"Fact One": Fossils consumption in biofuels production
Rose said consumers needed to be aware that biodiesel fuel blends are blends of only 5-20% biodiesel, and are 80-95% normal "fossil" diesel.
Rose said even pure biodiesel is not greenhouse gas neutral, as the greenhouse emissions resulting during the growth of feedstocks – whether oilseeds or animal fats – are roughly equivalent to 50% of normal diesel when factored into the whole-of-life of the fuel product.
However, using biodiesel blends does do some good for the environment, with CO2 emissions reduction of about 3-10%, depending on the amount of biodiesel in the blend.
In Western Australia, biodiesel is made from tallow and canola oil, which undergo a simple chemical process called "esterification" to make the biofuel.
Rose said that biofuels producers were technically correct when they claimed that biofuels were carbon neutral in that the CO2 released in the burning of biodiesel was simply returning to the atmosphere after having been absorbed by the feedstock, but that did not factor in the greenhouse gases emitted by the fossil fuels used to manufacture the nitrate and phosphate fertilisers and diesel fuel used to produce the oilseed crops and animal fats.
More greenhouse emissions in the form of nitrous oxides are liberated when soils are cultivated: "These facts have been conveniently overlooked by some biofuel companies when advertising their product," Rose said.
According to Carbon Neutral's research, Australian canola oilseed yield averages 1.3 tonnes per hectare, about 40% of which is oil, producing about 500 litres of biodiesel per hectare.
About 70 litres of regular diesel is used to cultivate, sow and harvest the crop, and at least that amount again of fossil fuel-derived energy is needed to manufacture the fertilisers and pesticides for a hectare of canola, Rose claimed.
Furthermore, the energy to extract, refine and process the canola oil into biodiesel is derived from fossil fuel power sources.
"Biodiesel is not the 'silver bullet' that will solve the dual problems of global warming and rising crude oil and natural gas prices that are already affecting us," Rose said.
"It is, however, one of many renewable technologies that must be adopted."
"Fact Two": Transport needs to change gears
Rose supports a future transport energy mix including ethanol, biogas, biodiesel and hydrogen, produced by renewable electricity generated by solar, wind, hydro and tidal power.
"The biofuels industry should be encouraged by tax incentives, as is the case in Germany. The recent legislation making biodiesel ineligible for the diesel fuel rebate will discourage the development of biodiesel and that is a retrograde step," he said.
Rose said he was also concerned about the potential pressure that oilseed crops may place on food agriculture and the next generation of biofuels, derived from forestry and agricultural waste, was a preferable option.
Regardless of fuel sources, Rose said that greater efforts to achieve improved fuel consumption and a concerted effort to avoid "driver only" vehicle use would provide greater benefits to the environment over the long term.
"To be sustainable, future cars will need to be at least twice as fuel efficient as the most frugal vehicles on the road today," he said.
"Prototype two-seater vehicles weighing less than half a tonne and delivering adequate road performance, using less than three litres for every hundred kilometres, have been produced overseas.
"However, lack of government fiscal, regulatory and other incentives has meant that they have not been marketed in most Western countries."
Rose said he believed urgent action is needed to speed the adoption of sustainable transport, particularly given the common understanding of climate change science and emissions reduction targets.
"Today's inefficient, fuel-guzzling cars have a lifetime of up to 20 years. Given that substantial decreases in CO2 emissions must happen before that time to avoid catastrophic climate change, there is a serious question as to whether this polluting transport mode can be allowed to continue for that long," he said.
Statistics from the Australian Greenhouse Office do not indicate that the nation is making any progress in reducing transport emissions – in fact, transport emissions increased by 23.4% in the period 1990-2004.
This increase is attributed to increased car ownership and a preference for larger, more powerful cars.
Using AGO statistics from 2004, the Carbon Neutral Program claims vehicle exhaust emissions account for 13% of Australia's greenhouse emissions, 80% of which is from private cars.
Factoring in upstream emissions from fuel production and embodied emissions of vehicle manufacture, maintenance and road construction, Rose said more than 20% of Australia's CO2 emissions can be attributed to transport.
