The biofuels industry has been strongly impacted by the Covid‑19 pandemic. Global transport biofuel production in 2020 is anticipated to be 144 billion litres (L), equivalent to 2 480 thousand barrels per day (kb/d) – an 11.6% drop from 2019’s record output and the first reduction in annual production in two decades.

While this projection is a slight upward revision from the IEA forecast update in May, it is far below the 3% growth anticipated for 2020 in our pre-pandemic forecast. The greatest year-on-year (y-o-y) drops in output are for US and Brazilian ethanol, and European biodiesel. 

Lower transport fuel demand resulting from the Covid‑19 crisis reduces biofuel consumption in countries where mandate policies require a set percentage of biofuels to be blended with fossil transport fuels. Overall, global gasoline demand is anticipated to contract by 10%, and diesel by 6% in 2020. Diesel is less affected, as a substantial share of its consumption is for the transport of goods, which the crisis has impacted less than personal mobility.

A lowering of crude oil prices since the start of the pandemic has made biofuels less competitive with fossil transport fuels. The average crude oil price for 2020 is currently estimated at around USD 40/bbl, down from USD 64/bbl in 2019. This has reduced unblended ethanol purchases in Brazil (-17% in the first half of 2020) and delayed increases to biofuel blending rates in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region because this would imply higher costs for governments that subsidise biofuels to ensure their competitiveness with gasoline and fossil diesel. Lower crude oil prices have also caused biofuel prices to fall, albeit generally to a lesser extent, which challenges production economics for some plants. 

If fossil transport fuel demand rebounds to close to pre-pandemic levels and policy support in key markets continues to expand, transport biofuel production could reach 162 billion L in 2021, a return to the 2019 level. This is contingent, however, on the health crisis being brought under control and the avoidance of further widespread mobility restrictions.

Output in 2022 is anticipated to increase a further 4% y-o-y to 169 billion L. Growing fuel demand and strengthened biofuel policies in Asian and South American countries enable those markets to account for the majority of the additional growth. Countries in these regions are also reinforcing biofuel policy support to boost demand for nationally important agricultural commodities.

During 2023-25, average global output of 182 billion L is anticipated, with the greatest production increases being for ethanol in China and Brazil, and for biodiesel and HVO in the United States and the ASEAN region. Biofuels are expected to meet around 5.4% of road transport energy demand in 2025, rising from just under 4.8% in 2019.

Global biodiesel and HVO production reached 48 billion L globally in 2019. The Covid‑19 crisis has impacted global output to a lesser extent than ethanol, as the reduction in diesel demand has been less pronounced than for gasoline, and key markets introduced higher blending mandates in 2020 despite the pandemic. Production is expected to contract by around 5% to 46 billion L in 2020, with most of the reduction in European markets.

European production is expected to bounce back in 2021, which, combined with ongoing growth in ASEAN countries and the United States, causes global output to reach 53 billion L in 2021 and 56 billion L by 2022. Over 2023-25, average output is anticipated to be 63 billion L, 30% higher than the 2019 level. Expanding HVO production in Singapore and the United States accounts for over half of this increase. 

Output of biodiesel and HVO in the European Union reached a record 15.7 billion L in 2019.2 Production is anticipated to decrease 13.5% to 13.6 billion L in 2020. A key factor in this reduction is the Covid‑19 pandemic, which reduced EU diesel demand by 10.5% in 2020. Furthermore, storage capacity is saturated and the price of biodiesel has fallen more quickly than the cost of feedstocks, challenging biodiesel production economics. Two-thirds of production is from France, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands, and about one-quarter of total EU output comes from HVO.

The production decline would have been even greater if not for the biofuel mandates of various member states (e.g. France, Italy, Poland and Spain) linked to the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) 2020 target of 10% renewable energy in transport. Germany’s Climate Protection Quota also reinforced its carbon intensity target in 2020, notably boosting biodiesel and HVO demand. In addition to these favourable policy changes, a rebound in diesel demand in 2021 could cause output to increase to 15.8 billion L.

Over 2023-25, average output of 16.5 billion L is expected across the EU. HVO use expands considerably owing to its advantageous technical characteristics and the specifications of the updated RED for 2021-30. However, only 30.5% of all passenger car registered in the European Union in 2019 were diesel-fuelled (ACEA, 2020). Fewer diesel car registrations and increasingly efficient passenger and road freight vehicle fleets therefore means diesel consumption drops 10% over the forecast period, reducing biodiesel and HVO demand created by mandate policies.

In the United States, biodiesel and HVO production was a record 8.4 billion L in 2019. In 2020, output is expected to hold steady at around 8.2 billion L. The drop caused by the Covid‑19 pandemic is counterbalanced by policy-driven demand from the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2), California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) and the reintroduced Blender’s Tax Credit, resulting in 3% lower diesel demand. Anti-dumping duties on imports from Indonesia and Argentina, which rendered them uneconomic, also underpin domestic output.

Average yearly biodiesel production of 14 billion L is expected over 2023-25. The main driver for growth is a fourfold increase in HVO output arising from a flurry of investments in production capacity, including the conversion of several fossil fuel refineries. Tighter annual LCFS carbon intensity requirements in California, Oregon and the Canadian province of British Columbia will stimulate demand for low-carbon HVO from waste and residue feedstocks, but scaling up production will likely require that a new policy continue to stimulate the demand created by the RFS2 after its expiry in 2022.

In Indonesia, a record 7.2 billion L of biodiesel were produced in 2019. Output in 2020 is expected to increase slightly to 7.9 billion L. The rise in the national blending mandate from 20% to 30% at the beginning of 2020 offset a 12.5% reduction in diesel demand due to Covid‑19. The pandemic has, however, delayed the commissioning of some new production facilities.

Continued policy support over the forecast period is anticipated, as Indonesia’s oil import dependency is increasing. Improving security of supply is therefore a key aim of measures that support domestically produced biofuel consumption in transport. The biodiesel mandate is expected to rise to 40% during the forecast period, with vehicle testing already under way.

During 2023-25, average yearly output of 10.5 billion L is therefore expected, with higher biodiesel consumption from the transport mandate spurred by 10% diesel demand growth over 2021-25. Increased production is delivered by new plants coming online and underutilised capacity ramping up output.

Low-level HVO production has begun in Indonesia, with plans to launch production at several refineries. HVO blending with biodiesel, which is generally not constrained by blend limits, is considered one way to make vehicles suitable for the 40% mandate.

Brazil produced a record 5.9 billion L of biodiesel in 2019. A good soybean harvest and stronger demand resulting from an increase in the blending mandate (to 12%) this year is anticipated to raise production slightly to 6 billion L in 2020.3

Production could scale up to 7 billion L by 2025, reducing current biodiesel plant overcapacity. The primary impetus for higher output would be a staged mandate increase to 15% by 2023 and the introduction of the RenovaBio policy, which is likely to stimulate more output from lower-carbon waste oil and animal fat feedstocks.

Biodiesel production in Argentina amounted to 2.4 billion L in 2019, but the sector has been hit hard by the Covid‑19 crisis and output is expected to drop 40% to 1.4 billion L in 2020. Not only will a roughly 9% decrease in diesel demand reduce local consumption under the 10% blending mandate, but exports to the United States also remain closed due to trade tariffs. Although average yearly production over 2023-25 is anticipated to recover to 2.3 billion L, this will depend on how biofuel policies are revised in 2021.