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The economics of current and future biofuels

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Abstract

This work presents detailed comparative analysis on the production economics of both current and future biofuels, including ethanol, biodiesel, and butanol. Our objectives include demonstrating the impact of key parameters on the overall process economics (e.g., plant capacity, raw material pricing, and yield) and comparing how next-generation technologies and fuels will differ from today’s technologies. The commercialized processes and corresponding economics presented here include corn-based ethanol, sugarcane-based ethanol, and soy-based biodiesel. While actual full-scale economic data are available for these processes, they have also been modeled using detailed process simulation. For future biofuel technologies, detailed techno-economic data exist for cellulosic ethanol from both biochemical and thermochemical conversion. In addition, similar techno-economic models have been created for n-butanol production based on publicly available literature data. Key technical and economic challenges facing all of these biofuels are discussed.

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Acknowledgment

NREL would like to thank the US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of the Biomass Program (OBP) for its continued leadership, support, and collaboration in the biofuels arena.

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  1. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO, 80401, USA

    Ling Tao & Andy Aden

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  1. Ling Tao
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  2. Andy Aden
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Correspondence to Andy Aden.

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Editor: Dwight Tomes

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Tao, L., Aden, A. The economics of current and future biofuels. In Vitro Cell.Dev.Biol.-Plant 45, 199–217 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11627-009-9216-8

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