Research on: biofuels

In the past decade, the demand for biofuels has steadily increased, at a global level and in the EU. The main biofuels currently on the market are “first-generation biofuels”, i.e. derived from agricultural feedstocks. The most widely used biofuels are by far biodiesel and bioethanol. Biodiesel is produced from vegetable oils (such as rapeseed, sunflower seed and soybean oils) or animal fats. Bioethanol is obtained through the fermentation of sugars into alcohol, using for example sugar beet, maize or wheat. The so-called “second-generation biofuels” (i.e. originating from the processing of ligno-cellulosic feedstock such as straw and forest residues) are not yet well developed.