Biodiesel fuels cost reduction

The development of PH A into a branch of bulk chemical industry will address at least three issues shortage of petroleum for plastic materials, reduction of CO emissions, and environmental protection. It is related to the sustainable development of the chemical and material industries. The newly developed PHA-based biofuels open up a new area for development that avoids argument on food versus fuel and fuel versus land. However, much more work needs to be done to reduce the cost of PHA production so that PHA-based biofuel can be added to the existing bio-based fuels, including ethanol, propanol, butanol, biodiesel, hydrogen, and methane gas (Fig. 7). 

In the United States, for instance. Volumetric Excise Tax Credits for the blending of fuel ethanol and biodiesel are being provided to biofuel producers under the American Jobs Creation Act since 2004. In the European Union, the Energy Taxation Directive permits exemptions or reductions from energy taxation for biofuels (Directive 2003/96/EC). Currently, nearly all EU member states (with the exception of Finland and the Netherlands) provide partial or total tax exemptions or deduction, most aimed at hnal consumption (European Commission, 2011). Because the tax exemption has an upper bound equal to the acmal level of the fossil fuel tax, the instrument has proven to be highly effective in those EU member states with fossil fuel tax levels high enough to compensate for the additional production costs of biofuels (Wiesenthal et al., 2009). 

---