World Biofuels Study

This report forms part of a project entitled 'World Biofuels Study'. The objective is to study world biofuel markets and to examine the possible contribution that biofuel imports could make to help meet the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA). The study was sponsored by the Biomass Program of the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), U.S. Department of Energy. It is a collaborative effort among the Office of Policy and International Affairs (PI), Department of Energy and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). The project consisted of three main components: (1) Assessment of the resource potential for biofuel feedstocks such as sugarcane, grains, soybean, palm oil and lignocellulosic crops and development of supply curves (ORNL). (2) Assessment of the cost and performance of biofuel production technologies (NREL). (3) Scenario-based analysis of world biofuel markets using the ETP global energy model with data developed in the first parts of the study (BNL). This report covers the modeling and analysis part of the project conducted by BNL in cooperation with PI. The Energy Technology Perspectives (ETP) energy system model was used as the analytical tool for this study. ETP is a 15 region global model designed using the MARKAL framework. MARKAL-based models are partial equilibrium models that incorporate a description of the physical energy system and provide a bottom-up approach to study the entire energy system. ETP was updated for this study with biomass resource data and biofuel production technology cost and performance data developed by ORNL and NREL under Tasks 1 and 2 of this project. Many countries around the world are embarking on ambitious biofuel policies through renewable fuel standards and economic incentives. As a result, the global biofuel demand is expected to grow very rapidly over the next two decades, provided policymakers stay the course with their policy goals. This project relied on a scenario-based analysis to study global biofuel markets. Scenarios were designed to evaluate the impact of different policy proposals and market conditions. World biofuel supply for selected scenarios is shown in Figure 1. The reference case total biofuel production increases from 12 billion gallons of ethanol equivalent in 2005 to 54 billion gallons in 2020 and 83 billion gallons in 2030. The scenarios analyzed show volumes ranging from 46 to 64 billion gallons in 2020, and from about 72 to about 100 billion gallons in 2030. The highest production worldwide occurs in the scenario with high feedstock availability combined with high oil prices and more rapid improvements in cellulosic biofuel conversion technologies. The lowest global production is found in the scenario with low feedstock availability, low oil prices and slower technology progress