Rail Users Ireland Forum - View Single Post - Bio-fuel

MrX · 01-09-2007, 10:05

Well, it depends really. In Europe there is a significant amount of land in 'set aside' (non productive) use at the moment which could be used for biofuels. In a country like Ireland, it should be possible to grow enough to at least deal with a % of our own fuel market.

We need to be very careful to read facts on this issue and avoid spin that's coming from vested interests in the oil industry determined to slow the rollout of such technologies. There's an equally over-optimistic green lobby who may not be entirely dealing in facts either. So, if you're reading articles remember that the reality is somewhere in the middle.

Biofuel, as sold by maxol sources its bioethanol from the cheese industry! They're using formerly waste products from cheese production to produce it.
There is plenty of possibility of using other food waste to produce fuel etc. and a serious chance that we could use sugar beet as a reasonable source of bioethanol in Ireland.

Of course here's a risk that fuel crops could squeeze out food crops in developing countries, but that risk already exists for cotton, flax, and various oil-crops which don't really benefit the local economies in terms of producing food.

It'll all depend on how ethically sourced and produced these fuels are. Personally, I would like to see European and American farmers producing fuel. They're a far more reasonable group to deal with, and far more ethical than some of the unstable and oppressive regimes that control the majority of the world's oil fields. Biofuel may actually be the start of a the western world no longer being totally dependent on oil from unstable regions like the middle east.

As for Irish rail, I can't see much of a problem with their newer equipment being switched to bio fuels. As for the locomotives, bigger engines are often far easier to switch than small highly tuned engines like ones in your car. So, I am sure the manufacturer of the 201s could come up with a solution to allow them to burn a biodiesel mix if the funds were made available. It's a case of this being very much a technology in development.
Virgin is pumping money into biofuels for trains and also investigating using it for aviation on Virgin Atlantic!

If you're keen on using it yourself and you drive, consider buying a flexifuel / biopower car next time. There's a huge tax break for doing so and the cost per L is lower. Also, some of the cars actually perform BETTER on bioethanol than on petrol!!! So, you literally get more bang for your buck!

Btw: Maxol sells E5 (5% Biofuel 95% petrol) which CAN be used in normal cars.
and E85 - (85%bioethanol) which is used in cars like the ford and volvo flexifuel, Saab Biopower and a few others.

01-09-2007, 10:05	#4
MrX Really Regular Poster Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 585	Well, it depends really. In Europe there is a significant amount of land in 'set aside' (non productive) use at the moment which could be used for biofuels. In a country like Ireland, it should be possible to grow enough to at least deal with a % of our own fuel market. We need to be very careful to read facts on this issue and avoid spin that's coming from vested interests in the oil industry determined to slow the rollout of such technologies. There's an equally over-optimistic green lobby who may not be entirely dealing in facts either. So, if you're reading articles remember that the reality is somewhere in the middle. Biofuel, as sold by maxol sources its bioethanol from the cheese industry! They're using formerly waste products from cheese production to produce it. There is plenty of possibility of using other food waste to produce fuel etc. and a serious chance that we could use sugar beet as a reasonable source of bioethanol in Ireland. Of course here's a risk that fuel crops could squeeze out food crops in developing countries, but that risk already exists for cotton, flax, and various oil-crops which don't really benefit the local economies in terms of producing food. It'll all depend on how ethically sourced and produced these fuels are. Personally, I would like to see European and American farmers producing fuel. They're a far more reasonable group to deal with, and far more ethical than some of the unstable and oppressive regimes that control the majority of the world's oil fields. Biofuel may actually be the start of a the western world no longer being totally dependent on oil from unstable regions like the middle east. As for Irish rail, I can't see much of a problem with their newer equipment being switched to bio fuels. As for the locomotives, bigger engines are often far easier to switch than small highly tuned engines like ones in your car. So, I am sure the manufacturer of the 201s could come up with a solution to allow them to burn a biodiesel mix if the funds were made available. It's a case of this being very much a technology in development. Virgin is pumping money into biofuels for trains and also investigating using it for aviation on Virgin Atlantic! If you're keen on using it yourself and you drive, consider buying a flexifuel / biopower car next time. There's a huge tax break for doing so and the cost per L is lower. Also, some of the cars actually perform BETTER on bioethanol than on petrol!!! So, you literally get more bang for your buck! Btw: Maxol sells E5 (5% Biofuel 95% petrol) which CAN be used in normal cars. and E85 - (85%bioethanol) which is used in cars like the ford and volvo flexifuel, Saab Biopower and a few others. Last edited by MrX : 01-09-2007 at 10:10.