Biotechnology: Making Biofuels More Sustainable - Europabio

Biotechnology:
Making Biofuels More Sustainable
To move towards a future with a sustainable energy supply and healthy consumer goods
production, every solution is important. For this reason, energy use must become more and more
efficient, production processes must be improved and the full potential of new technologies
must be realized. Industrial biotechnology with its competitive, clean and clever use of bio-based
technologies can play a key role in making biofuels more sustainable.
A sustainable energy supply is needed to keep Europe’s economy
growing, jobs safe, and ensure energy security. The need for EU
sourced fuels is evident. As prices are rising for oil, a knock on
effect can be felt in industries that rely heavily on imported oil
– including the transport, chemical and materials industries.
Long term alternatives are needed and biofuels (such as
ethanol, vegetable oil for biodiesel or new fuels like butanol or
syndiesel 1 ) can serve as a fuel and even be further transformed
into chemicals and materials. First generation biofuels, based on
sugar, starch or oil are a necessary first step to allow development
BIOFUELS BROCHURE
Biofuels contribute substantially to Europe’s Lisbon Strategy for growth and jobs
and establishment of second generation biofuels (lignocellulose
and waste based) and advanced biofuels.
A European Commission impact assessment 2 showed that -as a
result of the biofuels targets- the EU would see a 120,000 increase
in net employment and a 0.17% rise in the overall EU’s GDP,
assuming all biofuels are produced domestically from European
feedstocks. Finally, thanks to first and second generation biofuels,
European farmers will be able to live on their production rather
than receiving subsidies in exchange for lower production levels.
Biofuel technologies are able to manufacture biofuels from biomass. The OECD definition of biomass
is ‘any organic material, of plant and animal origin, derived from agricultural and forestry production
and resulting by-products, and industrial and urban wastes’.

BIOTECHNOLOGY: MAKING BIOFUELS MORE SUSTAINABLE
Measures must be put in place to ensure a sustainable energy supply.
The cost of not doing anything to develop biofuels now - or only looking
at solid biomass for electricity and heating - would be very expensive
for future generations. It would prevent the development of cheaper
and more eco-efficient advanced biofuels and mean continued and
expensive dependence on ever-scarcer fossil fuels.
Biofuels can contribute to the EU Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs 3 .
Studies have estimated that to meet the 2010 biofuels targets, 30,000
jobs will be created in France alone 4 . Biofuels and biorefineries can also
encourage rural development in the new Member States and serve
as a catalyst for the declining agricultural sector in Eastern Europe.
Moreover, the jobs created as a result of biorefinery development
demand a high level of education – taking advantage of Europe’s
highly educated population.
Biotechnology: An Essential Technology to Produce Competitive and Sustainable Biofuels
In order to achieve the goals of biofuel use set by the European Union,
which call for a replacement of liquid fuel from transportation by
5.75% in 2010 and 10% in 2020 in a sustainable and competitive
way, the available biomass in Europe will need to increase. Cultivating
energy crops on set-aside and non-cultivated land will help, but this
won’t be sufficient to fulfil all the demand. It will also be critical to
increase land productivity, meaning more biomass output per hectare,
as well as crop quality, meaning crops that produce more fermentable
carbohydrates or have a higher oil content. This can be done via plant
science, modern plant breeding techniques and biotechnology in
combination with state-of-the-art application of crop protection.
Another important step to increase the biofuel production will be the
competitive production of biofuels from (hemi)cellulose and organic
agricultural waste instead of from starch, sugar and oils. These are the
second generation biofuels. Innovation in industrial biotechnology,
especially the development of enzymes that can convert (hemi)
cellulose with improved efficiency is key to the development of second
generation biofuels.
First generation biofuel is produced by fermenting plant-derived sugars to ethanol, using a similar process to
that used in beer and wine-making, or by converting plant-oils to biodiesel. It requires crops such as sugar cane,
corn, wheat, oil seed rape or sugar beet. Although the GHG reduction potential of first generation biofuels may
be lower than what can be expected from future technologies (second generation products), it is important
that a market for biofuel be established as soon as possible in order to attract the necessary investments and
to establish the infrastructure (production and logistics) in Europe. Improved farming technologies and next
generation processes, where biotechnology can play a major role, are needed to improve the eco-efficiency
of biofuel production.

