Energy and greenhouse gas emission savings of biofuels in Spainʹs transport fuel. The adoption of the EU policy on biofuels

Using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) the fossil energy benefits and avoided global warming emissions have been evaluated for the EU Biofuels goals in Spain. The Biofuels considered are cereal ethanol, biodiesel from residual oils, and from palm, sunflower, soybeans and rapeseed vegetable oils. Our findings are that the source of the cereal and vegetable oil influences the efficacy of the Biofuels and that results greatly depend on whether or not electricity has been produced as co-product in bioethanol plants and that without CHP the energy balance of ethanol is negative with few greenhouse gas offsets.