Biofuels are expected to become an important part of the fuel mix for road transportation, accounting for 7.5 percent of liquid fuels consumed in the sector by 2022, says a new report from Navigant Research.
The research estimates that worldwide revenue from biofuels for road transportation will grow from $166.5 billion annually in 2014 to $337.8 billion by 2022.
Many governments, corporations, and individuals see biofuels as a promising solution to solving the energy security, environmental, and economic challenges associated with petroleum dependency.
“Over the last 10 years, growth in the biofuels sector has been driven by the increase in ethanol production capacity in the United States and Brazil, and in biodiesel in Europe,” says Scott Shepard, research analyst with Navigant Research.
“Today, the industry is on the verge of entering a new phase of development focused on advanced and drop-in biofuels,” Shepard added.
Commercial-scale production of cellulosic feedstock biofuels is just getting underway, according to the report, and recent developments in drop-in biofuels propelled by the aviation industry and the U.S. Department of Defense are driving down the costs of these advanced biofuels, enabling commercial-scale drop-in biofuels production.
Meanwhile, large oil-consuming nations concerned about energy security, climate change, and economic stagnation are driving global biofuels markets through a number of policy platforms, principally biofuels mandates.