Enthusiastic (C-level) leader, innovator and scientist with a proven track record in successfully building, scaling and leading sizeable businesses in the biotech and chemical industry.
Biofuels remain central to transportation decarbonization By far most human global CO2 emissions are caused by burning fossil fuels. Scientifically accepted and more and more obvious to all of us, resulting climate change is finally top on UNs agenda. The transition away from fossil fuels is without alternative, luckily a growing number of potential technologies to achieve that transition are becoming available. One already available option today is bioethanol, first generation from corn, but increasingly from second generation, i.e., agricultural or household waste materials. A necessary increasing addition of that bioethanol to fossil fuel is technically feasible, as engine and car manufacturers work on delivering more and more solutions for the additional requirements of a blended fuel such as E30 or E85. Today, E15 is widely sold in the US, mandatory E25 and even E100 in Brazil. The goal is to achieve carbon neutral fuels, but to create the technical prerequisites, the involved industries require planning security. A simple ban of combustion engines is contra productive for further innovations, in addition is creates challenges in other areas. It becomes more and more clear, that pure electrical cars will not lead to net zero emissions over their lifespan of 12 to 15 years. Therefore, all technologies must be kept and developed further for a transition phase lasting definitely longer than the mid-2030s. A smart alternative may also be a Plug-In Hybrid Flex Fuel (E85) vehicle recently presented by RFA, showing overall lower emissions than e-cars. In addition to ground transportation fuels, bioethanol will play a crucial role in producing sufficient aircraft fuel – sustainable aviation fuel, SAF – as todays solutions based on waste oils will run into limitations in the next years. Especially mid-to-long distance flights will thereby dramatically reduce their emissions, another transport sector responsible for 2.5% global CO2 emissions. These emissions are however produced in a climate sensitive environment, contributing over-proportionally to global warming. Our mid-term efforts to decarbonize transportation will remain dependent on all available technologies. https://lnkd.in/g86Ne3kt
