Increasing environmental concerns and the need for energy independence have led to the growth of the global biodiesel market. Biodiesel is derivative of the vegetable oils extracted by oil seeds, although waste from animal fats and cooking oil can also be used. The oil is formed by combining methanol or ethanol with fatty acid molecules. Chemically, biodiesel is a mono alkyl ester. Biodiesel can be used in pure form or blended with petroleum diesel at any concentration in most injection pump diesel engine. Biodiesel is commonly produced by the transesterification of the vegetable oil or animal fat feedstock. Biodiesel has excellent lubricating properties and cetane ratings compared to low sulfur diesel fuels.
Global biodiesel market is segmented on the basis of feedstock, application and geography. Railway, aircraft, heating oil, cleaning and generators are division on the basis of application. On the basis of feedstock, global biodiesel market is divided into animal fat, waste vegetable oil, algae, Jatropha and others. North America, Asia Pacific, Europe and Rest of the world are classification on the basis of geography for global biodiesel market. Across the globe, several countries are involved in the growing production and usage of biodiesel as a substitute energy source to oil and fossil fuel. Governments have implemented laws and policies as incentives to reduce oil dependency consequently increasing the usage of renewable energies. Engine wear, engine performance and fuel viscosity are important factors in the global biodiesel market. Variations in biodiesel energy density are more dependent on the feedstock used than the production process.
The biodiesel market provides huge opportunities in countries such as China, U.K. and India because of huge number of diesel vehicles and high diesel prices. The global biodiesel market is anticipated to face a pattern shift with the growing switch from existing feedstock efficiency. The growth of algae as newer feedstock sources is expected for biodiesel in the upcoming years. Transportation fuels still make up the major share of the biodiesel market. The European Union is the greatest producer of biodiesel with Germany and France being the top producers.
The global biodiesel market is in a period of transitional and rapid growth creating opportunity in upcoming years. The biodiesel markets in Europe and the United States have reached remarkable biodiesel production capacity levels but remain restrained by feedstock availability. In India, Brazil and China, key government policies are creating new opportunities for feedstock development, biodiesel production, feedstock development and export. Governments continue to actively support the development of alternative, sustainable, lower-cost feedstock such as jatropha, algae, castor, vegetable oil, tallow and other sustainable feedstock. Biodiesel industries of Argentina are booming as a result of domestic demand along with strong exports for global biodiesel market.
Some of the advantages of biodiesel over other alternative fuels are the infrastructure of the petroleum economy and ability to work in existing engines among others. Some of the restraint in global biodiesel market is availability of raw material and sudden drop in oil prices. US market is expected to provide significant growth potential for Malaysian biodiesel exports in upcoming years.