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Biofuels demand surges despite feedstock concerns
8/2/2023
8 min read
Feature
Although demand for biofuels looks set to surge in the next five years, there are still serious concerns about reliance on first generation, mainly food crop-based feedstock. Nnamdi Anyadike examines the international prospects for biofuels.
Demand for biofuels is surging, with growth over 2022–2027 expected to rise by up to 20%, according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Transport bioenergy: tracking progress 2022 report. Globally, the share of biofuels in transport fuel consumption is forecast to climb from 4.3% to 5.4% over this five-year period. Most of the increase will be confined to the US, Canada, Brazil, Indonesia and India, which are expected to make up 80% of global expansion in biofuels consumption. By comparison, growth in Europe is rather muted.
However, this could change as a new study conducted by Ricardo for the European Federation for Transport and Environment (T&E) points to a substantial uptick in investment in biofuels by Europe’s oil majors. The study claims: ‘European oil majors are investing eight times more in biofuels than in hydrogen.’
This is a blow to a hydrogen sector that is pinning a lot of its hopes on green hydrogen as a replacement for fossil fuels. But it is also a blow to the environmental lobby that has criticised biofuels and the dominance of palm oil, in particular, as a feedstock. An evaluation report published in December 2022 by the German Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food (BLE) claims that palm oil continues to dominate biofuels feedstock. It was the most important vegetable oil raw material for the production of biodiesel in the 2021 quota for offsetting against the greenhouse gas (GHG) obligation.