Research: Alternative fuels and the global auto industry (2nd edition)
Date published: Thursday, June 09, 2011
Description
The markets for alternative automotive fuels and the vehicles that can operate on them have been growing dramatically during recent years, stimulated by a growing list of factors accompanied by an increasing sense of urgency. The range of alternative fuels already in use and under development is varied and wide, and includes biofuels produced from materials such as food crops and organic waste, hydrogen produced from natural gas or via the electrolysis of water, compressed or liquefied petroleum gases, and a number of reformulated or synthesised gases and liquids produced from petroleum gas or coal.
Similarly, the factors driving these developments are manifold and include the ultimately finite global petroleum reserves, national interests in improving energy security and regulations that require lower levels of toxic and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions which, in turn, have led to the enactment of regulations and the provision of incentives designed to increase the use of biofuels.
However, there are significant barriers restricting almost all pathways to developing and producing sustainable fuels that can replace the petroleum-based products that the world’s economies and transportation systems have utilised so freely for so long. Perhaps the most disappointing of these is that the lifecycle GHG emissions savings resulting from the use of some alternative fuels are not as significant as first hoped and in some cases even appear to be worse than using conventional petroleum fuels. Furthermore, the enormous areas of land required to cultivate sufficient biofuels crops are simply not available and the clearing of rain forests or peat land to provide more agricultural land is counterproductive to the espoused goal of reducing GHG emissions.
Table of contents:
Executive summary
Introduction
Market drivers
The global oil and gas supply
Energy security
Carbon dioxide emissions regulations
Europe
The United States
Japan
Other countries
Toxic emissions regulations
Ethanol
Butanol
Biodiesel
Gas-to-liquids diesel
Dimethyl ether (DME)
Natural gas (NG)
Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)
Regulations requiring biofuels use
Europe
The United States
Other countries
Incentives
The United States
The European Union
Market barriers
Production volumes
Supply infrastructure
Actual greenhouse gas emissions reductions
Biofuels
Bioethanol
Biobutanol
Biodiesel
Natural gas
Liquefied petroleum gas
Hydrogen
Synthetic fuels
Overview
Reduced fuel storage and operating range
Competition with food
Market dynamics and forecasts
Alcohols
Biodiesel
Liquefied petroleum gas
Natural gas
Hydrogen
Alternative fuels
Algal biofuels
Cyanobacterial biofuels
Alcohols
Methanol
Ethanol
Blends
Ethanol-capable vehicles
Butanol
Biodiesel
Properties
Feed-stocks
Blends
Environmental issues
New production processes
Biogasoline
Dimethyl ether
Hydrogen
Liquefied petroleum gas
Natural gas
Compressed natural gas
Liquefied natural gas
Biogas
Methane hydrates
Hythane
Gas to liquids (GTL)
Indirect via methanol
Fischer-Tropsch
Coal to liquids
Waste to liquids (WTL)
Carbon dioxide to fuel
Vegetable oils
