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Many EU-countries are planning a ban on sales of petrol and diesel cars starting 2030. Combustion engines running on bio fuels will probably stick around until

Many EU-countries are planning a ban on sales of petrol and diesel cars starting 2030. Combustion engines running on bio fuels will probably stick around until electric veichles cover all the fringe cases. Diesel engines won't go anywhere as they're needed for stuff like farming equipment, but they can run on bio-fuels aswell. Not to mention the fact that the European car fleet is relatively old and will take a long time to modernize. With no fast way to transition from fossil fuels to electric, I simply can't understand why we don't focus on synthetic fuels made with renewable energy, at least as a stop-gap solution.

Macha 5y ago
Are biofuels actually better if the problem you're trying to solve is carbon emissions? (And not just fossil fuel depletion)
- fogihujy 5y ago
  Yes and no. If done right, you can get bio-gas from old landfills and food waste, and that's gas that'll end up in the atmosphere anyway -- we might as well use it. Then there's the issue of growing crops for use as bio-fuel. In theory it's a renewable energy source, but in the real world it'll use valuable land that we will need for climate-friendly but inefficient organic farming for food.
pjerem 5y ago
Synthetic fuels emits the same carbon dioxide amounts than conventional fuels. I don’t see how this is helping to reduce emissions.
- fogihujy 5y ago
  Yeah, it would require a surplus of renewable energy to be worth it.
GordonS 5y ago
> Diesel engines won't go anywhere as they're needed for stuff like farming equipment Is there a reason tractors, combines etc couldn't be electric too? I don't know about the mega tractors of the massive farms of US and Canada, but at least here in Europe, tractor engines have surprisingly few horse powers.
- fogihujy 5y ago
  It's about hours per tank/recharge. They run pretty much 24/7 during spring and authumn. Filling the tank takes a few minutes while recharging a battery takes hours. I'm sure we'll get there at some point, but many farmers have equipment that are up to 50 years old. It's going to take many decades before it's all electric.

Macha 5y ago

Are biofuels actually better if the problem you're trying to solve is carbon emissions? (And not just fossil fuel depletion)

fogihujy 5y ago
Yes and no. If done right, you can get bio-gas from old landfills and food waste, and that's gas that'll end up in the atmosphere anyway -- we might as well use it. Then there's the issue of growing crops for use as bio-fuel. In theory it's a renewable energy source, but in the real world it'll use valuable land that we will need for climate-friendly but inefficient organic farming for food.

pjerem 5y ago

Synthetic fuels emits the same carbon dioxide amounts than conventional fuels. I don’t see how this is helping to reduce emissions.

fogihujy 5y ago
Yeah, it would require a surplus of renewable energy to be worth it.

GordonS 5y ago

> Diesel engines won't go anywhere as they're needed for stuff like farming equipment Is there a reason tractors, combines etc couldn't be electric too? I don't know about the mega tractors of the massive farms of US and Canada, but at least here in Europe, tractor engines have surprisingly few horse powers.

fogihujy 5y ago
It's about hours per tank/recharge. They run pretty much 24/7 during spring and authumn. Filling the tank takes a few minutes while recharging a battery takes hours. I'm sure we'll get there at some point, but many farmers have equipment that are up to 50 years old. It's going to take many decades before it's all electric.