Technology key to making biofuel more viable

(Picture credit: EMA)

With no alternative energy source in sight for decades to come, the aviation sector is turning to biofuel to meet emission reduction targets, and to date, 1,500 commercial flights have been made using bio-kerosene.

Issues remain, said Dr Christoph Weber, CEO of Jatrofuels AG, who spoke at a wide-ranging seminar on the outlook of biofuels in Asia during the Asian Future Energy Forum at SIEW 2012. These include the price of bio-kerosene compared with regular kerosene, the cost and scalability of production, and the stability of supply.

The biggest challenge, however, is the tight link between energy and food production. Dr Weber encouraged biofuel companies to put sustainability first, including the sustainability of food supply, while others mapped out solutions that could solve both environmental and land use problems.

Dr Scott Kennedy, Associate Dean for Research at the Masdar Institute, touched on how symbiotic production systems in bioenergy could be developed in the area of algae biofuel production.

With the world's increasing population and economic growth, he said, there is also rising demand for high protein diets, leading to growth in aquaculture and demand for fishmeal. To find a way to address the fishmeal demand and address landuse competition, new sustainable sources of feed are needed, while waste from aquaculture has to be managed efficiently.  Dr Kennedy proposed a system of using waste from aquaculture as fertiliser for algae plants used to produce biofuels.

He said that if such a scheme is successfully implemented in China, it could potentially create 20 million jobs in the sector, reduce China's oil imports by 10 percent, and cut down carbon emissions by up to 18 percent in the transport sector.

By :Pauline Pang, EMA