Alternative fuels are those derived from renewable or conditionally renewable raw materials that ensure a reduction in emissions of harmful substances and greenhouse gases. These include fuels made from organic products (sawdust, vegetable oils, animal fats), hydrogen, natural gas and its derivatives (synthetic liquid fuel), ethanol and methanol.
An exhaustive list of products classified as alternative fuels is established by regulatory documents of the European Union, particularly Directive 2014/94/EU, which defines the necessity for transitioning to alternative fuels.
Energy transition refers to replacing fossil energy sources with renewables, including solar power, wind energy, geothermal resources, tidal energy, and environmentally friendly hydroelectricity.
Let's discuss why all this is necessary and what it will ultimately lead to.
The impetus behind the development of alternative energy, which began in Western countries around the early 2000s and was subsequently spread worldwide through media outlets, normative documents regulating trade and production, stems from the idea proposed by several scientists that an observed increase in ground-level air temperature by 1°C over the past century is due to anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases (primarily CO₂). It is believed that this trend will inevitably result in catastrophic deterioration of living conditions for most people on Earth.
Despite its widespread dissemination — promotion by Western society through media and films — this theory has not become dominant among climatologists in scientific circles. The global warming theory due to greenhouse gas emissions has several scientifically-based alternatives and is not considered unequivocally reliable even in the United States. American scientists gave a negative review when ratifying the Kyoto Protocol in the U.S. Congress, as a result of which it did not pass. And Joe Biden's signature on the Paris Climate Agreement in 2021 was revoked by Donald Trump.
Critique of the scientific foundations underlying the Global Warming Theory caused by greenhouse gas emissions also came from the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Osipov Yu. On the position of the Russian Academy of Sciences on the problem of the Kyoto Protocol in execution of the assignment of the President of the Russian Federation dated March 16, 2004 No. Pr-432 and the Government of the Russian Federation dated April 15, 2004 No. AJ-P9-2727.
Some scientists, based on thermophysical calculations of atmospheric parameters and its macro-components, have concluded that an increase in CO₂ content in the troposphere cannot be a cause for warming of the near-surface air layer because it absorbs thermal radiation not in the spectral region where Earth's surface thermal emission is absorbed during this geophysical period. The true reason lies in excessive anthropogenic heat emissions into the atmosphere (from industry, power plants, cars, air conditioners, etc.), which only grow year by year and significantly increase concentrations of much more active greenhouse gas — water vapor. However, these are neither assessed nor reduced. Meanwhile, the documented rise in CO₂ concentration in the troposphere since the early 1900s and its correlation with fossil fuel production is rather a consequence of increased temperature of the near-surface air due to human activity, leading to release of CO₂ from ocean waters. Emissions of CO₂ from industries and transport compared to this are negligible.
Alternative approach to understanding climate change and methods for preventing global warming / Energy and Climate. Vol. 22. 2017. Pp. 13-34.
Other researchers, using radioisotope analysis of ice core samples, point out multiple periods within the historical horizon of Homo sapiens existence (between 11.5 and 14.5 thousand years ago), characterized by far faster rates of warming—ranging from 1.7°C to 9°C per century—which were associated with changes in solar activity.
Laws of climatic changes in the 20th century and major physical processes responsible for them / Izvestiya of Irkutsk State University. Earth Sciences. Vol. 4, Issue 1. 2011. Pp. 87–108.
Thus, the most widespread current view on causes of present-day weather anomalies represents just one hypothesis among others, and it is not even the best substantiated one.
Let’s consider this in order.
According to statistics, the main replacement for fossil non-renewable fuels used by transportation has been biofuels such as biomethanol and bioethanol produced from cereal crops, along with biodiesel (methyl esters of fatty acids) derived from oilseed crops. According to Mordor Intelligence data, world production volume of bioethanol reached about 100 million tons in 2024. Meanwhile, total worldwide fuel production for gasoline engines was around 1,340 million tons in 2022 according to TAdviser data. Thus, biofuel share in overall motor fuel consumption amounts to approximately 10%.
In addition to biofuels, natural gas, liquefied natural gas, and hydrogen fuel cells are widely used. Altogether, alternative fuels currently account for roughly 17% of global motor fuel consumption.
It is clear even for any schoolchild that natural gas is the same renewable as a crude oil or petroleum products. It is classified as an alternative fuel merely because its use produces fewer CO₂ emissions per unit of generated energy then othe fossil fuels. As discussed above, this advantage is rather questionable regarding impact on global warming. Natural gas—both raw and liquefied—is utilized in passenger cars, marine vessels, heat generation, and electricity production.
Now we will find out why biofuels (the most common type of alternative fuel) are only conditionally renewable.
Biofuels are produced from agricultural raw materials: cereal and oilseed crops. The average time for soil depletion when growing these crops without the application of organic fertilizers and methods of organic farming is 5 years for cereals and 3 years for oilseeds respectively, with a single annual yield. The average natural recovery time (formation) of 1 cm of fertile layer is 100 years. When agricultural products are used to produce food, animal feed, fabrics and household items, organic substances eventually return to the ground and participate in creating the fertile layer. If they are used as fuel, they burn down producing water vapor and CO₂. CO₂ can be absorbed by the World Ocean, form rocks (limestone), and only in one case out of three it may be absorbed by plants during photosynthesis, which heavily depends on their amount that constantly decreases in an urbanized world.
According to quantitative indicators of CO₂ absorption and emission by macro-components of the troposphere and anthropogenic objects presented in the following illustration, the probability of absorbing CO₂ from burned biofuel and returning organic carbon into the soil at this stage of Earth's existence, given excess CO₂ in the atmosphere caused by rising surface temperatures and shrinking forest area, IS CLOSE TO ZERO.
Thus, the process of returning organic carbon extracted from soil for biofuel production over a period of 3–5 years back into the soil in the form of organic nutrients can stretch out for millennia.
What happens to soil resources then? Is there an abundance of them worldwide so that bread is sufficient to feed all the hungry people?
According to reports published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on global soil resources status in 2016 and 2021, areas suitable for cultivation are steadily shrinking globally, particularly in South America, North America, countries of the Asia-Pacific region, and Southern Africa where biofuels production is most widespread.
Unfortunately, in recent years FAO has focused more on assessments aligned with Western trends regarding climate change impacts, conflicts, and natural disasters affecting agricultural productivity, which have little effect on farming potential in problematic regions.
According to the FAO report "The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2025" https://doi.org/10.4060/cd6015ru, the share of starving and undernourished people worldwide as of 2025 reaches 28%!
Thus, promoting the “green” agenda and energy transition within the framework of combating climate change is by no means a harmless initiative that already affects reducing opportunities for agricultural production globally today.
Expanding this activity and increasing biofuel production will lead to catastrophic consequences causing not only hunger but also wars over access to land and water resources.