Features:

Creating a biofuels roadmap

25th September, 2007

Biofuel research is as old as the hills. Back in Roman times people sought to determine the effectiveness of different blends of olive oil for lighting lamps as well as food preparation. Today researchers have somewhat broader ambitions, investigating the building blocks for a new generation of biofuels, chemical intermediates, enzymes, pre-treatment and refining processes, as well as considering socio-economic and environmental implications. Europe boasts many centres of excellence built around the European Commission’s major research programmes termed FP6 and FP7 and other notable projects, and the US is also going from strength to strength.

US research has been stimulated by BP’s recent $500 million (€367 million) initiative over the next 10 years to establish a dedicated Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) attached to the University of California Berkeley with the National Laboratory of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

The EBI is designed to foster a new generation of researchers coupling biotechnology and energy production, and will encourage close interaction with leading biotech companies. The initial focus is on renewable fuels from existing and new crop plants. But the EBI will also address allied areas for improved recovery, conversion and carbon sequestration. BP is to deploy about 50 company scientists and technologists on the two US campuses to work with the academics.

European initiatives

The European Commission recognises the need for a well coordinated strategy for the production of biofuels, but it is a struggle to find a way round the maze of projects within academia, government and private research organisations. The proposed European Technology Platform for Biofuels should help introduce more clarity for strategy, particularly in the transport sector. EU know-how and scientific excellence is currently dispersed around nation states with widely differing levels of coordination. Given the express aim for significant fossil fuel replacement in accordance with EU Directive 2003/30/EC, and the desire to improve the greenhouse gas balance, European-wide R&D initiatives are likely to gather pace. New initiatives are constantly being introduced with call for interested parties.

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