Final answer:
The 2003 EU biofuel directive aimed to increase the use of biofuels within the European Union to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve energy security, and support rural economies. By 2007, EU leaders set a target of 20% energy from alternative sources by 2020, with 10% from sustainable biofuels. While biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel offer alternatives to petroleum, their production faces challenges such as competition with food production and difficulty in scaling.
Step-by-step explanation:
The 2003 EU biofuel directive is a policy that was established to promote the use of biofuels within the European Union. The directive set a target for EU member states to achieve a minimum percentage of biofuels in their transportation fuel mix. The initiative aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, enhancing energy diversity, and boosting the rural economy by utilizing agricultural resources. By 2007, European leaders had agreed to ambitious goals, including a binding target that 20 percent of all energy should come from alternative sources by 2020, with 10 percent of transportation fuels being sustainable biofuels.
Liquid biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel, manufactured from plants, offer a possible substitute for petroleum in transportation. Bioethanol is commonly produced from sugar cane or corn, while biodiesel is derived from vegetable oils or animal fats. However, the production of biofuels from crops brings with it a set of challenges, such as competition with food production, land availability, the sustainability of land use, and the associated duality of energy versus agriculture. Ethanol production involves fermenting plant sugars and then distilling the result to generate this alternative fuel.
Despite these challenges, biofuels are an integral part of the renewable energy landscape due to their benefits. They provide the means to store solar energy and utilize well-established agricultural practices for growing and harvesting energy crops. The combustion of biofuels is often considered cleaner than fossil fuels, producing fewer pollutants like sulfur oxides and particulate matter. However, scaling up the production of bioenergy to meet global energy needs remains a significant challenge due to the massive and perpetual task involved in crop cultivation and its impact on the energy return on investment (EROEI).