Abstract
As a result of anthropocentric climate change, there is an urgent need to decarbonize the supply of energy. Organic biomass, referred to as feedstock, can be converted into biofuels that have the potential to decarbonize transport. However, biofuels are typically not carbon neutral because the preparation of feedstocks and the production of biofuels require energy currently supplied by fossil fuels, which involve carbon emissions. This work aimed to bring biofuel research up to date with current UK policy of net zero carbon emissions by examining the volume of carbon-neutral advanced biofuels that could be produced from sustainable feedstocks generated in the UK. By analyzing relevant data, it is estimated that between 667 and 1,791 million litres (Mltr) of carbon-neutral biodiesel equivalent could be produced with the energy content of 22.7–60.9 PJ, corresponding to 8.1%–21.7% of current diesel consumption by heavy goods vehicles in the UK.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published article.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Energy Engineering
Volume 147 • Issue 4 • August 2021
Copyright
© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 11, 2020
Accepted: Mar 28, 2021
Published online: Jun 11, 2021
Published in print: Aug 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Nov 11, 2021
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Air pollution
- Biomass
- Business management
- Climate change
- Climates
- Electric power
- Emissions
- Energy engineering
- Energy sources (by type)
- Environmental engineering
- Fuels
- Highway and road management
- Highway transportation
- Highways and roads
- Infrastructure
- Non-renewable energy
- Petroleum
- Pollution
- Power supply
- Practice and Profession
- Renewable energy
- Sustainable development
- Transportation engineering
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