This statistic represents the size of the global biofuels market between 2005 and 2013. In 2013, the global biofuels market was sized at around 98 billion U.S. dollars, compared with about 16 billion U.S. dollars in 2005.
Biofuels market size
As car drivers were becoming increasingly worried about sky-high gasoline prices and the level of pollution in urban areas, alternative fuels began to make inroads into the automotive industry. Political decision makers introduced tax credits for gasoline-ethanol mixtures, and petrol stations started selling gasoline grades where up to 10 percent of ethanol was blended into conventional petrol. As a result, corn and sugar cane farmers in the rural US soon emerged as the major beneficiaries of the biofuels movement in the United States, which established itself as a driving force in the biofuels market. In 2012, the United States was ranked as the largest biofuel producing country, followed by Brazil and Germany.
Globally, the implementation of a biofuels market soon sparked a food versus fuel debate among critics. While advocates saw biofuels as part of a clean and sustainable energy future, others argued that fuels should not be derived from edible plants. However, the biofuels market continued to be resilient. In 2012, the global market for the production and wholesale pricing of ethanol and biodiesel was sized at close to 100 billion US dollars. By 2022, the market is expected to grow to almost 178 billion US dollars. Revenue growth is projected to be driven by capacity additions and higher prices for alternative fuels.