Have you heard of Camelina biofuel?

Camelina (also known as gold-of-pleasure or false flax) can be one of the most important crops for biofuel production. Camelina grows in rotation with wheat and/or on marginal land, it grows fast, needs little water and less fertilizer than many other crops, and does not compete with food crops.

High levels of fatty acids/oil

Camelina sativa is grown increasingly in the U.S. for biofuel production, and grows best in northern parts of North America, Northern Europe and Central Asia. After the oil has been extracted from the seeds, the remaining protein-rich crop residues can be used as animal feed.

Reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 75%

Updated life cycle analysis of the carbon footprint of camelina found that the renewable camelina-based jet fuel reduces GHG emissions by 75% compared to traditional petroleum-based jet fuel, and 80% compared to petroleum-based diesel.

Camelina, which is among the most tested of all renewable fuels, has been tested by the US Air Force, the US Navy, and Japan Airlines, in different aircraft types and vehicles, with successful test results.

Major order from the US Navy and the US Air Force

By mid-2011 the US Navy and US Air Force will have made orders totaling nearly 500,000 gallons of Camelina biofuel from the firm Sustainable Oils.

Photo: cc-sa Fornax 

How much environmental villain is the air traffic in relation to other emission sources?

A former colleague of mine asked me how much environmental villain air traffic is in relation to other emission sources, and added "There should be more focus on food production."

Air transport consumes annually 70 billion gallons of jet fuel and is a growing environmental hazard! The aviation industry’s contribution (carbon dioxide, water vapor, nitrogen oxides) to increased greenhouse effect is about 3.5 percent, of which carbon dioxide accounts for about 2 percent. The aviation sector is also the sector with the largest annual increase, with a doubling in fifteen years. According to the Air Transport Association, IATA, the industry's vision is zero emission from aircrafts by 2050. 

By comparison, the cement industry accounts for 6 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions (1.1 billion tonnes), which is almost twice the emissions from the aviation industry and 20 times what Sweden releases in one year!

For those who cannot afford, or rejects, to buy an electric car, do not want to change their travel patterns, there is a simple way to reduce everyone’s carbon emissions – stop wasting food! 

Using data from the U.S. – which is somewhat higher than in Scandinavia, but not that much higher – approximately 27% of the manufactured food is thrown away as waste. 

The U.S. could save the equivalent of 350 million barrels of oil each year - if you count the energy consumed in growing, packing, preservation and transportation, by not producing the huge quantities of food that is thrown in the garbage.  The savings of not producing the food that is wasted, is equivalent to the emissions from 55 million cars (= all passenger cars in Germany) - annually!

Hur stor miljöbov är flygtrafiken i relation till annat?

 

Jag fick frågan om hur stor miljöbov flygtrafiken är i relation till annat från en tidigare kollega, tillsammans med kommentaren ” Det borde vara mer fokus på matproduktionen.”

Flyget konsumerar årligen 265 miljarder liter flygbränsle och är en allt större miljöfara! Flygets

bidrag (koldioxid, vattenånga, kväveoxider) till växthuseffekten är cirka 3,5 procent, varav koldioxid står för cirka 2 procent. Flygsektorn är dessutom den sektor som ökar mest, med en fördubbling på femton år. Enligt den internationella flygorganisationen IATA är branschens vision nollutsläpp från flygplan år 2050.

Som jämförelse står cementindustrin för 6% av de globala koldioxidutsläppen (1,1 miljarder ton). Det är nästan  dubbelt så mycket som flyget och 20 gångervad Sverige släpper ut under ett år! 

För den som inte kan eller vill köpa en elbil, eller som i liten grad vill ändra sina resvanor, finns det ett enkelt sätt att minska de egna koldioxidutsläppen – genom att sluta slösa mat! 

Tar man siffror från USA – som ligger något högre än här hemme, men ändå inte så mkt högre – så slängs ungefär 27% av den tillverkade maten.

Genom att inte producera den  mat som ändå hamnar i soptunnan skulle USA kunna spara motsvarande 350 miljoner fat olja varje år – om man räkna energiåtgången för odling, paketering, konservering och transport. Det motsvarar utsläppen från 55 miljoner bilar (= alla bilar i Tyskland) – varje år!

Mer om detta i boken "Nu jäklar är det dags!".