23 Jun 08
Biofuel is land-hungry
Regardless of the fuel companies' current loyalty to oil, the fact is western governments don't want to be held over a barrel (of oil). Biofuels represent something of a solution: ethanol derived from crops is a wonderful panacea - it's clean, the crops (mostly sugar cane and wheat) suck carbon dioxide out of the air during photosynthesis and you don't have to invade countries to go and get it.
However, while the likes of Brazil have been coping perfectly well on it for years, you need a lot of land to produce the amount of ethanol required by developed countries. The UK, for example, simply doesn't have the amount of agricultural land to meet demand and even if it tried, there is bound to be a knock-on effect on food production.
However, as more than 50% of hydrogen produced in the US is used to enhance the quality of petrol, the issue is not availability, but distribution. Companies such as BP have to show a commitment to make hydrogen work, but if they are throwing their resources at biofuels, it's hard to see hydrogen becoming a staple fuel within the next 20 years.
In Germany and Tokyo there are a handful of outlets that stock hydrogen and there will be hydrogen stations ready to supply the 200 FCX Claritys in California. But as Dr Mohrdieck said: 'This is all about infrastructure: it takes commitment from governments, car manufacturers and fuel companies to develop a proper transport and energy strategy to make this happen. They have to be in the game. It is a great opportunity and we have to seize it.'
