Accenture finds creation of global biofuels industry a challenge

The creation of a global biofuels industry will be much more difficult to achieve than originally thought, according to a study released by the Accenture Energy Industry Group. The study titled “Biofuels’ time of transition: Achieving high performance in a world of increasing fuel diversity,” reports that although biofuels could make up 10-15% of the future fuel mix in the next 10 to 20 years, getting to that level will be more difficult than previously thought. Some challenges include creating full-scale markets for biofuels feedstock, production, transport and distribution. “Although the ultimate scale of the biofuels industry is yet unknown, we believe that biofuels will be part of the future fuel mix and also herald the evolution of a fuels marketplace,” said Melissa Stark, a senior executive in Accenture’s Energy Industry Group. (September 12, 2008)