2010 - Performance Improvement and Reduction of Emissions From Coal-Fired Utility Boilers in China

IRENA REPORT
IRENA
International Renewable Energy Agency
ROAD TRANSPORT: THE COST

OF RENEWABLE SOLUTIONS
Preliminary Findings
Copyright (c) IRENA 2013

Unless otherwise indicated, material in this publication may be used freely, shared or reprinted, so long as IRENA is acknowledged as the source.
About IRENA
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is an intergovernmental organization that supports countries in their
transition to a sustainable energy future, and serves as the principal platform for international cooperation, a centre of excellence, and a repository of policy, technology, resource and financial knowledge on renewable energy. IRENA promotes the
widespread adoption and sustainable use of all forms of renewable energy, including bioenergy, geothermal, hydropower,
ocean, solar and wind energy in the pursuit of sustainable development, energy access, energy security and low carbon economic growth and prosperity.
Acknowledgement
This paper was prepared by IRENA. The paper benefitted from an internal IRENA review, as well as valuable comments and
guidance from: Francois Cuenot (IEA), Emmanuel Desplechin (Novozymes), Anselm Eisentraut (IEA), Lew Fulton (University
of California at Davis), Ari Lampinen (Stromstad Academy), Olaf Schilgen (E-mobility expert), Elina Virtanen (UPM) and Michael Wang (Argonne National Laboratory).
For further information or to provide feedback, please contact Michael Taylor, IRENA Innovation and Technology Centre,
Robert-Schuman-Platz 3, 53175 Bonn, Germany; MTaylor@irena.org or secretariat@irena.org.
This report is available for download from www.irena.org/publications
Disclaimer
The designations employed and the presentation of materials herein do not imply the expression of any opinion
whatsoever on the part of the International Renewable Energy Agency concerning the legal status of any country,
territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
ROAD TRANSPORT:
THE COST OF RENEWABLE SOLUTIONS
June 2013
PREFACE
Of all the sectors of global energy use, renewable energy currently contributes the least to the transport sector.
Often, efforts to promote renewable energy focus heavily on the power-generation sector. While renewable power
is critical to a sustainable global energy future, achieving this calls for a far more integrated approach, taking into
account all of the ways we consume energy in our diverse economies and daily lives.
The analysis presented in this report the latest in an expanding series of cost studies from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) suggests that the outlook for renewable energy in transport to 2020 could be very
positive, as long as current policy support is enhanced and expanded.
Significant policy efforts across a wide-range of countries have resulted in rapid growth for conventional biofuels
since 2000, starting from very low levels. The growth rate has slowed lately, with production costs for conventional
biofuels linked to food-based feedstocks rising in line with global food prices.
However, policy support for advanced biofuels, including a wider range of feedstock sources, has prompted research,
development and demonstration projects that have led to the construction of the first commercial-scale advanced
biofuels plants. With as many as 15 commercial-scale advanced biofuels plants to come online within a few years,
more meaningful cost data is starting to emerge. The signs are promising: a range of technology pathways are being explored, amid competition to prove the efficiency, reliability and up-scalability of innovative new renewable
transport fuels. These plants, if successful, will lead to larger more economic plants that could provide large reductions in greenhouse gas emissions at costs equal to or less than fossil fuels by 2020 if policy support is expanded.
Electric vehicles are also part of the intensifying competition, with mass-produced plug-in hybrids and pure electric
vehicles appearing from a range of manufacturers, amid encouraging signs for mass commercialisation. Costs will
come down with further deployment, making the outlook for electric vehicles in 2020 promising, as long as support
policies are enhanced and investment in the necessary recharging infrastructure grows. Biomethane could be an
important transport fuel, but similarly may need investment in refueling infrastructure to promote uptake.
These rapid developments in transport are mirrored in other sectors and IRENAs costing work - notably on power
generation, but in the future for stationary applications as well is designed to ensure policy and investment decisions are based on up-to-date, verifiable data. We are deepening our engagement with industry through the IRENA
Renewable Costing Alliance in an effort to collect the data that will allow more comprehensive and detailed analysis
of these issues in the future.
The findings for the transport sector are preliminary, given we are only just seeing commercial deployment of advanced biofuels and electrification for road transport. The next 18 months will reveal critical information about these
technologies and their costs. IRENA will follow these exciting developments closely and will revisit the costs of these
technologies once more data emerges.
However, what is clear is that these important breakthroughs can only be achieved if support policies are enhanced
and expanded. Delaying, or rolling back, support for advanced biofuels would endanger the progress made towards
aspirational targets for future years. Yet the growing body of cost data and analysis is highly encouraging. While the
road just ahead is challenging, we can now see the beginnings of widely available, competitive renewable options
for transport.
Adnan Z. Amin
Director-General, IRENA
R OAD TRAN SPORT: T HE C O ST O F R ENEWA B L E S O LUTI O N S
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary................................................................................................................................ 5
1. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................13
1.1 Scope of the analysis and background of renewable solutions......................................................... 14
1.2 Methodology and boundaries for the analysis................................................................................ 16
2. ENERGY CONSUMPTION FOR TRANSPORT...........................................................................................19
2.1 Road transport energy c onsumption............................................................................................. 19
2.2 Conventional biofuel production trends.......................................................................................... 21
2.3 Advanced biofuel production trends............................................................................................. 22
3. THE COST OF RENEWABLE S OLUTIONS FOR ROAD TRANSPORT:
AN OVERVIEW................................................................................................................................. 23
3.1 The current costs of liquid biofuels and biomethane and the outlook to 2020................................... 24
3.2 The current costs of PHEVs and EVs and the outlook to 2020......................................................... 25
4. BIOETHANOL................................................................................................................................... 27
4.1 Conventional bioethanol p roduction pathways.............................................................................. 27
4.2 Conventional bioethanol production costs.................................................................................... 29
4.3 Advanced biofuels: ethanol and gasoline replacements.................................................................. 36
5. Biodiesel......................................................................................................................................... 43
5.1 Conventional biodiesel............................................................................................................... 43
5.2 Advanced biodiesel from lignocellulosic feedstocks....................................................................... 47
6 BIOGAS.......................................................................................................................................... 55
6.1 Capital costs for biogas............................................................................................................. 56
6.2 Feedstock costs and other operating costs for biogas plants........................................................... 59
6.3 Total biogas production costs to produce biomethane for vehicles.................................................... 61
7 ELECTRICITY FOR TRANSPORT.......................................................................................................... 62
7.1 Battery cell and pack costs and characteristics............................................................................. 63
8 Outlook for costs to 2020................................................................................................................ 75
8.1 Outlook to 2020 for liquid biofuels and biogas costs..................................................................... 75
8.2 Outlook to 2020 for PHEV and EVcosts....................................................................................... 76
References.......................................................................................................................................... 78
R OA D TRA N S P O RT: TH E C O S T O F RE N E WA BLE S O LUTI ONS
Executive Summary
The costs of advanced biofuels, electric vehicles, and biomethane for transport could be competitive with fossil
fuel options by 2020 in an increasing number of market
segments, as long as support policies are enhanced and
expanded.
Although the current climate for renewables in transport is challenging, the analysis in this report highlights
that the outlook for the future is increasingly positive. If
support policies are expanded and enhanced, advanced
biofuel technologies to produce biodiesel and ethanol
could be competitive with fossil fuels by 2020, while
plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and pure electric vehicles (EVs) could provide mobility at comparable
overall costs to internal combustion engine (ICE) powered vehicles by 2020 in an increasing range of market
segments. Biomethane expands the renewable options
for transport and when produced from wastes can provide a very competitive transport fuel.
These recent developments are welcome, as the transport sector currently lags other sectors in terms of the
penetration of renewables.
In 2010, renewables accounted for just 2.5% of total
transport and 3.3% of road transport energy consumption. This is the lowest penetration of renewables of
any end-use sector. Significant policy efforts across a
wide-range of countries to boost the use of renewables
have resulted in rapid growth in the use of conventional
biofuels since 2000, although the rate of growth in conventional biofuel use, worryingly, has slowed to very low
levels in the last two years.
With ethanol production of around 80billion litres and
biodiesel production of around 24 billion litres in 2012,
conventional biofuels dominate total biofuels production, as well as the overall contribution of renewables to
road transport.
However, new renewable solutions are emerging as
advanced biofuel plants have started to be built at
commercial scales, PHEVs and EVs are now being mass
produced, and biogas can provide a low-cost fuel from
wastes. Question marks remain about which advanced
biofuels pathways will offer the least cost fuels and how
fast battery costs for PHEVs and EVs will come down.
Even so, the fact that today we can measure progress on
these two issues in the market place, with actual prices,

