How it Works

The key environmental benefit of bioethanol is that, unlike petroleum, its consumption does not significantly raise atmospheric levels of CO2, which some scientific research suggests is a major contributor to global warming. This is because the CO2 which is released during the burning of the fuel is counter-balanced by that which is removed from the environment by photosynthesis when growing crops and trees for ethanol production. This, in effect, stabilises the atmospheric CO2.

In contrast, the use of fossil fuels such as petrol and diesel adds CO2 to the atmosphere by releasing it from oil deposits that have previously been locked away underground.