Will Global Biofuel Investments Continue?
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) Historically, 2009 was a hard year for biofuels. Biofuel spending was down to $5.6 billion from $15.4 billion in 2008. Investments in the industry focused on cellulosic technologies and sugarcane. This according to NRG Expert’s World Biofuels Report.
…The highest investments were for technologies focused on developing biofuels from feedstocks such as jatropha and algae. Yet investments in jatropha are tapering off, according to the report, because research has shown it to perform poorly in field trials and consumes more water than expected.
To court investments on the cellulosic side, the report says the technology must incorporate other core areas of business, such as developing biochemicals or high value products along with the production of the biofuel.
… While the report focuses on what has happened since 2009, it also looks at several strategies biofuel producers could employ to be more competitive in the tight investment market. For example, palm oil producers can retrofit by adding methane capture equipment to their plant as an effort to meet EU biofuel criteria and generate revenue selling electricity produced from methane. READ MORE