represents significant progress from a year or two ago.
Conventional biofuels, derived essentially from foodbased feedstocks, have seen their production costs
increase in recent years due to high food prices. The
outlook to 2020 for conventional biofuels is mixed, as
food prices are projected to remain high.
Total production costs for conventional ethanol and
biodiesel plants are dominated by feedstock costs. This
makes the economics of production heavily dependent
on movements in the local and global markets for the
feedstock used. Between 2005 and 2012, global corn
prices rose by around 120%, while between 2007 and
2012, the sugarcane prices paid by ethanol producers
in Brazil increased by two thirds. The feedstock costs
of biodiesel also increased between 2005 and 2012; by
87% for soybean oil and 49% for rapeseed oil.
In 2012, conventional ethanol produced from corn in
the United States was therefore estimated to have
cost between USD 0.9 and USD1.1 per litre of gasoline
equivalent (lge) to produce, while Brazilian sugar cane
ethanol was estimated to have cost between USD0.7/
lge and USD0.9/lge (Figure ES.1). The cost of ethanol
from other grains (e.g. wheat) was higher. This compares to average refinery wholesale prices in the United
States, with monthly averages between USD0.72/litre
and USD0.84/litre in 2012 for gasoline.
Conventional biodiesel production costs from soybean
and rapeseed oils in 2012 were estimated to have averaged around USD1.3/litre of diesel equivalent produced.
Biodiesel produced from palm oil in Malaysia and Indonesia was estimated to have lower production costs,
around USD1/litre.
Current projections of global food prices to 2020 and
hence also the main production costs for conventional
biofuels are for prices to remain high and even increase for some food crops. The outlook for 2013 is
slightly better than this long-term view, with expectations that prices for corn and some other food crops will
ease from 2012 levels on the back of higher production
in 2013. The outlook for conventional biofuels to 2020 is
therefore for modest growth in production costs, albeit
with some reductions in costs from 2012 levels anticipated within the next few years.
2012USD/litreofgasolineordieselequivalent
1.80
1.60
1.40
1.20
1.00
0.80
0.60
0.40
Average2012exrefinery fossilfuelpricesintheUnitedStates
0.20
Conventionalethanol
Advancedethanol
Conventionalbiodiesel
FTlowtemp.(180l/t):2020
FThightemp.:2020
Fastpyrolysis(275340
l/tonne):2020
Fastpyrolysis(250l/tonne):
2012/13
Jatropha:2020
Jatropha:2012
Soy,rapeseed,palm:2020
Indirectgasification:2020
Enzymatichydrolysis:2020
Enzymatichydrolysis:2012/13
Brazilsugarcane:2020
Grains:2020
Grains:2012
0.00
Advancedbiodiesel
Figure ES.1: Summary of conventional and advanced biofuel production costs, 2012 and 2020
Advanced biofuels from lignocellulosic feedstocks are
just beginning to be produced at first-of-a-kind plants
at commercial production scales. The capital costs of
these plants are, as would be expected, higher than for
mature conventional plants. However, with around 15
plants planned to be online within the next few years,
emerging cost data suggest a positive outlook. If current support policies can be enhanced and accelerated,
advanced biofuels could become cost competitive with
fossil fuels by 2020, assuming some of the technology
pathways now being explored will prove to be reliable at
commercial scales.
Policy support for advanced biofuels from lignocellulosic feedstocks based on biomass, such as wood and
agricultural residues has stimulated the construction
of the first commercial-scale advanced biofuels plants,
notably in Europe and the United States. Although
production is in its infancy, the outlook to 2020 and
beyond for commercially viable advanced biofuels is
increasingly positive.
Advanced biofuels offer some clear advantages over
conventional biofuels derived from food crops. Advanced biofuel feedstocks do not have to be grown on
pasture or arable land. They do not, therefore, compete
with food supplies. Advanced biofuels also have the
potential for much higher levels of production, very low
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and reduced production-cost volatility.
With commercial-scale plants coming online, real cost
data for advanced biofuels has started to emerge and
will continue to grow. As competition spurs innovation, advanced biofuel developers are exploring various
technology pathways to demonstrate the efficiency,
reliability and potential for up-scaling plants. The capital costs for such first-of-a-kind plants, at relatively
small commercial scales, are still relatively high. The key
challenge remains to prove that the efficiency and reliability of production processes can be maintained while
achieving continuous output at planned capacity levels.
Although advanced biofuels are only just at the early
stage of commercialisation, and estimated production costs are still high, the cost reduction potential is
good, and higher than for conventional biofuels. The key
challenge is proving which technology pathways will
work reliably at commercial production scales, with the
significant technical and commercial risks these first-ofa-kind plants incur.
The first-of-a-kind commercial plants currently being
deployed, sometimes at relatively small-scale, can require high investment costs, although some plants
appear much cheaper than others. Advanced biofuel
plants that recently became operational, are under
construction or are planned to be online by 2015 have
capital costs in the range USD1.5 to USD4.6 per litre per
year of capacity (Figure ES.2).
Current production costs for ethanol via the enzymatic
hydrolysis of lignocellulosic feedstocks may be in the
range of USD 0.75/lge to USD 1.45/lge, based on the
investment-cost data emerging for operating, underconstruction and planned plants that should be online
2012 USD/litre of annual capacity
Figure ES.2: Capital costs for current or near future commercial-scale advanced ethanol plants
by 2015 (Figure ES.1). This cost estimate is tentative, as
data gaps remain and the plants are yet to prove their
reliability and capability to operate continuously and
efficiently at design capacity. Solid data will start to
emerge in the next 18 months and will be incorporated
into future analysis by IRENA.
Advanced biodiesel productions costs could fall from
between USD 0.8 to USD 1.3/litre of diesel equivalent
to between USD0.6 to USD1.1/litre of diesel equivalent
by 2020. However, these pathways are generally less
advanced than those for ethanol.
Ongoing investment in research and development,
funded by both public and private sources, is still essential to perfect different pathways and identify promising
new production methods. However, the key immediate
challenge is to gain experience with commercial-scale
projects in each of the most promising pathways, now
that commercialisation is beginning. This will require
more risk sharing between public and private sector
partners and enhanced deployment policies.
Biomethane is an oft overlooked transport fuel that
can play an important part in the global road fuel
mix. Biomethane produced from wastes (e.g. sewage,
animal effluent, etc.) using the process of anaerobic
digestion can provide low-cost renewable transport
fuels today.
Biogas is composed mostly of methane and carbon dioxide produced from organic material. Like natural gas,
it is a versatile fuel and can be used directly to generate
electricity, to provide low- or high-temperature heat, or

