Report: 12 billion gallons of biodiesel by 2020

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Market intelligence services company GlobalData recently published a report titled, "Global Biodiesel Market Analysis and Forecasts to 2020." Worldwide biodiesel production increased from about 253.34 million gallons in 2001 to 4.16 billion gallons in 2009, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 41.9 percent. GlobalData's report states that the biodiesel market is expected to produce 11.96 billion gallons of biodiesel in 2020, representing a CAGR of 10.1 percent from 2009 to 2020. The new report states that Europe leads the biodiesel market with a production share of 49.8 percent, followed by the Americas with a 32.8 percent share, and Asia Pacific with a share of 4.4 percent in 2009. Europe's share in biodiesel production has been declining since 2001 while the share of Americas and Asia Pacific increased. The top five biodiesel producing countries in the world are Germany, the U.S., France, Argentina and Brazil. Together these five nations produce 68.4 percent of the world's total biodiesel. Australia is the largest producer of biodiesel in Asia Pacific, followed by China and India. The U.S. is the second largest producer of biodiesel, manufacturing 17.7 percent of the world's production in 2009, the report states.

The German biodiesel market is facing a bleak outlook due to the imposition of taxes that have made biofuels too expensive for its consumers. Though the country is the largest producer of biodiesel in Europe, the future for the market looks weak, GlobalData's report states, mainly because of taxes the German government has imposed on green fuels. Another factor that has contributed to the negative outlook of the German biodiesel market is the generous export subsidies received by the U.S. producers. The EU has now imposed an import tariff on US biodiesel imports to protect the European market. The country has reduced the blending target to 6.3 percent in 2010 from 6.8 percent as set out previously in the plan to cut carbon dioxide emissions, although the specific blending mandates for biodiesel will remain unchanged until 2014.

China has become the world's largest automotive market, surpassing the U.S. in terms of units sold. This, along with China's concern for energy security, has led to increased government interest in developing an alternative fuel vehicle market. In 2009, the government of China provided a 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) subsidy for three years to automakers who upgrade their technology and develop alternative fuel vehicles, states GlobalData's report. This stimulus package will result in rising activity in the Chinese biofuels sector.

"Global Biodiesel Market Analysis and Forecasts to 2020" analyzes the global biodiesel market and provides forecasts up to 2020. The research analyzes key trends, major issues and growth opportunities in the global biodiesel market. Market share by production capacity, elaborate profiling of major industry participants and information on major present and upcoming production facilities provide insight into the competitive scenario of the global biodiesel industry. This, coupled with information on