The world is not standing idly by as crude oil prices soar and oil resources dwindle. A plethora of factories are emerging to produce fuel from sugarcane, rapeseed, and other sources to replace crude oil.
Automakers are rolling out vehicles that run on “sugarcane gas” or “straw gas.” In Europe, the United States, Brazil, and China, a revolution in biofuel technology is underway.
The mad character from the classic tale “Gulliver’s Travels,” who created the sun by squeezing water from piles of cucumbers, is no longer a distant fantasy. The miraculous feats of ancient people have become a reality.
Scientists have successfully industrialized the production of fuel from plant oils, sugarcane, beets, wood chips, and even leftover straw from harvests. This groundbreaking technology is no longer confined to university experiments but is being applied widely in many countries around the world.
In Brazil, taxis no longer run on gasoline but have switched to ethanol produced from sugarcane. In Germany and the United States, drivers are lining up to buy fuel made from rapeseed oil. In China, the world’s largest biofuel plant has become operational, while in Graz, Austria, buses run on oil made from… McDonald’s French fries.
During the car race held in Le Mans in June 2005, the British team competed fiercely for 24 hours using fuel produced from various vegetable oils. Mr. Lew Fulton, a leading biofuel expert from the International Energy Agency (IEA), remarked that the shocks from rising crude oil prices have forced many countries to adopt groundbreaking strategies for finding alternative fuels to traditional gasoline and oil.
Investors have poured money into acquiring rights and implementing the latest technologies for producing fuel from plant sources. In the United States, Brazil, and Europe, the production of biofuels is skyrocketing. Mr. Lew Fulton believes that 2005 marks the beginning of a green fuel revolution.
The Race for Biofuel Production
Biofuel is a new field. However, in reality, it represents a return to our roots. In 1900, at an exhibition in Paris, the motor that garnered the most attention and became the most innovative product was the internal combustion engine powered by… peanut oil.
The inventor was the famous engine maker Rudolf Diesel, who predicted that plant-based fuels would be as important as fossil fuels. In the 1920s, automotive giant Henry Ford claimed that plant-based fuels, especially from sugarcane and soybeans, would replace liquid fuels from crude oil.
However, these predictions were soon forgotten as it was believed that abundant and cheap crude oil would meet the global demand for decades to come. Today, the reality is less optimistic than anticipated, with energy experts warning that by 2006, crude oil extraction will peak, after which reserves will gradually decline and prices will rise.
The most convincing evidence of concerns over dwindling oil resources came when U.S. President George W. Bush announced at the G7 summit in June that soybean fuel is becoming a very viable option for the U.S. and the world. In July, the President decided to double ethanol production and mandated that U.S. refineries mix ethanol into gasoline.
European countries have also started a race to build biofuel production plants. The European Union has mandated that every liter of gasoline sold must contain a few percent of ethanol. In Spain, the company Abengoa has completed the construction of four ethanol production plants.
The UK is also in the process of building a massive biofuel plant with a capacity of 100,000 tons of biofuel. In France, the government has announced plans to triple biofuel production to replace traditional gasoline and oil.
The New Fuel Tycoons
According to energy experts, new fuel sources—often referred to as “green gold”—can be extracted from any plant growing on our planet. In 30 countries, short-term industrial crops such as peanuts, sesame, cassava, soybeans, corn, sugarcane, millet, rapeseed, and potatoes are being cultivated to produce liters of fuel that can fully replace crude oil.
Energy experts assess this as a rich and inexhaustible fuel source, freeing humanity from fuel crisis fears. Brazil is becoming a biofuel powerhouse—dubbed the “Saudi Arabia” of biofuels—where ethanol production accounts for over 30% of liquid fuel output.
In Brazil, over 90% of cars and motorcycles run on biofuels derived from sugarcane and rapeseed. Fuel giants like BP and Shell have plans to invest $6 billion in Brazil to build ethanol production facilities from sugarcane. Germany is also becoming a biofuel leader with a production of 1.5 million tons and a 50% annual increase.
According to government projections, within five years, biofuel production will replace about 20% of traditional gasoline and oil. The governments of India and Thailand also plan to produce biofuels to replace 10% of gasoline and oil demand. Fortum Oil is constructing a biofuel plant for diesel engines in the suburbs of Helsinki, Finland.
Due to natural challenges, Japan has yet to produce its own biofuels, but it has signed long-term contracts with Brazil to import ethanol at a relatively low price—only $25 per barrel (with crude oil at $78 per barrel)—to replace 3% of its traditional gasoline and oil imports.
Automakers Get Involved
To capitalize on the profits of the biofuel era, automotive giant Ford has launched the FFV (Flexible Fuel Vehicle) engine that runs on both gasoline and ethanol. Not to be left behind, automakers such as General Motors (USA), Peugeot (France), and Volkswagen (Germany) have also introduced vehicles that run on ethanol or a gasoline-ethanol mix.
Mr. Wolgang Steiger, head of the biofuel research department, stated that in 2006, they would launch a vehicle engine running on an 80:20 gasoline-ethanol mix. Trucking companies are gradually replacing gasoline-powered trucks with vegetable oil-powered vehicles to cut costs. Mr. Dean Butler, director of Plymouth Transport, reported that by switching to ethanol instead of gasoline, they saved £4,000 over the past year.
A Future Within Reach
According to experts from the International Energy Agency (IEA), technology for producing biofuels as alternatives to gasoline and oil is advancing daily. In July 2005, the journal Science reported on a new technology that allows for the production of 2.2 energy units from one unit of plant material.
This marks significant progress compared to eight months earlier when one unit of plant material only yielded 1.4 energy units. Recently, Shell Oil has also invested in developing technology to produce 3,325 liters of sunfuel from one hectare of rapeseed, compared to the previous technology that yielded only 1,300 liters of oil.
Additionally, Shell is collaborating with Canada’s Iogen to develop technology for producing ethanol from straw leftover after harvest. It is expected that in 2008, a plant using this new technology will produce 200,000 tons of “straw gasoline” for automotive needs.
“These are solid foundations to affirm the initiation of a revolution in gradually replacing traditional gasoline and oil with biofuels,” stated Mr. Lew Fulton. He added that starting biofuel production programs also presents an opportunity for African countries to alleviate poverty, as they can grow cassava or sugarcane for the biofuel industry in exchange for wheat and rice.
