Open AccessGreenhouse gas emissions and abatement costs of biofuel production in S outh A frica
Author(s) -
Tomaschek Jan,
Özdemir Enver Doruk,
Fahl Ulrich,
Eltrop Ludger
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
gcb bioenergy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.378
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1757-1707
pISSN - 1757-1693
DOI - 10.1111/j.1757-1707.2011.01154.x
Subject(s) - biofuel , greenhouse gas , fossil fuel , environmental science , bioenergy , production (economics) , natural resource economics , waste management , agricultural economics , economics , engineering , ecology , biology , macroeconomics
Transport accounts for about one quarter of S outh A frica's final energy consumption. Most of the energy used is based on fossil fuels causing significant environmental burdens. This threat becomes even more dominant as a significant growth in transport demand is forecasted, especially in S outh A frica's economic hub, G auteng province. The S outh A frican government has realized the potential of biofuel usage for reducing oil import dependency and greenhouse gas ( GHG ) and has hence developed a N ational B iofuels I ndustrial S trategy to enforce their use. However, there is limited experience in the country in commercial biofuel production and some of the proposed crops (i.e. rapeseed and sugar beet) have not been yet cultivated on a larger scale. Furthermore, there is only limited research available, looking at the feasibility of commercial scale biofuel production or abatement costs of GHG emissions. To assess the opportunities of biofuel production in S outh A frica, the production costs and consumer price levels of the fuels recommended by the national strategy are analysed in this article. Moreover, the lifecycle GHG emissions and mitigation costs are calculated compared to the calculated fossil fuel reference including coal to liquid ( CTL ) and gas to liquid ( GTL ) fuels. The results show that the cost for biofuel production in S outh A frica are currently significantly higher (between 30% and 80%) than for the reference fossil fuels. The lifecycle GHG emissions of biofuels (especially for sugar cane) are considerably lower (up to 45%) than the reference fossil GHG emissions. The resulting GHG abatement costs are between 1000 and 2500 ZAR 2007 per saved ton of carbon dioxide equivalent, which is high compared to the current E uropean CO 2 market prices of ca. 143 ZAR 2007 t −1 . The analysis has shown that biofuel production and utilization in S outh A frica offers a significant GHG ‐mitigation potential but at relatively high cost.