Externalities of the car industry and the road to a more sustainable mobilityEsternalità nell'industria automobilistica e i possibili interventi per una mobilità più sostenibile

A biofuel is a fuel (wood, ethanol, etc.) produced or composed of renewable biological raw materials. They offer a possible solution to part of the problem of environmental externalities but certainly no full alternative to fossil fuels. The arguments offered in favor of biofuels are clear. They are a potential energy source of electricity, heat and gas and they help reducing GHG emissions. (Florin & Bunting, 2008). Furthermore they are renewable and can help countries to reduce their dependence of fuels from foreign suppliers. Therefore it does not wonder that many countries promote the production and consumption of biofuels.
But there is also a serious downside. It is still very controversial whether the environmental and social costs of using ethanol or others biofuels are in fact smaller than the benefits.
De Janvry and Watson (2008) have forecasted that global demand for food will double within the next 50 years. Global demand for transportation fuels is expected to increase at a much higher pace. Various forecasts estimate that we will run out of fossil fuels somewhere between 2040 and 2050. In order to address the increasing demand of fuel, many western countries and some emerging countries are establishing goals for substituting it with biofuels (with the goal of the range 5-10% substitution to be reached within next 5 years (M.Balat & H. Balat, 2008).
At the moment bio-energy accounts for in fact many countries worldwide support the production of biofuels. European directives enforce member states to make sure that 5,75% of all fuels are biofuel by 2010. Most of this goal will be achieved by mixing fossil fuels with biofuel.