Miscanthus New Zealand says renewable diesel can be competitive with fossil fuels

Miscanthus New Zealand says that small-scale renewable diesel production using 50,000 metric tons dry weight of forestry waste or biomass such as miscanthus could be produced at prices equal to current fossil fuel prices and locked in for 12 months at that price—as long as the rest of the supply chain was also locked into a similar contract. Though the article in Stuff says the technology has been tested in the US, the exact technology referred to wasn’t identified.

Professor Ralph Sims, director of Massey University’s Centre for Energy Research, said biofuels would have a role to play in moving towards net zero greenhouse gas emissions in both New Zealand and globally.

“The greenhouse gas emissions from using biofuels can be considerably lower than fossil fuels on a life-cycle basis,” Sims said.

“The carbon dioxide emitted from the combustion of biofuels in a vehicle is recycled through the succeeding crop so can be assumed to be neutral to the atmosphere. “

Source: BiofielsDigest and Stuff