Your choices:
1 Fuel: liquid; 2 Transport; 3 Residual oils/fats
| What is your resource? | What do you want to deliver? | What is the service the customer wants? |
| Biomass (digestible sludge) | District cooling | Comfortable indoor climate |
| Biomass (fermentable sludge) | District heating | Electricity |
| Biomass (solid) | Electricity | Process cooling (< 0 °C) |
| Geothermal | Fuel: Gaseous | Process heat/steam (50 - 150 °C) |
| Sunshine | 1 Fuel: Liquid | Process heat (150 - 1000 °C) |
| Water | Fuel: Solid | Process heat (> 1000 °C) |
| Wind | Local cooling (ind. house) | 2 Transport |
| 3 Residual oils/fats etc | Local heating (ind. house) |
The transport sector and the replacement of fossil gasoline and fossil diesel oil is the main object of ethanol as well as of FAME production.
So far, the total amounts of ethanol and biodiesel are minor as compared to the total amounts of fuel used in the transport sector but as volumes grow, there may be good reason to consider the feedstock for both fuels.
For biodiesel, the current world production amounts to some 20 million m3 of FAME per annum, the main part of which is produced from palm oil, soy, rapeseed oil and waste oil/fat, where the latter resources is so far only minor.
On a local and regional basis – depending on conditions – may well the availability of residual oils from food processing or from agriculture be such as to be viable for a local production of FAME – without interfering with the production of food for animals or humans and without interfering with land use. The collection of such materials may have to be integrated with the municipal waste handling system but will, on the other hand contribute to a sustainable society.