Biofuels, bioethanol, biodiesel, biogas – the list of new fuel types seems to be growing by the week. Are they the future for energy and fuels?

British Airways
British Airways has announced a landmark deal to build the first plant in Europe producing jet fuel from waste material.

The plant, planned for East London, will use half million tonnes of waste each year producing around 16 million gallons of fuel. Starting production in 2014, BA says it will generate double the fuel needed for all flights from London City Airport.

BA argues the plant will cut the amount of waste that is sent to landfill, reducing the amount of methane that is produced. Methane is suggested to be a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

Biofuel creation
Waste matter is fed into a high temperature ‘gasifier’ to produce BioSynGas. A chemical process called Fischer Tropsch is then used to convert the gas into biofuel.

Waste products from the process can power the plant and supply 20MW of electricity to the national grid. A solid waste product can be used as an aggregate in construction.

The fuel produced by the plant is certified for use in other countries, but not currently in the UK.

Biofuels
Biofuels are a sort of fuel made from living matter, or from the waste they produce. This is a long and diverse list, but includes:
• wood and straw
• biogas (methane) from animals’ excrement
• ethanol, diesel or other liquid fuels made from processing plant material or waste oil

In recent years, the term ‘biofuel’ has come to mean the last category - ethanol and diesel, made from crops including corn, sugarcane and rapeseed.

Bio-ethanol, an alcohol, is usually mixed with petrol, while biodiesel is either used on its own or in a mixture.

Does the Red Tractor symbol actually mean the food was produced in the UK? Is there any particular reason you need a magnifying glass to see the logo?

These may seem rather silly questions but every time I see ‘Danish’ bacon in the supermarket, I wonder how they manage to get their brand name / logo to fill half the packaging. When you do eventually find a pack of British bacon, probably equating to about 5% of the shelf space, the logo seems laughable in comparison.

Since its launch in 2000 by the then Prime Minister, the concept seems to have been well adopted. Is it then just the typical ‘British thing’ of not wanting to shout about our fantastic produce and let then competition muscle in? Our animal welfare standards and crop husbandry are world class in comparison to many countries we import from (naming no names…), so why aren’t we shouting louder.

I would very much like to hear any ones views about this topic and all the other various British food logos we seem to use.

Could the future of crop production be heading indoors and upwards?

A novel concept currently being trialled at Paignton zoo in Devon grows plants in trays of water moving on a conveyor belt. The method claims to use less land and only 5% of the water usually needed.

The company behind the system, Valcent (www.valcent.net) say it is a sustainable solution to the world’s diminishing resources. The hydroponic system rotates the plants on a conveyor belt via a “feeding station” to create airflow and stimulate growth.

According to Chris Bradford, MD of Valcent, a 100sq metre machine, like the one installed at Paignton Zoo, can grow up to 11,200 plants, which, he says, is 20 times more than could be grown conventionally in a field covering the same area. The system is designed to be “eco-friendly” using solar power or wind energy, with the water used to grow the plants being recycled.

This could be a useful way of re-using redundant urban buildings or brown field sites, rather than further industrial expansion into the countryside or the green belt.

According to veteran investor Jim Rogers, agriculture is the investment of the next three years, as the world comes to grips with a growing population and food shortages.

This is good news for UK farmers and landowners as the value of UK farmland has grown 176% in the past decade and 7% in the past yearowing to a shortage of supply. There is speculation that values could may well double before the ned of the decade.

Good quality arable land in East Anglia is between £4,000 - £7,000 per acre which is 50% more expensive than equivalent land in Eastern Europe and France. Land in Ireland and Denmark on the otherhand is 50% more expensive.

High net work individuals are showing significant interest in land due to the various tax reliefs which are available that may enable them to shelter from the imminent tax rises. The three big taxes are income tax, inheritance tax (IHT) and capital gains tax (CGT).