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FACTBOX - Key Facts on Biodiesel, Ethanol |
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Written by Cameron Little
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Saturday, 01 October 2005 |
from Planet Ark and Reuters News Service...
FACTBOX - Key Facts on
Biodiesel,
Ethanol
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USA:
September 30, 2005
Minnesota on Thursday enacted a law requiring the
state's diesel fuel to be
comprised of 2 percent biodiesel, part of a drive
in the United States and
elsewhere in the world to encourage the use of
"green" fuel.
Here are some key facts about biodiesel and
ethanol:
* Biodiesel, which works in any diesel engine, is a clean-burning
fuel
derived from any fat or vegetable oil. About 90 percent of US biodiesel
is
made from soybean oil. It takes roughly 7 pounds (about 3.2 kg) of
soybean
oil to make one gallon (about 3.8 liters) of diesel.
*
Ethanol, an alcohol most often made from grains and sugar cane, is
blended
with gasoline to reduce tailpipe emissions in cars and
trucks.
* Biodiesel production capacity in Europe, mainly in Germany and
France, has
risen sharply as countries try to reduce carbon dioxide emissions
and cut
the bloc's dependence on fuel imports. The EU in 2004 set a target
that
fuels should contain 5.75 percent of biofuels in 2010.
* Brazil
is the world's leading producer and exporter of ethanol, derived
from its
huge sugarcane crop. It already blends its domestic gasoline with
25 percent
ethanol and is looking to US, Japanese and Indian markets to
boost
exports.
* In the United States, the second-largest biofuel producer
after Brazil,
hundreds of major truck fleets use biodiesel including all
branches of the
US military, NASA, several state departments of
transportation and public
utility fleets.
* China, the world's
second-largest energy consumer, is also the
third-largest ethanol producer.
The Philippines encourages use of coconut
oil for biodiesel.
* The
International Energy Agency estimates that under the most optimistic
scenario
ethanol could make up 10 percent of world gasoline by 2025.
Sources:
Reuters; International Energy Agency.
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE |
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