I have been eagerly awaiting your report and could not agree more that the diversion of agricultural land to bio fuel production is not a sustainable option. Although I must admit my surprise at the lack of discussions regarding waste to fuel possibilities.
Recently I have been researching a viable solution for the MSW presently land filled in Gloucestershire and have come up with a proposal to provide a steam reformer capable of producing over 200,000,000 litres of methanol per year.
Should this principal be applied to the whole of the UK it would equate to over 20,000,000,000 litres per annum. Whilst methanol is an excellent means of storing hydrogen it still has draw backs for internal combustion usage in that it is corrosive, but this is not a problem when used with solid oxide fuel cells. Whilst I haven't yet modelled the potential electrical output capable it would most certainly contribute a significant percentage to the electrical requirement of the UK.
This is obviously only a partial solution and an eventual bio solution would need to be found to complement other sustainable means notably hydro electric.
My company Taylor Made Marine is involved in several research projects in both alternative propulsion (electric and wind)and fuels and believe that there is a huge untapped resource that could provide a long term sustainable solution for a grown bio feed stock.
This solution does not need to pollute our water ways with nitrogen based fertilizers, is not heavily oil dependant in its application and nor does it require vast amounts of deforestation; in fact it will contribute to the reduction of other problems.
I would like to discuss this further with yourselves and would be grateful for thoughts on this.
Best regards.
Nic Taylor
Last Modified: 09 Feb 2009