29/11/2007 (Biodiesel Magazine) - In 2007, Europe and the United States were the leading biodiesel producers. Heading into 2008, Biodiesel Magazine takes a look at which countries are struggling and which show potential.

The rapid development of the global biodiesel industry has been closely observed by countries interested in stimulating economic growth, improving the environment and reducing dependency on imported oil. According to a report published by global information service company Fuji Keizai USA in early October, “the global biodiesel market is estimated to reach 37 billion gallons by 2016 growing at an average annual rate of 42 percent.” The report predicted that Europe would continue to dominate for the next decade, followed by the United States.

Within in the next year, government incentives, local mandates and investors in countries like Brazil, Argentina, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia will enable some of them to participate in the bourgeoning global biodiesel sector, according to a report released in mid-October by the Nelson Institute’s Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. SAGE doctoral candidates Matt Johnston and Tracey Halloway ranked 226 countries according to their potential to produce large volumes of biodiesel, while maintaining low production costs. The doctoral students conducted the report to find out if developing countries that grow and export significant amounts of vegetable oil have considered or have the ability to refine it into biodiesel. Johnston was encouraged to conduct the study after he and his wife visited the remote island of Fiji about three years ago. The locals there rely primarily on imported petroleum diesel to run their generators. The fuel is transported by boat at a cost of more than $20 per gallon. At the same time, the Fijians were processing coconut oil on the island and exporting the raw oil to the mainland. Johnston wondered why they couldn’t produce their own fuel using the raw coconut oil, and what other countries possess this kind of potential.