Executive Summary

Biofuels for transport, including ethanol, biodiesel, and several other liquid and gaseous fuels, have the potential to displace a substantial amount of petroleum around the world over the next few decades, and a clear trend in that direction has begun. This book looks both at recent trends and at the outlook for the future, in terms of potential biofuels production. It also examines the benefits and costs of biofuels use to displace petroleum fuels. It takes an international perspective, assessing regional similarities and differences and recent activities around the world.

Compared to petroleum, the use of biofuels for transport is still quite low in nearly every country. By far the largest production and use is of ethanol in the United States and Brazil, where similar volumes are used – many times higher than in any other country. But even in the United States, ethanol represents less than 2% of transport fuel (while in Brazil it accounts for about 30% of gasoline demand). However, many IEA countries, including the US, Canada, several European countries (and the European Union), Australia and Japan, are considering or have already adopted policies that could result in much higher biofuels use over the next decade. Many non-IEA countries are also adopting policies to promote the use of biofuels.

Biofuels For Transport [.pdf, 1530.9Kb]