Benefits of bio fossil fuels over standard fossil fuels
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Negligible processing to be done before use in existing car and lorry engines so uses less energy. |
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Less transportation costs from remote oil rigs to local petrol pumps. |
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Reduction in dependency on foreign states. |
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Cheaper than discovering then digging fossil fuels out of the ground. |
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More carbon neutral creation of fuels. Carbon dioxide and water are converted into fuel by the bacteria. The bacteria still need to be fed with food which is not carbon neutral. |
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Fossil fuels are irreplaceable and have a limited supply, bio-fossil-fuels can produce unlimited amounts of fuel. |
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Normal fossil fuels contain impurities that cost a lot to remove, or are left in and cause reductions in performance and/or are released into the atmosphere and breathed in. |
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Bio fossil fuels help meet international environmental targets |
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Negatives of bio fossil fuels compared to standard fossil fuels
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Bio fossil fuels are not developed enough to be commercially viable or produce enough quantity for widespread use (yet). |
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The supply chain for standard fossil fuels is already established. |
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Unknown what will happen if the bacteria escape into the environment. |
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Bacteria still need to be fed with food which may not be environmentally efficient. |
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Fossil fuels may be more efficient at the moment. |
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Benefits of bio fossil fuels over standard bio-fuels
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Work with existing engines as the chemicals produced are identical. |
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No processing to be done before use so uses less energy. Current bio-methanol and bio-ethanol products cannot be used directly in most car or lorry engines. |
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No processing to be done before use so uses less un-necessary space, people and costs. |
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Current bio-fuels contain some impurities that cost a lot to remove, or are left in and cause reductions in performance and/or are put into the atmosphere and breathed in. |
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Bio fuels are typically created from converting plants used as "food" eg sugar beet, palm oil, rapeseed, wheat, soybean, sugar cane or corn. This reduces the amount of food available for human consumption and raises the prices of basic crops that the world's poor needs = poor food security. It also produces a lot of wasted parts of the plants eg roots, leaves and stems. |
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There is only a minimal amount of "cooking oil" that can be used as car fuel and not enough for sustained use. |
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Some current biofuels (eg hydrogen) are hard to contain safely. |
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Good arable land is given over to fuel production instead of food production. |
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Negatives of bio fossil fuels compared to bio fuels
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Bio fossil fuels are not developed enough to be commercially viable or produce enough quantity for widespread use (yet). |
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The supply chain for bio fuels is reasonably established. |
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Unknown what will happen if the bacteria escape into the environment. |
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Bacteria still need to be fed with food which may not be environmentally efficient and may be harmful to the food chain in the same way as other bio fuels. |
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Bio-fuels may be more efficient at the moment. |
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Benefits of bio fossil fuels compared to existing green electric energy (wind, wave and solar power, nuclear energy)
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Work with existing engines without needing to change to electric engines. |
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Bio fossil fuels can be located almost anywhere geographically without effecting the supply chain. |
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Wind and wave turbines tend to be in places which are controversial and have problems with planning. The most efficient locations are often the most unsuitable for other reasons. |
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Nuclear energy has very long term implications. |
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Negatives of bio fossil fuels compared to existing green energy (wind, wave and solar power, nuclear energy)
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Bio fossil fuels are not developed enough to be commercially viable or produce enough quantity for widespread use (yet). |
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No processing to be done before use so uses less energy. Electric distribution systems are very efficient and already in place. |
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Unknown what will happen if the bacteria escape into the environment. |
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Bacteria still need to be fed with food which may not be environmentally efficient. |
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Green electric energy may be more efficient. |
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