The South Africa National Energy Research Institute (SANERI) has announced biofuels as the country’s most viable short-term option for alternative transport fuel.
SANERI, a joint collaboration of the Department of Science and Technology and the Department of Minerals and Energy, found that biodiesel reduced CO2 emissions up to 78%.
SANERI program manager for green transport, Dr. Titus Mathe, compared biodiesel to petrol and diesel, but noted production had to be monitored to ensure food crops or farm areas for food crops were not being exhausted.
Meanwhile, Mathe explained that hydrogen was considered a long-term solution as it offers zero emissions, but greenhouse gases and toxic emissions were released during the production and transportation of the fuel. “This does not mean that we should stop with they hydrogen research, already there is research and development strategies looking at the cost of producing generic hydrogen,” he said.
“Going into the future, there is going to be a shortage of liquid fuels. There are plans to increase the capacity of liquid fuels, but hopefully the production of alternative fuels would help in mitigating the situation.”