Rödl A. IEA Bioenergy Task 38 - case study: environmental assessment of liquid biofuel from woody biomass

Hamburg : Department of Wood Science, 2010. — 77 p.In view of climate change the objective of securing mobility without loading the atmosphere with additional carbon dioxide emissions is increasingly being regarded. In this context liquid biofuels from renewable resources became more and more popular in recent years. It is feared that first-generation biofuels from rapeseed, wheat or oil palm may cause worse environmental impacts than their fossil reference and may lead to an increase in food prices (Blanco-Fonseca et al. 2010). To avoid additional environmental burdens and occupancy of agricultural fields, the interest in so-called second-generation biofuels, produced from wastes, residues or non-food cellulosic material, arise. Fischer-Tropsch (FT) diesel as one of these second generation biofuels, made from cellulosic biomass, may prospectively gain in importance (Eisentraut 2010).
In 2009, the European Union set sustainability criteria for biofuels to be eligible for support (Directive 2009/28/EC). The European Commission has to provide updated default greenhouse gas impact values for future biofuels like FT diesel until the end of 2012. This illustrates the growing importance of second-generation biofuels and the need for assessing their environmental impacts.