Biofuels for Road Transport: A Seed to Wheel Perspective provides a review of the history, the current status and the impact of biofuels used in road transport, across the full 'seed-to-wheel' life cycle of these fuels. Successive chapters cover many issues relevant to the current debate on biofuels, such as cost, competition with food production, contribution to energy security, use of natural resources, and environmental impact. The final chapter addresses common concerns about biofuels, including questions on sustainability and government policy.

Biofuels for Road Transport: A Seed to Wheel Perspective is a valuable reference for professional engineers, researchers and postgraduate students involved in biofuels, renewable energy (including bioenergy) and the automotive industry.

Zusammenfassung

Biofuels for Road Transport: A Seed to Wheel Perspective provides a review of the history, the current status and perspectives for biofuels used in road transport, across the full 'seed-to-wheel' life cycle of these fuels. Successive chapters cover the history of biofuels; the first- and second-generation liquid fuels and biofuels for powering electric vehicles; fossil fuel replacement, land requirement, greenhouse gas balances and environmental burdens of ethanol, esters derived from fatty acids ('biodiesel'), Fischer-Tropsch diesel and HTU diesel; competing technologies (fossil fuels, increases in energy-efficiency and photovoltaic power) and how they compare to biofuels; and the perspectives for biofuels. Cost, availability, technological development, competition with biomass for food and for soil organic carbon and environmental perspectives are also discussed.

Inhalt
Transport Biofuels: Their Characteristics, Production and Costs.- Energy Balance: Cumulative Fossil Fuel Demand and Solar Energy Conversion Efficiency of Transport Biofuels.- Non-energy Natural Resource Demand.- Climate Effects and Non-greenhouse Gas Emissions Associated with Transport Biofuel Life Cycles.- The Impact of Expanded Biofuel Production on Living Nature.- Frequently Asked Questions in the Transport Biofuel Debate.