SRI Consulting Publishes Global 2008 Biodiesel Report

Business Wire, Sept 30, 2008

United States to be Largest Market by 2012

MENLO PARK, Calif. -- The United States is positioned to become the single largest biodiesel market with 19% of consumption by 2012. The industry grew 50% from 2002-2007, the highest growth in the chemical industry, and is now positioned to grow at 30% between 2007 and 2012. Today, SRI Consulting (SRIC) released its global 2008 Biodiesel report that provides the most comprehensive and timely information on the world-wide biodiesel industry and trends.

A slower pace of growth is projected for the global biodiesel industry due to market uncertainties: ongoing fuels versus food debate, rising raw material costs, changing regulatory environment, a slowing global economy and the current financial crisis.

An important development over the last several years has been the shift in global biodiesel patterns. Only five years ago Europe was a dominant player, with 83% of capacity. By 2007 the European share had declined to about 46% as North America and Asia grew to 23% and 19% respectively.

Overall, the success of the biodiesel industry relies on political support and incentives, without which the global industry is not competitive. Lead Author Milen Blagoev commented, "Demand for biodiesel is set by regulation within each individual country. Most countries have set a general target of substituting a certain amount--usually a percentage--of overall fuel or energy consumption with renewable sources by a certain year." Mr. Blagoev continued, "To get the most accurate picture of the industry, granular inspection, country by country, is paramount."

SRI Consulting's 2008 Biodiesel report contains comprehensive coverage of supply and demand for North America, Central and South America, Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, Middle East and Oceania. The report provides in-depth coverage on supply/demand, legislation, feedstock, production technologies, and environmental and agricultural issues for over 74 individual countries. In over 670 pages and 277 tables, the report details 19 years of historical and five years of projected supply/demand figures on a country-by-country level.

For additional information about the Biodiesel report, please contact Koon-Ling Ring, Program Director of SRIC's Chemical Economics Handbook (CEH) group at kring@sriconsulting.com or 1 650 384 4359. Visit the website at www.sriconsulting.com for SRI Consulting's complete offering of reports.

About SRI Consulting

SRI Consulting (SRIC) is the world's leading business research service for the global chemical industry. Publishing for almost 60 years, SRI Consulting is the preeminent source for in-depth business and process analysis. This report was developed by the Chemical Economics Handbook (CEH) group, which provides evaluation of supply/demand relationships and analysis of the industry competitive environment for over 300 chemical products and product groups. SRI Consulting's headquarters are located in Menlo Park, California with offices in The Woodlands, Texas; Zurich, Switzerland; Tokyo, Japan; and Beijing, China. SRI Consulting is a division of Access Intelligence, LLC. Additional information is available at www.sriconsulting.com.

SRI Consulting (SRIC) is a trade name and registered trademark of SRI International, used under license.