7 December 2009: The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has released a report titled “The Biofuels Market: Current Situation and Alternative Scenarios,” which assesses six different biofuels policy scenarios, along with their possible global impacts.
The report is based on a scenario-building exercise that explicitly recognizes the contingency and volatility of biofuels viability, and frames its analyses accordingly. The report examines: the role and implications of biofuels blending targets; the establishment of a carbon dioxide price as incentive for the development of a global biofuels market; the commercial viability of second generation biofuel technology; trade opportunities for developing countries; and trade implications, including a discussion of intellectual property rights. The report also contains a chapter dedicated to biodiesel and the potential role of jatropha. [UNCTAD Press Release][The Report]