Is A Century Old Biofuel The Answer?

Conservationists are troubled about the production of the biofuel Ethanol.It's true that it does decrease dependency on increasingly scare fossil fuel resources, however acres of often virgin land have to be given over to its production.Those are usually found by felling forests, clearing vast swathes of precious habitat or supplanting other equally important, but less profitable, food crops.Growing crops specifically to generate biofuel could therefore have environmental consequences even more catastrophic than the damage already done by the continuing use of fossil fuels.

It's not just the Greens who are interested in solving this dilemma. The motor industry, including contract hire companies, are just as keen on reaching a sustainable long term solution in order to remain in business. Research continues into hybrid vehicles and the alternatives of all electric cars or hydrogen-fuelled cars. Major manufacturers are now investing substantial sums in ongoing development and it may only be a few years before Audi contract hire choices include a hydrogen fuel cell powered hatchback. BMW too has ripped the petrol-heart from the Mini and replaced it with batteries and an electric motor so BMW contract hire may also include similar zero emission options in the near future. The eco-friendly Nissan Leaf is already garnering much praise and will be built at Nissan's plant in Sunderland by 2013.

However, a highly calorific liquid fuel remains more convenient to store and distribute and Butanol may be the answer. Not only does Butanol gives 30% more power output than Ethanol, but scientists in Scotland have also produced it in what could be commercial quantities by adapting a 100 year old technique.What's more, they've used existing waste products from the Scotch whisky industry for the process, so it does not impinge on virgin land.Using waste products is more environmentally sustainable than growing crops to generate biofuel and it's reckoned that this process could contribute as much as 10% of total fuel sales in the UK by 2020.