Biofuels industry entering a new era, report

9 January 2009

The biofuels industry is entering a new era, according to a new report: 2008 Biofuels and the Impact on Chemicals, from SRIC.

According to SRIC, over the last several years the growth of biofuels has been phenomenal, even though they are still a minor part of the motor fuel market – and are apt to remain that way for some time. Yet many companies are still developing new biofuel technologies and building new capacity, and many countries have ambitious plans for self-sufficiency through increased use of biofuels.

Bob Davenport, author of the report, said, ‘While phase II biofuels may break the food/fuel conundrum, interestingly, it may actually tie chemicals and fuels closer together at least as far as deriving these two products from biomass. The technologies that may deliver new biofuels can also be applied to make “petrochemical” molecules – as well as other molecules, some new – from biomass.

‘Technology hurdles are still many and these may pale compared to the roller-coaster ride of petroleum prices – yet it should be an interesting ride nonetheless,’ he added.

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Tags: biofuel

This story was published on Friday, January 9th, 2009 at 10:42 am and is filed under North America, companies, energy efficiency. You can follow any responses to article entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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