to power vehicles. For transportation, it can be upgraded,
compressed and used in a dedicated or flex-fuel vehicle.
The key challenges for biogas are to grow the market
and reduce costs. The use of biogas requires natural
or biogas-based fuelling infrastructure and flex-fuel or
dedicated natural/biogas vehicles.
Biomethane upgraded for use in vehicles can be produced for between USD 0.45/lge and USD 0.55/lge
from wastes, but this range increases to USD0.65-0.75/
lge when maize silage is also purchased.
The commercialisation of mass-produced PHEVs and
EVs is only just beginning, with a handful of vehicles
available from selected manufacturers. The key challenge for electrifying transport is to reduce the cost
of battery packs, from around USD 650/kilowatt hour
(kWh) in 2012, and improve the performance of batteries. However, despite high incremental costs and
the early stage of development, some PHEV and EV
offerings are already close to competitiveness. Costs
will have to continue to fall and ranges increase, but the
outllook for 2020 is that EVs and PHEVs could be close
to, or already will be, cost-competitive with conventional
ICE vehicles powered by fossil fuels.
The average cost of gasoline saved with the first-of-akind mass production PHEVs now being offered for sale
varies depending on incremental costs by manufacturer,
retail gasoline prices, driving patterns and a range of
other factors. However, with average retail gasoline prices
PHEVs:2012USD/lgesaved
UnitedStates(17000km/yr)
Europe(14000km/year)
Japan(9000km/year)
Retailgasolinein 2012
(JapanandEurope)
(UnitedStates)
0
2012
2020
2012
PHEV1
2020
2012
PHEV2
2020
PHEV3
2012
2020
PHEV4
2012
2020
2012
PHEV5
2020
PHEV6
2012
2020
PHEV7
Figure ES.3: PHEV cost of gasoline saved, 2012 and 2020

of around USD2/litre in 2012 in Europe and Japan, the
cost of the gasoline saved is close to or less than the retail
price for a number of PHEV offerings (Figure ES.3).
Cost reductions for PHEV and EV batteries by 2020

could also be significant. The consensus from multiple
sources puts future battery-pack costs in the range of
USD 300-400/kWh for EVs by 2020, although more
optimistic projections also exist. Assuming battery costs
decline to USD350/kWh for EVs and USD500/kWh for
PHEVs by 2020, then the cost of battery packs could fall
by USD5500 per vehicle (for a 23 kWh pack) or more
for larger batteries. At the same time, improvements in
battery performance should see vehicle ranges increase.
For EVs, the total cost of ownership, rather than cost

