Estimation of the Required Bio-Fuels Substituting Petroleum-Based Fuels in Road-Transportation in the Island of Crete, Greece and Their Climate Change Impacts

Climate change consists of the most important global environmental problem in our era and its mitigation requires the elimination of the fossil fuels use in all sectors. Transportation consumes large amounts of fossil fuels and has a high share in carbon emissions. According to the current EU policies the conventional vehicles using petrol-based fuels should substitute by 2030 at least 14% of their fuels with bio-fuels including bio-ethanol and bio-diesel. The vehicles in the island of Crete, Greece currently use conventional fuels. The present study investigates the feasibility of substituting 14% of their petrol-based fuels with bio-fuels that could be produced locally. The consumption of gasoline and diesel oil during 2021 in Crete was estimated at 309,766 tons while their carbon emissions at 1,005,182 tnCO2. The required bio-ethanol substituting 14% of the gasoline currently used is estimated at 33,475 tons/year while the bio-diesel substituting the diesel oil at 28,260 tons/year. The annual carbon emission savings due to substitution of conventional fuels with bio-fuels are calculated in the range of 57,207 tnCO2 to 68,105 tnCO2. The land required for the cultivation of the crops producing the abovementioned quantities of bio-fuels corresponds at 4.33% of the total island’s area. The cultivation of energy crops in Crete for bio-fuels production is not foreseen in the future and the required bio-fuels to meet the EU quota should be imported from other territories. It is foreseen that the future de-carbonization in vehicles’ transportation in Crete should be achieved with the electrification of the transportation sector using green electricity generated locally by the abundant solar and wind energy resources.