Assessing European biodiesel markets and capacities

Abstract

AbstractBiodiesel markets experienced fast growth in recent years and are forecast to expand further. In Europe, the regional and national mandates and targets inspired producers to extend their capacities, betting on a bright future for biodiesel. However, even considering consumption growth rates of 10% for this year, a considerable share of European production capacity would be idle and local demand would still be fulfilled in part by imports coming mainly from South America. Dr Claudiu Covrig together with Laia Bosch‐Gual at Kingsman look at the main EU biodiesel players and ask when will sustainability be more valuable than price competitiveness? © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd