Increased biofuel production in North America due to promoting policies and mandates

The production of biofuels has increased dramatically in North America in recent years, according to a study carried out within f3 project A review of the North American biofuel production, policies and research. The United Statesis leading this development and has promoted biofuels through a number of policies and mandates to drive production, research and innovation in the area. Canada has also intensified the promotion of biofuels in recent years.

The recently published report, written by researchers Michael Martin from IVL and David Lazarevic, KTH, states that ethanol is currently the dominant fuel in both countries, with blend rates in petrol between 5-10 percent. The promotion and policies for ethanol fuels help to drastically increase their production and use in the past 10 years. The U.S. is currently the largest producer of ethanol in the world, with nearly 55 billion liters of ethanol produced in 2014. Canada has also seen a large increase in biofuel production during the last 10 years, with production increasing by a factor of 10. Other biofuels, such as biodiesel, have only marginal volumes in comparison, although roughly 300 million liters of biodiesel were produced in 2014 in Canada and 6 billion liters in the U.S.

The research on biofuels in the U.S. and Canada has also seen a large focus on advanced biofuel production. Both nations have set large focus on the new processes for advanced biofuel production and logistics for supplies of biomass for production plants.

The report provides a brief overview of the development, production, policies and trends promoting biofuels in Canada and the U.S. Information for the report was collected through literature reviews and interviews with leading researchers in Canada and the US during a research trip to attend the Advanced Biofuels Symposium in Montreal.

Read the report: A review of the North American biofuel production, policies and research