Greenhouse gas abatement optimal deployment of biofuels from crops in Germany

• Published in: Transportation research. Part D, Transport and environment Transport and environment, 2019-04, Vol.69, p.265-275
• Main Authors: Millinger, M., Meisel, K., Thrän, D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biofuels; GHG; Greenhouse gas abatement; Land use; Optimization; Transport
• ISSN: 1361-9209; 1879-2340
• DOI: 10.1016/j.trd.2019.02.005

[Display omitted] •Greenhouse gas optimised deployment of crop based biofuels across transport sectors.•A switch to gaseous fuels increases abatement by up to a factor of five per land unit.•If gaseous fuels are not feasible, liquefied options in goods and shipping sectors are best.•Aviation biofuels optimal only when other sectors covered by renewables.•Current biofuel quota policy results in much lower abatement than optimal use. The optimal role of biofuels from energy crops for greenhouse gas (GHG) abatement in the German transport sectors is investigated under different progressive long-term scenarios, from a set arable land area corresponding to current use. The sectors included are land passenger and goods transport, shipping and aviation. The GHG abatement from the same land area can be increased by a factor of five through switching to higher yielding biofuel options. Silage maize based biomethane and wood based Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG), in either gaseous or liquefied form are the options with the highest GHG abatement potential per arable land unit, and thus markets where such fuels are an option should be prioritised. Sector fuel restrictions combined with fuel yields resulted in the land passenger sector to be the first priority for maximising GHG abatement, followed by land goods transport, shipping and finally aviation. Only when the previous sectors have been covered by renewable options do the following become relevant and thus a large transition is required before aviation biofuels or any liquid advanced biofuel become the climate optimal use of biomass. Applying admixture quotas to sub-sectors yields a lower GHG abatement than an optimal strategy.