Study Looks at Potential to Produce Biodiesel

A study just released by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies shows that Thailand, Uruguay and Ghana have the potential to become some of the leading producers of biodisel.

Biodiesel is thought to be one of the most promising alternatives to fossil fuels, mainly because it can be easily made from easy to get materials such as vegetable oil and animal fats.

The research team wanted to determine which countries seem to be in the best position to enter the market. In order to compile their statistics, they ranked 226 countries by their potential to make biodiesel in large quantities while keeping the cost low.

They found that the United States, which grows a large crop of soybeans as well as Brazil, which is already a leading producer and Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Spain are all in the top ten.

But the facts that they were really interested in had to identify the developing countries that are currently exporting large quantities of vegetable oil and may not be thinking of the possibility of turning it into biodiesel. They say that by exporting biodiesl these countries could vastly improve their trade balances. Or they could make good use of the fuel for their own energy needs. Or even both.

Many of these developing countries do not have any petroleum resources of their own, so they have to import virtually all they need. And they are exporting the vegetable oil that they could be using instead.

The study found that the developing nations that are most likely to attract biodiesel investments are Malaysia, Thailand, Colombia, Uruguay and Ghana. They picked them because they have good strong agricultural industries, they are relatively safe and stable, and have very little debt.

The lead researcher first got the idea for the study when he was visiting a remote island of Fiji. Here the people mostly rely on diesel to run generators to make electricity. The fuel has to be brought in by boat and that brings the cost to about $20 a gallon. Meanwhile, they were processing their biggest crop, coconuts into oil and selling it for 50 cents a liter.