Many companies are already able to produce a litre of ethanol from waste at a lower cost than producing a litre of petrol from crude oil. As waste is practically a ‘free’ feedstock, the impetus to turn waste into fuel will only grow as the price of crude oil rises.
Concerning the scale of the opportunity for fuel substitution (UK only), we would like to present the following figures, which are admittedly fairly rough estimates in several cases (though we would be happy to share our workings with anyone interested):
- Agricultural waste 30 million tonnes per annum (more if push came to shove and it was actively sought out)
- Green or garden waste 14 million tonnes per annum (more if push came to shove etc)
- Municipal or household waste (organic only) 40m tonnes per annum
If we consider that certain waste to bio-fuel technologies, such as that being pursued by Ineos Bio (www.ineosbio.com) , are able to convert waste plastics also, then we could add another 30m tonnes to our total. Total applicable waste is probably somewhere in the region of 110 million tonnes. This would convert into 3.5 billion litres of fuel, based upon current conversion rates applicable to the waste to bio-fuel technology. In 2009 (latest available figures from the DTEE) the total consumption of diesel and petrol by all road vehicles in the UK was around 30 billion litres.
Every ten percent of available waste converted into fuel would therefore represent slightly more than a percentage point of petrol/diesel substitution. Where fuel price reduction and emission reduction meet: we should see momentum.
Tags: Bio-fuel
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