of gasoline saved, is examined and compared to conventional ICE vehicles. Where the base ICE model is not
the most fuel-efficient in its class, EVs look particularly
attractive, even with the low production volumes of todays models. However, the economics are much more
challenging when the base ICE model is more efficient
(Figure ES.4). Improving battery performance will reduce
costs and help increase the range of EVs, a key concern
for many consumers.
Annualisedcapitalandfuelcosts:2012USD/lge
5000
4500
4000
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
Japan(9000km/year)
500
2012
EV
Conventional(sub
compact)
EV
Conventional
(compact)
EV
Conventional
(medium)
EV
Conventional(sub
compact)
EV
Conventional
(compact)
EV
Conventional
(medium)
2020
Figure ES.4: Total ownership costs for electric vehicles, 2012 and 2020
List of tables
Table 4.1: Conventional bioethanol feedstock properties and yields....................................................... 32
Table 4.2: Theoretical maximum ethanol yields from different lignocellulosic feedstocks.......................... 39
Table 4.3: C
apital costs, ethanol yields and production, electricity generation and final ethanol cost
for biochemical conversion of corn stover by pretreatment process 39
Table 5.1: C
onventional biodiesel global crop prices and feedstock costs per unit of biodiesel,
2009 to 2012 45
Table 6.1: Waste feedstocks and appropriate digesters and characteristics............................................ 55
Table 6.2: T able 6.2: Biogas and landfill gas characteristics and natural gas network requirements
in Denmark and the Netherlands
Table 6.3: Selected biogas upgrader systems, their inputs and characteristics........................................ 60
Table 7.1: Li-Ion battery characteristics by chemistry........................................................................... 64
Table 7.2: Electric vehicle prices, range and on-road efficiency............................................................. 69
Table 7.3: Electric vehicle charging infrastructure costs........................................................................ 72
List of figures
Figure 1.1: Biofuel pathways from feedstock to products 14
Figure 1.2: Maturity of different biofuel pathways 15
Figure 2.1: Transport energy consumption by sector, 2000 to 2010 19
Figure 2.2: Energy consumption for road transport by fuel, 2000 to 2010 20
Figure 2.3: Biofuel consumption for transport by fuel, 2000 to 2010 20
Figure 2.4. Global ethanol production by country and region, 2007 to 2012 21
Figure 2.5: Global biodiesel production, 2000 to 2012 22
Figure 3.1: Summary of conventional and advanced biofuel production costs, 2012 and 2020 23
Figure 3.2: Cost of gasoline saved for PHEVs and total ownership costs for EVs in 2012 and 2020 25
Figure 3.3: Total ownership costs for electric vehicles, 2012 and 2020 26
Figure 4.1: Simplified sugarcane to ethanol production process 27
Figure 4.2: Simplified corn-to-ethanol production process 28
Figure 4.3: Flex-fuel vehicle characteristics 29
Figure 4.4: Total installed capital cost breakdown for a typical dry mill corn ethanol plant in the United
States 30
Figure 4.5: Estimated production costs for corn ethanol in the United States at market prices for corn,
2005 to 2013 31
Figure 4.6: Sugarcane ethanol producer prices and feedstock costs in Brazil, 2002 to 2012 31
Figure 4.7: Global prices for food based biofuel feedstocks and crude oil, 2000 to 2012 32
Figure 4.8: Other operating costs for ethanol production from corn in the United States and sugarcane
in Brazil 33
Figure 4.9: Weekly Iowa corn and dried distillers grain prices, October 2006 to February 2013 34
Figure 4.10: Average producer prices for 2002 to 2012 and estimated production cost ranges for
conventional bioethanol feedstocks in 2012 35
Figure 4.12: Capital costs for current or near future commercial-scale advanced ethanol plants 37
Figure 4.11: Capital cost breakdown for biochemical production of bioethanol from corn stover 37
Figure 4.13: Biofuel feedstock costs as a function of ethanol yield and biomass feedstock price 39
Figure 4.14: Other operating cost breakdown for biochemical production of bioethanol from corn
stover and from forestry biomass with indirect gasification and ethanol and mixed
alcohols from synthesis 40
Figure 4.15: Estimated current lignocellulosic bioethanol production costs 41
Figure 4.16: Estimated current lignocellulosic bioethanol production costs and future cost with todays
technologies 42
Figure 5.1: Total installed costs for biodiesel plants by feedstock 44
Figure 5.2: Biodiesel installed costs as a function of annual capacity and FFA c ontent of feedstock 44
Figure 5.3: Global coconut, soybean and palm oil prices, 2000 to 2012 45
Figure 5.4: Non-feedstock operating costs for conventional biodiesel plants by feedstock 46
Figure 5.5: Conventional biodiesel total production costs ranges for 2009 to 2012 by feedstock 47
10
Figure 5.6: Operating, planned or under construction advanced biodiesel plant capital costs 49
Figure 5.7: Advanced biodiesel capital cost breakdown for BTL with FT synthesis and fast p yrolysis
routes, future plant 50
Figure 5.8: Advanced biodiesel feedstock costs per litre as a function of biomass costs and process
yields for BTL with FT synthesis and fast pyrolysis 51
Figure 5.9: Advanced biodiesel other operating costs for BTL with FT synthesis and fast pyrolysis
for fully commercialised future plant 52
Figure 5.10: Total biodiesel production cost breakdown for fully commercialised future BTL with FT
synthesis and fast pyrolysis plants, and todays fast pyrolysis plant 53
Figure 5.11: Total advanced biodiesel production cost ranges by technology for biomass costs
of USD30-100/dry tonne 54
Figure 6.1: Capital costs per unit of capacity for AD systems by plant size and feedstock 56
Figure 6.2: Capital costs for biogas upgrading systems by type and size 58
Figure 6.3: Capital costs for biogas systems including upgrader by type and size 58
Figure 6.4: Operating costs for AD biogas by feedstock and size 59
Figure 6.5: Operating costs for biogas upgraders by type and size 60
Figure 6.6: Total production costs for biomethane suitable for vehicle use by upgrader type and size 61
Figure 7.1: The range of electrification options for vehicles 62
Figure 7.2: Specific power versus specific energy density for different electricity storage solutions 63
Figure 7.3: Total cost breakdown for a 22 kWh Li-Ion battery pack for a 100% electric EV, 2012 65
Figure 7.4: Total cost breakdown for Li-Ion battery packs for EVs and PHEVs by vehicle class, 2012 66
Figure 7.5: PHEV gross incremental cost breakdown for all-electric ranges of 16 km and 65 km 67
Figure 7.6: PHEV incremental costs and cost of gasoline saved 68
Figure 7.7: Annualised costs of ownership (vehicle depreciation and fuel costs) for electric vehicles
over 160000km by region 70
Figure 7.8: Vehicle costs for ICE PHEV and EV small vans and panel vans 71
Figure 7.9: Annualised costs of ownership (vehicle depreciation and fuel costs) for electric vehicles
over 160000km including charging infrastructure costs after km by region 73
Figure 8.1: Summary of conventional and advanced biofuel costs in 2012 and 2020 75
Figure 8.2: Annualised total costs of ownership for EVs in 2012 and 2020 77
11
12
1. INTRODUCTION
Road transport accounts for around a quarter of final
energy consumption, and renewable energy technologies and fuels can help countries meet their policy goals
for secure, reliable and affordable energy and reduced
price volatility. They can also promote social and economic development. However, governments will find
it difficult, if not impossible, to accurately assess which
renewable options are best for their circumstances without reliable information on the costs and performance
of renewable energy technologies available for road
transport.
The aim of this report is to assist government decisionmaking by ensuring that decision makers have access
to up-to-date and reliable information on the costs,
benefits and relative performance of renewable energy
technologies for road transport.
The use of renewable energy sources and technologies
in the transport sector is not yet widespread. Renewables accounted for around 3% of road transport energy
consumption in 2010, mostly conventional biofuels.1 The
range of renewable use for road transport by country
varied from a low of zero in many countries to a high of
22% in Brazil (IEA, 2013a).
In the past, the adoption of renewables in transport has
been hampered by a number of barriers. These include
high costs (Brazil is an exception), misconceptions
about the sustainability of biofuels and electric vehicles,
and a lack of supporting policies in many countries.
However, the policy support that has been in place over
the past decade and the gradual commercialisation of
advanced biofuels (e.g. from biomass crops or waste)
and electric vehicles mean there is a realistic prospect
that renewable solutions could be competitive with incumbent technologies and fuels by 2020, as long as policy support for deployment is reinforced and expanded.
The accelerated deployment of these renewable technologies will lead to significant cost reductions due to
progressive learning effects, research and development
(R&D) advances and economies of scale in manufactur1 Biofuel is a generic term that is typically applied to liquid fuels
produced from agricultural (e.g. sugar cane, soya beans), forestry
(e.g. black liquor, forestry residues) or other organic feedstocks
(e.g. animal fats, algae). It can also be used as a term to include
biogas and biomethane and, in future, biohydrogen from a variety
of renewable sources.
ing. The increased production of both advanced biofuels

