Within the next 10 years, global population will increase by 1 billion and world GDP will increase by 30 trillion USD. As a result of this tremendous population and economic growth, by 2025, energy demand is expected to increase by 15%. This surge in energy consumption will yield considerable emissions of CO2 – by 2025 CO2 emissions will increase by 10%.

In an era of dwindling fossil fuels resources and the escalation of environmental damage done by CO2 emissions, there is a flurry of activities to search for alternate sources to satisfy the increasing demand for energy. Biofuels provide a solution to satisfy the growing energy demand while considerably reducing CO2 emissions. Due to their unique properties, biofuels can be used as a direct replacement to or even as a blending component with fossil-based fuels such as diesel and gasoline. Biofuels cut down greenhouse gas emissions by over 80% as compared to fossil fuels. 

• The EU targets to consume 10% of biofuels from its total energy consumption by 2020
• The USA is aiming to consume 71 Billion liters of biofuels by 2020
• China targets to consumer 10% of biofuels from its total energy consumption by 2020

The most common forms of biofuels today are ethanol and biodiesel which are primarily produced from a wide range of agricultural feedstock, including palm oil. However, in recent years, a debate has emerged around food security and the viability of biofuels which has transformed the biofuels landscape. Governments have implemented measures which condemn the use of 1st generation agricultural products for the production of energy.

Consequently, 2nd generation, also referred to as ‘advanced biofuels’, have emerged as a reconciliation of this debate:

• 1st generation biofuels are made directly from agricultural products and are limited in their ability to achieve targets for oil-product substitution, climate change mitigation, and economic growth as their production causes a direct increase in agricultural production, resulting in undue competition for land and water used between energy and food production
• 2nd generation, also referred to as ‘advanced biofuels’, avoid such issue as they are derived from waste by-products of agricultural production that is intended for food production