CEESA 100% Renewable Energy Transport Scenarios towards 2050: Technical Background Report Part 2

This background report describes on the different fuel pathways for the transport sector were created and compared. The study highlights the unique issues that need to be resolved for the transport sector such as the large growth in demand, the need for energy-dense fuels, and the concerns about the availability of sustainable resources.

The results indicate that electricity should be prioritised as much as is economically possible in the transport sector, which is primarily for cars and rail. Other modes, such as trucks, ships, and aeroplanes will require fuels with a high energy density. Replacing oil in these modes with existing biofuels is likely to result in an over-consumption of biomass, thus resulting in an unsustainable solution. In this study, new electrofuel pathways are created outlining how electricity can be combined with biomass to create new fuels for these modes.

The amount of electrofuel that can be incorporated into the energy system in the future will be very dependent on the technological develop of some key technologies, such as biomass gasification, carbon capture and recycling, and electrolysers, as well as on the amount of sustainable biomass that can be harnessed in the energy system.