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BIOFORE
even if they would not use rawmaterials suitable
for food.
“It’s fair to say that because of the first gener-
ation biofuels there’s a lot of backlash now.
But I don’t think that has to be inherited by an
advanced industry," Malins says.
“With advanced biofuels there’s an oppor-
tunity for companies not just to profit, but to
create more jobs, to pushmore money to the
rural economy without doing it through high food
prices. Withmore of a focus on these resources,
which are underutilised and low value at the
moment, it can be muchmore of a win-win
proposition.”
Advanced biofuels are still very much in
the early stages and people have different views
and even definitions for them.
“I think the ball is still pretty much in play
on advanced biofuels,” he says.
Long and winding road ahead
Despite all the promise that can be seen, it’s not
only smooth driving in the future. In Europe,
technology is nowmature enough to enable us
to start the production of advanced biofuels.
Still, uncertainty around biofuel policy past
2020 is slowing down the sector from reaching
its full potential. Another big question, especially
for smaller entries to the market, is financing.
“Big companies, that have the capacity to
invest internally, have a real advantage. Still
everyone’s going to have to justify quite signifi-
cant capital expenditures.
“So, the real challenge is having a combination
of policy measures and support that gives confi-
Potential CO ² savings
could range
from 60% to 85%.
The transport sector is on its way
to becoming the EU’s biggest source
of CO ² by 2030.
In 2030 about 220 million tonnes
of cellulosic material could be
available annually.