Which is better between biofuels and fossil fuels?

Biofuels can have a smaller impact than fossil fuels if we consider the consumption of the fuel only, but when taking in account production, biofuels can actually be worse than fossil fuels in some cases!

Biofuel is made from organic material. It can be made from crops, wood or organic waste.

Fossil fuels like oil, gas or coal are formed by geological processes over long periods of time and stored deep underground.

We have to look at each stage of the fuel lifecycle to understand the full impact of each fuel.

Production stage:

Biofuel is made from organic materials (crops, trees, etc.) which capture CO2 while they grow, whereas fossil fuels don’t.

However, growing crops for biofuel can sometimes have a bigger environmental impact because of the need for land (deforestation), the pressure on water supply, and the pressure on food production (land used for biofuel instead of food production).

For example, palm oil biofuel has a carbon footprint 3x bigger than fossil fuel, due to deforestation.

Consumption stage:

When actually consuming the fuel (in a car, in a plane…), biofuels generate about 2x less CO2 than fossil fuels.

For the same amount of energy created, biofuels generate about 39g of CO2, whereas fossil fuels will generate about 75g of CO2.

What can we do?

There is no magic fuel, we need to reduce our amount of flights, only use cars when necessary, and choose greener ways of transportation like trains or bicycles for short trips.

For your home, switch to a renewable energy provider, instead of using gas or electricity produced from fossil fuels.

For more ideas on how to be more eco-friendly, visit our website and find hundreds of easy eco tips 🌿