Growing Biofuels

Biofuels produced from plant and animal feedstocks are growing by 10 percent per year. Nevertheless, if biofuels are ever to supply more than a few percent of transportation fuels, the technology will need new, more efficient production methods. The most recent sign of such investment in such new production methods is Royal Dutch Shell’s partnership with German biodiesel innovator Choren Industries.

Choren’s technology addresses a key limitation with today’s biofuels: most start as feedstocks such as corn syrup or vegetable oil that are already in demand as foods. Competition for these feedstocks props up the price of these conventional biofuels and, ultimately, sets an upper limit on their production volumes. A study commissioned recently by the Canadian government, for example, concluded that diverting half of that country’s hefty exports of canola to biodiesel production would yield only enough biodiesel to meet just 2.7 percent of current diesel demand in Canada.

Technology Review