Biofuels: and Virgin Express

• Jun. 5 by Oliver Appleby (0)

Richard Branson’s Virgin trains are now using Biodiesel as their primary source of energy in the hope to cut down on their carbon emmissions.

Biodiesel fuel is similar to diesel gasoline but is made from a blend of diesel and natural renewable resources like corn maize.

Greenergy, the company providing the fuel to Virgin, uses rapeseed oil, palm oil and soybean oil in its biodiesel blend. Approximately 70% of the crops are grown in the UK and the rest from the US or Asia.

Virgin has pledged to invest 100% of any profits made by its train and plane companies, for the next ten years, into

developing clean fuels.

The problem lies in that anti ethanol campaigners feel that the possible mass switch to biofuels will be swapping one devil for another, taking up harvests much needed to end worldwide starvation.

It’s certainly worthy of debate,” said Branson.

“If you take sugar-based biofuels sugar is not an essential food. Actually right now sugar is at an all time low in terms of price and there’s a glut.

“There’s an awfully long way to go before it starts damaging food prices. Corn-based ethanol in America certainly has pushed up corn prices somewhat but I don’t think it’s eating into the food supply.

“At the moment I don’t believe that it’s a major danger. The important thing is that you’re pioneering clean fuels which will be replaced by cellulose fuels [derived from] grass, waste and willow trees and possibly synthetic products as well.

“Getting this industry going is important to the environment.”

I spoke to George Tesseris, anti ethanol campaigner running stopethanol.blogspot.com who feels the use and impacy of biofuels in this instance is not fully thought out “I think Branson is misguided. The best way to protect environment? Stabilize the earth’s population through economic development of poor countries” and directed me towards research done by Mark Jacobson of Stanford Civ Eng.

Biofuels remain a controversial issue, no longer the savious many had predicted although if rulesd are created and maintained to ensure sensible harvesting, use and production they may well be a second chance to get global energy legislation right and provide healthy sustainable production methods for efficient energy use.