and electric vehicles will help identify the technologies
and processes appropriate for different markets, and
which biofuel production processes work reliably and
efficiently at commercial scale. The increasing size of
the global market for renewable transportation technologies and fuels will help encourage a diversity of suppliers. It will also intensify the competitive pressures and
beneficial effects this will have on innovation and costs.
In the seven sections that follow, this report outlines
the principal findings of the latest analysis by IRENA
of options available for road transport. These include
a range of biofuel, biogas and electrification options.
These results for renewable solutions for road transport
are preliminary findings in what is a fast moving and
dynamic situation for advanced biofuels and electrification of transport. The analysis will be updated in
2013 and integrated into an assessment of the cost of
renewable solutions for air and sea transport to provide
a more complete picture of the costs for the transport
sector. This will also include additional data that is likely
to emerge over the coming year from the first-of-a-kind
advanced biofuels plants that are just starting up, and
from more widespread distribution of plug-in hybrid
electric vehicles (PHEVs) and pure electric vehicles
(EVs).
The analysis summarised in this paper represents a
static analysis of costs. Yet finding the optimal mix of
renewable transport solutions in a countrys transport
energy mix requires dynamic modelling, not just of the
transportation system, but of the energy system as a
whole. Dynamic modelling takes into account the complexities of energy supply and use, as well as competing
demands for bioenergy feedstocks (e.g. from power
generation and heat production) and the increasing
penetration of renewables in electricity generation. This
modelling also needs to take into account the interplay between electricity supply, the grid and the role of
PHEVs and EVs as sources of electricity demand, but
also system flexibility when these vehicles batteries
supply electricity to the grid. This presents challenges
but also opportunities to attain higher levels of renewable electricity generation. An energy system approach
is the only way to analyse these complex interactions
between technologies, users and the system itself.
This analysis of the costs of renewable solutions for
road transport based on the latest available data and
13
information supports the transparent assessment of

the role different renewable solutions for road transport
can play in decarbonising the transport sector, improving energy security and promoting economic growth.
1.1 Scope of the analysis and background of renewable solutions

This report examines the role of renewable solutions for
road transport that are commercially available today, or
that are likely to be commercialised by 2020 at reasonable cost. The analysis therefore focuses on conventional
and advanced liquid biofuels, biomethane and electrification of transport using renewable power generation.
Liquid biofuels are not new. Their use goes back to the
earliest era of the use of internal combustion engines in
the 19th century, and Brazil has had significant shares of
ethanol use for decades. However, the growth in biofuels production over the last 13 years has been driven by
government policies. These aim to improve energy security and the diversity of fuel supplies, reduce oil and/
or refined product imports, promote rural economic and
Biomass
Part of plants used
Conversion step
social development and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG)

emissions. This policy support began in Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
countries, but more and more developing countries
have already enacted support policies or are developing them.
Biofuels can be split into two broad categories: conventional biofuels derived from food or animal feed
crops2 and advanced biofuels which use lignocellulosic
feedstocks (Figure 1.1 and Figure 1.2). Since this report
examines conventional and advanced biofuels that have
already been commercialised or will be before 2020 at
a reasonable cost, the analysis does not examine biohydrogen (via gasification and reforming or electrolysis
using electricity from solar or wind) or biofuels from
algae, which are at an earlier stage of research, development and demonstration (Figure 1.2).
Conventional bioethanol and biodiesel, also referred
to as first-generation liquid biofuels, are produced from
2 For simplicity, biofuels produced from the wastes of the food or
animal feed component of the crops are included in this category
(e.g. used vegetable oil, yellow grease, etc). The reason for this is
that their supply is essentially limited to the food and animal feed
crop.
Products
Chemical
Used oil,
tallow, etc.
Transesterification
Oilseed crops
Fats and oils
Grains
Starches
Sugar crops
Sugars
Biodiesel or
renewable diesel
Hydrotreating
Biological
Conventional alcohol
fermentation
Enzymatic hydrolysis
and fermentation
Organic wastes
Ethanol, butanol
Anaerobic digestion
Methane
Agricultural
residues
Trees amd
grasses
Novel approaches
Cellulose,
hemicellulose
and lignin
Thermochemical
Pyrolysis
Gasification
Catalysis to liquid
fuels
Figure 1.1: Biofuel pathways from feedstock to products

Source: Based on Schwaiger, 2011.
14
Hydrocarbons and
natural oils from
which desired fuel
can be produced
Advanced biofuels
Demonstration
Basic and applied R&D
Diesel type Biodiesel from microalgae;

biofuels Sugar-based hydrocarbons
Novel fuels
(e.g. furanics)
Biobutanol; DME3;
Pyrolysis-based fuels
Hydrotreated
vegetable oil
Liquid biofuel
Gasification
with reforming
Biodiesel
(by transesterification)
Methanol
Biogas
(anaerobic digestion)
Bio-SG4
All other
novel routes
Commercial
Ethanol from sugar
and starch crops
BtL1-diesel
(from gasification + FT2)
Biomethane
Hydrogen
Early commercial
Cellulosic ethanol
Bioethanol
Other fuels
and additives
Conventional biofuels
Biogas
reforming
Gaseous biofuel
1. Biomass-to-liquids; 2. Fischer-Tropsch; 3. Dimethylether; 4. Bio-synthetic gas.
Figure 1.2: Maturity of different biofuel pathways

