1. The current situation of biofuels in the European Union
Biofuels represent a renewable remedy for fossil transportation fuels such as petrol and diesel. To date, the predominant alternative energies employed in the transportation sector can be categorized into three types namely biodiesel, biogas and bioethanol. There is a vast and stupendous variety of feedstock suitable for the production of biofuels. Nonetheless, sugar beet, wheat, maize and rapeseed oil constitute the majority of resources utilized in the EU by virtue of their domestic disposability. Due to the fact that the general utilization of biogas is at present limited and bounded to Sweden, this report will capitalize on the widespread alternatives of biodiesel and bioethanol.
1.1. Production and consumption patterns in the European Union
In 2003, the launch of extensive and sweeping reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) marked a watershed event for a sustainable European agriculture. Thus the formerly reluctant production of biofuels ceased to continue and ushered in the emergence of the biofuel industry. The figures [Annex 1] illustrate the accretive importance of the biodiesel production in the EU. With an initial output of almost one million tons of biodiesel in 2000, this volume has quintupled during the last six years. Germany, Italy and France were instrumental in this development. Contrary to the sound and stable performance of biodiesel, bioethanol takes a back seat in the member states. It accounts for about one sixth of the biodiesel output.
The rationale for the superiority of biodiesel to bioethanol in the EU is twofold. First and foremost, there is an elevated demand for fossil-based diesel in the EU which translates ...