Investigating the potential of advanced tailor-made biofuels: A well-to-tank environmental analysis of 2-ethylhexanol as a drop-in diesel alternative

Other conference contribution, 2017

The present study evaluates the environmental performance of 2-ethylhexanol (2-EH), as a potential drop-in bio-fuel alternative. Three different bioenergy production pathways are investigated; ethanol-based, gasification-based and butanol based. Considering the overall energy efficiency, the different pathways show similar performance, with the gasification route exhibiting slightly higher values. When only 2-EH production is concerned, the butanol based route results in the lower primary energy demands. In comparison to other biofuels 2-EH can provide a competitive alternative since fossil fuel dependency is decreased without considerable infrastructure changes