recommended by Scania)
The benefits of biofuels
Biofuels offer reduced carbon dioxide emissions: A 'well-to-wheel' calculation on a truck running a 30% biodiesel mix shows a 20% reduction in CO2 emissions. If running on a 10% biodiesel mix, the reduction will be 7.5%. Biofuels can be cheaper to operate than conventional diesel due to lower levels of fuel duty, although some extra costs may be incurred as service intervals may be affected. The current situation regarding duty, as
announced in the 2008 Budget, is described in the table below.
Biofuel availability
Ethanol: The UK's first large-scale ethanol plant was opened in November 2007 by British Sugar at Wissington in Norfolk. This plant is now set to produce 70 million
litres of ethanol per annum.
Biodiesel: UK production of FAME fuels now exceeds 30 million litres per month, and
is increasing fast.
| Type Of Fuel | Current duty | Duty from 1st Oct 08 |
| Ultra-low or Sulphur free diesel | 50.35p/ltr | 52.35p/ltr |
| Biodiesel | 30.35p/ltr | 32.35p/ltr |
NB: The duty differential for biofuels will be abolished in 2010-11 and from then the
Government's Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation will provide the total incentive for biofuels.
Did you know? Although sustainable, none of the biofuels discussed here will ever form the total solution; each of them will only ever be part of the answer. This is because, quite simply, supply could never equal the potential global demand – which is why diesel will remain an important fuel source for many years to come. |
