A market with a future

Alternative energies are dominating political discussion. This in turn boosts development on the biofuels market. The Kyoto Protocol is the United Nations' general agreement on climate change and envisages the industrialized countries reducing their annual emissions of greenhouse gases by an average of 5.2% by 2012. Similar targets exist in the European Union: by 2020, biofuels should account for 10% of the fuels used for transportation. China and India even want to replace 20% of the crude oil they require with renewables by 2020.

Biofuels are in demand - increasingly so as other countries will jump on the bandwagon. The demand for alternative sources of energy will skyrocket in the future. Forecasts estimate that in 2020 15% of global fuel requirements will be covered by biofuels. In figures, this amounts to 300 billion litres per year, a volume which will require a large number of industrial plants to be constructed.

At the same time, new developments are revealing a wide range of opportunities: new technologies will extend the range of plants cultivated in the future. Bioethanol from wood or waste products - that is already possible today. Progressive development will make biofuels better in the future, continuously reduce costs and thus ensure that the fuels become even more competitive.

Biofuels are a market with a future - for technology providers and suppliers of plant components, but above all for the agricultural sector. It offers excellent opportunities for industrial agriculture in South America, Asia and Eastern Europe.