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IEA issues new report on deployment of biofuels by 2050

According to the International Energy Agency's Technology Roadmaps "Biofuels for Transport", biofuels can provide up to 27% of world transportation fuel by 2050. With the transportation sector growing considerably, and demand for transport fuels rising globally, the IEA assesses biofuels – liquid and gaseous fuels derived from biomass (organic material derived from plants and animals) – as one of the key technologies to reduce CO2 emissions and reduce dependency on liquid transport fuels. The report shows how global biofuels consumption can increase in a sustainable way – one in which production of biofuels brings significant life cycle environmental benefits and does not compromise food security – from 55 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) today to 750 Mtoe in 2050; this would mean that the global share of biofuels in total transport fuel would grow from 2% today to 27% in 2050. In total, the report assesses the expenditure on biofuels required to meet the roadmap targets between US$ 11 trillion to US$ 13 trillion over the next 40 years, depending on the actual production costs.