July 14, 2017

Biofuels: waste, waffle or worth it?

If the UK is to hit its goal of 80% carbon reduction by 2050, all possible low-carbon technologies and fuels will be needed.  We have a number of solutions for low carbon electricity generation but fossil fuels are still deeply embedded in other sectors, such as shipping and aviation.

While they have been enthusiastically adopted in some countries, notably Brazil, first generation biofuels manufactured from crops like corn have proved controversial. There have been concerns that increased demand for crops drives the conversion of land to agriculture, with the consequent risks of an increase in deforestation, drainage of peatlands, loss of biodiversity, as well as associated usage of freshwater, fertilisers and pesticides.

Speakers:

Prof. Adisa Azapagic FREng, Professor of Sustainable Chemical Engineering, The University of Manchester (Chair of the Academy’s biofuels working group)

Prof. Roger Kemp MBE FREng, Professorial Fellow, Lancaster University

Prof. Nilay Shah FREng FRSE, Professor of Process Systems Engineering, Director of the Centre for Process Systems Engineering (CPSE), and Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London