Future Fuels and Transport

Welcome to the EI Future Fuels and Transport Special Interest Group (SIG). This SIG provides a single platform for access information on this topic as well as a forum for discussion, which non EI members can access via guest registration (EI members are automatically able to post on the forum). 

Through this SIG, you will be able to:

• Find a wide range of reference material on relevant issues
• Find out about relevant events, conference and seminars
• Keep abreast of the latest developments in the field
• Engage with the energy community and professional practitioners
• Identify relevant training and professional development opportunities
• Access expert support for your research activities from the EI's professional librarians.

Interest in alternative fuels has really burgeoned over recent years as concerns about the future availability of conventional oil-derived fuels have become more plausible and immediate. The other great driver  of the renewed interest is the possibility that more fuel can be derived closer to its point of use giving rather greater supply security and rather more independence from the holders and producers of conventional hydrocarbons.

However, when we talk of future fuels or alternative fuels a wide range of topics are covered ranging from conventional hydrocarbon fuels derived from unconventional sources such as the Canadian tar sands to fuels derived from plant materials. Similarly in terms of transport we range from looking at vehicles and engines that can utilise alternative fuels with little or no adaptation and modification all the way to transport solutions that require wholly new approaches.

As it is likely that the newer fuels will have only limited coverage and availability as the markets build up vehicle engines will need to have great flexibility in terms of the fuels and fuel qualities they can utilise. Already we have flex-fuel vehicles that can cope with gasoline/alcohol mixtures from pure gasoline to 85% alcohol. Diesel engines were originally designed to operate on plant derived diesel so providing a similar flexibility to flex-fuel engines should be quite practical. For the moment cold starting properties are the limiting factor in terms of the proportion of alcohol or biodiesel that can be added.

In terms of transport fuels the expectation is that oil derived fuels - gasoline/petrol, diesel/automotive gas oil, jet kerosene and Avgas as well as marine diesel oil and marine fuel oil will continue as the predominant fuels in their current markets. Equally it is to be expected that these fuels will be improved and enhanced by advanced refining techniques and more stringent environmental specifications.

Increasingly, however, they will be joined by biofuels used neat or as extenders, by fuel cells operating on a variety of fuels and eventually on hydrogen, once economic and effective ways of generating and storing hydrogen have been identified. Production of biofuels is already expanding rapidly and the European Union (EU) has already mandated their use as an extender for gasoline and diesel. For biofuels the great challenge going forward is to make them more competitive (at the moment only cane-derived alcohol is fully competitive) and to move away from the use of foodstuffs to sources where there is no food-fuel competition.

Gas-to-liquids (GTL) is an established technology which is able to provide ultra high cetane diesel with index levels in the 70-75 range. The attraction of these is that they can either be used neat in ultra efficient or ultra powerful diesel engines or blended with low cetane number gas oil to provide a conventional diesel in rather greater quantities.

The next fuel generating technology is likely to be coal-to-liquids (CTL). Although the technology is available it requires development to make it efficient and environmentally acceptable. The near limitless availability of coal and the ability to make a range of transport fuels means CTL will become an important source of future fuels.

This whole area is now very fast moving which is why a Special Interest Group is particularly appropriate. The Energy Institute through its two publications Petroleum Review and Energy World has already provided considerable coverage of these topics. The aim of the SIG is to provide a source of reliable information and a forum to take the debate forward.