Source: Based on IEA, 2011.
mature processes at commercial scales. For bioethanol,

the process comprises the conversion of sugar or starch
derived from cereals/grains, sugarcane, sugarbeet, cassava, and others, via fermentation into alcohol and subsequent distillation to ethanol. For biodiesel, the feedstocks used include vegetable oil derived from oil palm,
soybeans, rapeseed, Jatropha seeds and others, as well
as waste cooking oil, animal fats and other sources of
vegetable and animal fats and oils. The feedstock can either be converted into Fatty-Acid Methyl Ester (FAME),
via transesterification of the raw material, or processed
via hydrotreatment into a biodiesel with properties
close to that of fossil diesel. Conventional biofuels also
include methanol and butanol produced from starch or
sugar through similar processes, and biomethane production from anaerobic digestion.
Advanced bioethanol and biodiesel, also referred to as
second-generation biofuels, are produced using conversion technologies that are only just being commercialised or are still in the research and development (R&D),
pilot or demonstration phase. This category includes
bioethanol produced from the biochemical conversion of lignocellulosic feedstock such as wood, straw,
bagasse and similar materials of biological origin into
sugars followed by the fermentation into alcohol and
distillation into ethanol. Methanol and butanol produced

via similar processes are also included in this category,
as well as any gasoline-type biofuels produced via
thermochemical conversion of biomass (i.e. gasification
followed by a fuel synthesis), or through processes using micro-organisms such as algae and bacteria.
Advanced biodiesel includes synthetic diesel or kerosene-type fuels derived via gasification and subsequent
catalytic fuel synthesis or via pyrolysis and subsequent
upgrading/refining. Also included in this category are
algae-based fuels and diesel-type biofuels produced
from sugar using microorganisms.
Virtually all biofuels produced today are conventional,
whereas advanced biofuel production is entering the
early phase of commercial deployment. A range of
commercial-scale plants are online or coming online
in the next three years (Bacovsky, 2013 and Brown and
Brown, 2013).
Biofuels derived from food crops have net benefits in
terms of emissions reductions and energy balance.3
3 The Global Bio-Energy Partnership (GBEP) has extensive analysis
and recommendations of the sustainability issues surrounding
biofuels.
15
However, they are extremely sensitive to food price

movements and there is little opportunity for cost
reduction, as the technology is relatively mature; only
incremental improvements in process economics can be
expected. Looking further into the future, the reliance
on food crops will limit the potential contribution of
these types of biofuels to total transport demand.
Advanced biofuels are still expensive today and only just
being commercialised. However, they offer the potential
for significantly lower and more stable feedstock costs
and could meet a much larger proportion of transport
demand, given that feedstocks can be sourced from
a wide range of biomass sources. This is because advanced biofuels use lignocellulosic feedstocks from
wastes/residues or from energy crops that do not have
to be grown on pasture or arable land. The challenge is
still to prove the efficiency, reliability and commercial
attractiveness of the different pathways for advanced
biofuels.
Biogas is composed mostly of methane and carbon
dioxide produced from organic material. It can be upgraded and purified to become biomethane for use as a
transport fuel in internal combustion engine (ICE) powered vehicles. It is compressed, to improve the energy
density, and used in a dedicated biomethane vehicle or
dual-fuel vehicle.
The key challenges for biogas are that to be used as a
transport fuel, it requires natural gas or biomethanebased fuelling infrastructure and flex-fuel or dedicated
natural/biomethane vehicles. Alternatively, existing vehicles can be converted to run on biogas, but at a cost
and with a loss in storage space and range to accommodate the storage tank.
The two most promising routes for the production of biogas for transportation are anaerobic digestion (AD) of
organic matter and the gasification of woody biomass
to produce synthetic biogas. AD is commercially mature
and is already used around the world to produce biogas
from organic wastes (e.g. refuse, sewage and other effluents) and this is the option examined in this paper.
The use of electricity from renewable sources as an
energy source for vehicles, either in PHEVs or EVs, is an
important option to decarbonise the transport sector.4
It also has significant co-benefits in terms of reducing
local pollutant emissions and reducing the negative
health impacts of local pollutant emissions from internal
combustion engine powered vehicles.
4 Hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) combine a battery with an electric
motor and an ICE. However, there is no external electricity source,
as the battery is charged from the ICE or with regenerative breaking. These are therefore not in the scope of this report.
16
The key challenge is to improve the performance of

the batteries used in PHEVs and EVs to provide greater
range than today at lower costs. PHEVs combine an
often downsized ICE with the capability for all-electric
driving in charge depleting mode from a battery recharged from the grid. Depending on battery size and
driving patterns, PHEVs can cover a majority of vehicle
kilometres on electricity alone. Meanwhile, the retention
of an ICE means that the total range of the vehicle on
electricity and liquid fuels is comparable to todays ICE
vehicles.
With EVs, the ICE is dispensed with and electricity
from the battery provides all of the energy required for
driving through one or more electric motors. The EVs
battery is recharged from an electricity source (gridconnected or off-grid), from regenerative braking and
potentially from integrated PV panels. The main advantages of EVs are that:
they have zero local pollutant emissions;

they are much quieter than a vehicle with an internal combustion engine (ICE); and
their electric motors are much more efficient
than an ICE and cheaper as well.
These advantages have to be offset by the early stage

of vehicle battery technology development, with their
low energy and power densities compared to liquid
fuels, and relatively high costs. However, cost reduction
potentials are good given that commercialisation of
mass-produced PHEVs and EVs is only just beginning.
An advantage of the electrification route is that the
basic technology components are relatively mature,
with the exception of batteries, while the existing experience with batteries from consumer products means
that there are a range of potential battery suppliers and
significant investment in innovation and R&D to develop
battery technologies optimised for PHEVs and EVs.
1.2 Methodology and boundaries for

the analysis
The foundations of an investment decision are made
based on the costs of renewable fuels and technologies.
This is critical to understanding the competitiveness of
renewable energy options for transport.
Road transport costs can be measured in a number of
different ways, with each approach providing its own
particular insights. By setting clear boundaries and
methodologies for its analysis, IRENA aims to ensure
transparency in the methodology and assumptions
used to make cost calculations. This minimises any con-
fusion about the comparability of data and allows the

debate to focus on the underlying assumptions.
Cost analysis can be very detailed, but for comparison
purposes, the approach used here is a simplified one.
This allows greater scrutiny of the underlying data and
assumptions and improves transparency and confidence in the analysis. It also facilitates the comparison
of costs by country or region for the same technologies
in order to identify the key drivers in any differences.
This paper focuses on the cost of renewable solutions
from the perspective of investors, whether they are a
public or private company, individual or a community
looking to invest in renewable options for transportation. The analysis excludes the impact of government incentives or subsidies, as well as any energy system-wide
costs or cost reductions except where noted (e.g. additional electricity infrastructure for EVs). Furthermore,
the analysis does not take into account CO2 pricing or
the benefits of renewables in reducing other externalities (e.g. reduced local air pollution or contamination of
the natural environment). Similarly, there is no quantification of the benefits from renewables being insulated
from volatile fossil fuel prices.
The analysis required to calculate the external costs of
fossil fuel use from climate change and local pollutant
emissions is important, but is beyond the scope of this
report. The range of uncertainty surrounding estimates
of external costs can also be a distraction from the
underlying cost data, while local pollutant emission external costs obviously vary significantly regionally. However, it is clear that including these costs would improve
the economics of the renewable options presented here.
The data used for the comparisons in this paper come
from a variety of sources, such as governments, industry
associations, business journals, manufacturers, project
developers, consultancies and other private companies.
Every effort has been made to ensure that these data
are directly comparable and are used with the same
system boundaries. Where this is not the case, the data
have been corrected on a common basis using the best
available data or assumptions.
It is important to note that, although this paper tries to
examine costs, strictly speaking, the data available are
usually prices. They are often not even true market average prices, but price indicators. The difference between
costs and prices is determined by the amount above, or
below, the normal5 profit that would be seen in a competitive market.
5 The idea of normal profits is an economic concept where the
level of profit results in a return on investment equal to the risk
adjusted rate of return for the industry.
The approach used in the analysis presented here is

