23 Jun 08
BP focusing on biofuels
The rise in petrol prices and the stranglehold that Opec has on prices means that the need for alternative forms of fuel to power cars is becoming more acute. Western countries need to be independent of areas of political instability that are currently responsible for the supply of oil and the effect fossil fuels have on the environment adds an extra dimension. You want oil? Fine, but you'll pay through the nose, be responsible for global warming and you'll probably have to go to war to continue getting it.
Beetle Sunfuel uses biofuel
BP told 4Car this week that it is concentrating its efforts on developing biofuels and a spokesman said that although the oil company has helped with trials using hydrogen-fuel buses in various cities around the world, it would be 'decades, rather than years' before hydrogen is available on a mass scale in fuel stations.
The BP spokesman added: 'Conventional fuels compress easier and are easier to transport than hydrogen. So much more volume is required to deliver hydrogen. We think the biofuels journey is just about to start. There is a debate over whether they compromise food stocks, but you can make biofuels from long grasses. There is a clear way forward but that said, we still think fossils fuels will still be around for decades to come.'
But will they? Ten years ago oil was priced at $12 a barrel - it's around $130 now, so surely soaring prices will accelerate the demise of fossil fuels? The BP spokesman argued that this is a moot point, adding: 'We can't predict the future.'