Biotechnology is today one of the most effective and innovative tools
we have to meet European targets for biofuel use, while reducing the
adverse environmental impacts of transport, and limiting the impact of
the increased cultivated land. Biotechnological techniques can help to:
• Increase biomass yield per hectare while reducing the needs for
production inputs;
• Improve crop quality (higher biofuel yields);
• Reduce land-use competition through higher productivity and
reduced losses from biotic (insect, viruses, etc) and abiotic
(environmental such as drought, wind, salinity) stresses;
• Contribute to the cultivation of energy crops in areas with marginal
conditions;
• Develop efficient micro-organisms and enzymes to convert the
(hemi)cellulose to sugars, which can then be fermented into
biofuel.
Biotechnology leads
to more environmentally friendly biofuels
To stop the ever-increasing petrol consumption and ever-heightening
GHG emissions in the transport sector, there are few short to medium
term alternatives but to combine further leaps forward in automobile
fuel efficiency with biofuels. First generation biofuels can already be
blended with today’s fuels and used in existing cars, without the need
for major modifications in the vehicles.
Several studies have been published on the eco-efficiency of biofuels.
They found that CO 2 savings with the present biofuel technologies
are estimated to be between 20 and 80% compared with using
conventional petrol. This can increase to 90%- and higher - for
second generation biofuel such as cellulosic ethanol or syndiesel. High
productivity and energy feedstocks, less fuel intensive cultivation of
crops and low carbon conversion processes could further help us to
achieve this. These figures, however, depend largely on the feedstocks,
the conversion process and the impact of land use. A common
methodology needs to be agreed at the international level.
BIOFUELS BROCHURE
All plants contain cellulose and lignin. Ligno–
cellulose is a complex structure containing
carbohydrate. Cellulosic ethanol is made by freeing
the sugar molecules from cellulose using enzymes.
These sugars can then be fermented to produce
ethanol in a similar way to first generation bioethanol
production. Chemical conversion processes can also
be used to convert the lignocellulosic biomass into
syndiesel. The greenhouse gas emissions savings
for lignocellulosic biofuels are greater than those
obtained by first generation biofuels. It is currently
estimated that lignocellulosic biofuel has the
potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
by around 90% when compared with fossil
petroleum.

BIOTECHNOLOGY: MAKING BIOFUELS MORE SUSTAINABLE
While we need the first generation biofuels as a stepping stone to
develop a market and to achieve success with the second generation
biofuels, many experts agree that second generation feedstocks
will be more sustainable and more productive than first generation
feedstocks. In addition, second generation biofuels will also focus on
using residual non-food parts of current crops as well as other crops
that are not used for food purposes, such as switch grass, cereals that
bear little grain and more fibre, wood chips, etc.
While first generation biofuel processes are a useful
tool to mitigate green house gas emissions in the
transport sector, second generation biofuels will
supply a larger proportion of our fuel supply and
render production more sustainable, affordable,
and with greater environmental benefits.
References and Further Reading
1 Diesel obtained from gasification of biomass and chemical transformation
2 Biofuels Progress Report: Report on the progress made in the use of biofuels and other renewable fuels in the Member States of the
European Union – SEC(2006) 1721 http://ec.europa.eu/energy/energy_policy/doc/08_biofuels_progress_report_annex_en.pdf
3 EU Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs - COM (2005) 24 http://ec.europa.eu/growthandjobs/pdf/COM2005_024_en.pdf
4 Speech of Michel Barnier at INRA (French National Institute for Agricultural Research) http://agriculture.gouv.fr/sections/presse/discours/laboratoires-inra-site-d
Other factsheets in the series available on: http://www.europabio.org/Biofuels/Biofuels_about.htm
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April 2008