Will there be enough feedstock to support a massive biofuel boom?
It sure seems possible, 'cause Pike Research predicts that the value of the biofuels industry could double in the next ten years, depending on the emergence of advanced feedstocks.
Motivated, mainly, by concerns about energy independence and climate change, at least 38 national governments across the globe have enacted blending mandates to accelerate the production and consumption of biofuels.
According to Pike Research's latest report, the production and consumption of biofuels will more than double in the next decade, with the cleantech firm forecasting that the global biofuels industry will increase from $82.7 billion in 2011 to $185.3 billion in 2021. Pike senior analyst, Mackinnon Lawrence, states:
The widespread scale-up of biofuels could radically alter the industrial and geopolitical landscapes. But with conventional biofuels constrained by social and environmental concerns, and price parity and access to financing a persistent obstacle to advanced biofuels scale-up, a number of difficult challenges must be overcome if the industry is to keep pace with emerging mandates.
Lawrence adds that while Brazil, the United States and the European Union have demonstrated the commercial viability of conventional biofuels, it's the emergence and eventual success of advanced biofuels that will either make or break the biofuels industry.