based on a discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis. This
method of calculating the cost of renewable energy
technologies is based on discounting financial flows
(annual, quarterly or monthly) to a common basis
in time, taking into consideration the time value of
money. As a result, the weighted average cost of capital
(WACC- often also referred to as the discount rate) used
to evaluate the project has a critical impact on the cost
of the option being examined.
All costs presented in this paper are in real 2012 USD;
that is to say, after inflation has been taken into account unless otherwise stated.6 A standard discount
rate of 10% real (i.e. after adjusting for inflation) is used
to discount all financial flows to a common basis in this
report (unless explicitly noted that another value has
been used). This assumption is consistent with all the
previous costing analysis conducted by IRENA (IRENA,
2012a-e and IRENA, 2013).
Unlike power generation, where one relatively simple
methodology was possible,7 analysis of the transport
sector requires several different methodologies to accurately reflect the very different technologies. The
methodologies and boundaries used to assess the costs
of biofuels and biogas, PHEVs and EVs are described
below.
Biofuels and biogas

The analysis of biofuels and biogas shares a common
methodology and is based on a DCF analysis of the
capital, operations, maintenance and fuel costs of producing biofuels and biogas. This methodology is similar
to that used for power generation, but requires additional data about the process technology to determine
the yields of biogas and biofuels from a given feedstock.
Different processes and feedstocks will therefore have
quite different final costs for the feedstock component.
The formula used for calculating the cost of biofuels and
biogas is:
Biofuel or biogas cost (per litre of gasoline equivalent)
)
)
)
6 An analysis based on nominal values with specific inflation as(

)
sumptions
for
each of
the cost components is beyond the scope
(
)
of this analysis. Project developers will build their own specific
(
)
cashflow
models to identify the profitability of a project from their
)
perspective. (
7 See IRENAs most recent analysis of power generation Renewable
Power Generation Costs in 2012: An Overview for a discussion of
the methodology used. This is available as a free download at
www.irena.org/publications.
17
Plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles
Where:
It = investment expenditures in the year t for the

production plant;
Mt = operations and maintenance expenditures
in the year t;
Ft = Net feedstock expenditures in the year t
(based on process yields and feedstock prices,
less revenues from co-products or gate fees for
waste);
CPt = The value of non-feedstock co-products
(e.g. surplus electricity sold to the grid);
Et = energy produced in the year t (based on
plant capacity, availability and yields from feedstock);
r = discount rate; and
n = economic life of the system.
PHEVs and EVs require separate methodologies. For

PHEVs the cost of gasoline/diesel saved is considered.
This can then be directly compared to the retail cost of
gasoline or diesel to determine the competiveness of
(
)
the PHEV compared to an equivalent vehicle equipped
(
)
with an internal combustion engine. The formula for
( )
is:
PHEVs
(
)
Given liquid biofuels and biogas are direct competitors

with liquid fossil fuels, the costs are presented per litre
of gasoline equivalent for ethanol and biogas, and per
litre of diesel equivalent for biodiesel. This adjustment
is necessary because the volumetric energy content of
ethanol is around two-thirds of that of fossil fuel-based
gasoline. This needs to be taken into account in order
to analyse gasoline and ethanol on a comparable basis. The energy content of a litre of biodiesel is around
9094% of conventional fossil fuel diesel. The analysis
for biogas is based on a normalised cubic metre of gas,
which is the volume of gas for a normalised temperature
and pressure of 0C and 1.01325 bar A respectively given
that this is the standard unit for the industry. However,
for the final cost of biogas the data is also presented per
litre of gasoline equivalent to provide a direct comparison with the incumbent fossil fuel option.
It is important to note that in this equation for biofuels
and biogas plants the feedstock costs are net of the
value of co-products arising from the feedstock. This includes, for instance, dried distiller grain for grain-based
liquid biofuels and any gate fees for waste disposal or
revenues from fertiliser production at biogas plants.
Co-products not associated with the feedstock, such
as surplus electricity exported to the grid, are treated
separately.
For both biofuels and biogas, the system boundary for
which costs are examined are ex-plant. The rationale for
this is that the transportation and distribution costs for
liquid biofuels and biogas are very similar to the equivalent liquid fossil fuels and natural gas.
18
Cost of gasoline/diesel saved =

(
(
(
(
)
)
Where:
It = additional investment per vehicle (over a conventional vehicle) in the year t;
ECt = electricity cost in the year t (as a function of

km travelled using electricity and the electricity
consumption per km);
FSt = fuel saved in litres as a result of electric km

driven in the year t (based on fuel efficiency of a
comparable conventional vehicle);
r = discount rate; and
n = economic life of the vehicle.
For EVs the annualised total cost of ownership for the

vehicle including purchase price and electricity costs is
examined and then compared to the annualised total
ownership costs for an equivalent conventional vehicle.
The reason for this approach is that it doesnt make
sense to talk about the cost of gasoline saved when
there is no internal combustion engine and that most
EVs available today are purpose-designed vehicles and
a direct comparison with an identical equivalent ICE
vehicle is often not possible.
As far as EVs and PHEVs are concerned, this report
discusses the costs of electrical charging infrastructure,
but does not attempt to fully integrate this into the cost
analysis. The wide range of possible infrastructure deployment strategies and their varying costs are beyond
the scope of this report. Infrastructure deployment patterns and their costs, given their complexity, merit their
own analysis.
2. ENERGY CONSUMPTION FOR

