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E4tech’s report on the UK’s renewable transport fuel goals was selected by Biofuels Digest as one of five biofuels reports “worth getting now”. “Development of illustrative scenarios describing the quantity of different types of bioenergy potentially available to the UK transport sector in 2020, 2030 and 2050” was compiled for UK Department for Transport and was suggested by Biofuels Digest for those serving the UK market, or developing projects in the EU. It is available for free from here.

All of us at E4tech wish you all the happiness this season can bring. We look forward to a successful 2012! ***Because the season of goodwill has arrived and sustainability comes in many forms, we continue to make donations in lieu of sending paper cards. This year our three chosen charities are Oxfam, SolarAid and Friends of India.***

Recent E4tech work for UK Department for Transport (DfT) shows that EU Renewable Energy Directive sustainability thresholds could constrict availability of biodiesel by 2020. Beyond then, overcoming market barriers and freeing up land areas globally could dramatically increase the availability of energy crops for lignocellulosic biofuels. This is despite increasing global competition for bioenergy in the heat, power and industry sectors. E4tech’s work assessed potential bioenergy uptake scenarios in the UK transport sector to 2050.

Life cycle analysis (LCA) is entering the lexicon of building designers, who until recently only scrutinised carbon and other emissions for buildings in service. LCA is already commonly used in ‘well to wheels’ calculations of CO2 from vehicle fuels. E4tech has been closely involved in the development of regulations for biofuels LCA and is now applying the lessons learned to buildings, where it is also active as both consultancy and software developer. A newly published paper by E4tech consultants in the journal Energy provides an introduction to LCAs, reviews trends in their use for bioenergy, compares these with the analysis included in building standards, and suggests changes the use of the methodology may undergo in the building sector.

E4tech’s work on Indirect Land Use Change and Biofuels has been recognised by a panel of leading figures from the world of low carbon vehicles and fuels. The report for the UK Department of Transport was Runner-up out of a list of eight finalists for the Low Carbon Report of the Year in the 2011 LowCVP Carbon Champions Awards. The panel of 28 experts praised E4tech’s work for its groundbreaking approach to the topic of land use change, providing an important contribution to the ongoing debate about the sustainability of biofuels.

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