TRANSPORT
In 2010, land, air and sea transport together accounted
for around 26% of total final energy consumption, down
from around 27% in 2000.8 The energy consumption for
transport increased by 1.9% per year between 2000 and
2010, increasing from 79.5 EJ to 96.3 EJ in 2010 (Figure
2.1) (IEA, 2013a).
Energy consumption in the transport sector is dominated by road transport, which accounted for 76% of total
transport demand in 2010. Aviation accounted for 11%
of energy consumption in the transport sector in 2010,
with 62% of this consumption coming from international
aviation, up from 52% in 2000. Sea transport also accounted for around 11% of total transport consumption
in 2010, up from 10% in 2000.
8 The statistical convention is that the energy used for pipelines is
also included under transport. However, because this does not
relate to the conveyance of people or goods from one point to
another it is excluded from the analysis in this report.
2.1 Road transport energy

consumption
Land transport energy consumption is dominated by
road transport, which accounts for 76% of energy consumed and is the focus of this report. Oil products dominate the road transport sector, although their share has
fallen from 99% in 2000 to 95% in 2010. In 2000, 59EJ
of oil was consumed for road transport globally, compared to 0.4EJ of biofuels and biogas, 0.1EJ of natural
gas and virtually no electricity.
By 2010, oil consumption globally for road transport had
grown to 70EJ, but biofuels had risen almost sixfold to
2.4 EJ and accounted for 3.3% of road transport energy
consumption. Natural gas consumption grew sevenfold between 2000 and 2010 to reach 0.9 EJ in 2010.
Electricity consumption for road transport actually fell
between 2000 and 2010 (IEA, 2013a).
100
90
80
EJ/year
70
Other
60
Rail
50
Sea
40
Aviation
30
Road
20
10
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Figure 2.1: Transport energy consumption by sector, 2000 to 2010

Source: IEA, 2013a.
19
80
70
Electricity
60
Biofuel and biogas
EJ/year
50
Natural gas
Coal
40
Oil
30
20
10
0
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Figure 2.2: Energy consumption for road transport by fuel, 2000 to 2010
Source: IEA, 2013a.
3000
2500
Other liquid biofuels
Biodiesel
PJ/year
2000
Ethanol
1500
1000
500
0
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
Figure 2.3: Biofuel consumption for transport by fuel, 2000 to 2010

Source: IEA, 2013a.
20
2009
2010
100
90
80
Other
Africa
Australia
60
Mexico&CentralAmerica
SouthAmerica(minusBrazil)
50
Asia(minusChina)
Projection
Billionlitres/year
70
40
Canada
China
30
Europe
Brazil
20
UnitedStates
10
0
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Figure 2.4. Global ethanol production by country and region, 2007 to 2012
Note: Data for 2013 are projections of full year output. One billion litres of ethanol contains around 21 PJ of energy.
Sources: F.O. Licht and Renewable Fuels Association, 2013.
Total consumption of biofuels ethanol, biodiesel, other

liquid biofuels and biogas for road transport grew from
around 417PJ (0.42EJ) in 2000 to 2410PJ (2.41EJ) in
2010.9 Ethanol consumption grew from 272PJ in 2000
to 1426PJ in 2010, a growth rate of 18% per year. Biodiesel growth was even more impressive, from just 18PJ
in 2000 to 616PJ in 2010, a rate of 42% per year. Other
liquid biofuels also increased, but at a more modest rate
of 11% per year from 126PJ in 2000 to 368PJ in 2010
(Figure 2.3).
Recent data for biofuels production suggest that consumption may have increased slightly from 2010 levels,
given that production has grown from 1.83 million barrels per day (mb/d) in 2010 to 1.87 mb/d in 2011 and
2012. The outlook for 2013 is for total liquid biofuels
production to grow to 2.02mb/d (IEA, 2013b).
2.2 Conventional biofuel production

trends
The largest producers of ethanol are the United States
and Brazil (Figure 2.4). Estimates indicate the United
States produced 61% of the global total in 2012, with
9 The different types of biofuels are defined in Section One.
Brazil producing just over a quarter. Europe, China and

Canada are other major producers. However, Europe,
the third largest producer, only accounts for around
5% of global production. Production of ethanol in the
United States is based almost exclusively on corn, while
sugar cane is used in Brazil. Global ethanol production
declined in 2011 and in 2012 from record production
levels in 2010. In 2011, production growth slowed in the
United States as corn prices climbed, while high sugar
prices contributed to a contraction in Brazilian output
of around one fifth. In 2012, Brazilian ethanol production
remained flat compared to 2011, but production declined by around 5% in the United States. Projections for
2013 suggest a global increase in production (F.O. Licht,
2013), as production increases in Brazil are expected to
offset a contraction of around 3% in the United States
compared to 2012.
Global biodiesel production grew by 29 times its original size between 2000 and 2012 (Figure 2.5).10 Europe,
where biodiesel production has grown from very low
levels in 2000 to 10.4 billion litres in 2012 (IEA, 2013a
and F.O. Licht 2013), has led the global increase. The
rapid growth in biodiesel has been driven in part by the
10 In this section, biodiesel production includes hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) that is produced in Europe the United States and
Singapore. Total production was around 2.7 billion litress in 2012.
21
30
25
Others
Thailand
15
Singapore
Projection
Billionlitres/year
Total
20
10
Indonesia
Brazil
Argentina
UnitedStates
EuropeanUnion
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
2013
Figure 2.5: Global biodiesel production, 2000 to 2012

Sources: IEA, 2013 and F.O. Licht, 2013.
biofuels mandate.11 The United States is the second largest biodiesel producer with output of around 4 billion
litres in 2012. Argentina is the third largest producer of
biodiesel with production of 2.8 billion litres in 2012. Brazil is the fourth largest producer. Biodiesel production
began in 2005 and rose to just over 2.7 billion litres in
2012. Indonesia is the next largest producer with output
of 1.5billion litres in 2012.
Global biodiesel production grew by 7% in 2012, with
most of this growth occurring outside of Europe, the
United States, Brazil and Argentina. FAME biodiesel
production declined in Europe in 2012 to around 9 billion litres leaving significant underutilised production
capacity. However, growth in hydrogenated vegetable
oil production to 1.5billion litres offset this decline and
resulted in net growth of around 0.35billion litres (F.O.
Licht, 2013 and European Biodiesel Board, 2013).
Biodiesel production in North America fell by at least
a quarter in 2010 compared to 2009 after the biodiesel tax credit expired (F.O. Licht, 2013 and U.S. EIA,
2012). However, the retrospective reinstatement of the
credit at the end of 2010 saw this decline dramatically
reversed in 2011, and production increased to around
3.8billion litres in 2011 and to 4billion litres in 2012 (F.O.
Licht, 2013). Production in 2012 was therefore three
times higher than in 2010.
11 European production also helps to reduce diesel imports, as Europe has a structural deficit in its refining capacity for diesel and a
surplus for gasoline.
22
2.3 Advanced biofuel production trends

With ethanol production of around 83billion litres and
biodiesel production of around 26 billion litres in 2012,
conventional biofuels dominate total biofuels production. By the beginning of 2013, global advanced biofuel
production capacity had reached an estimated 230million litres/year (Ml/year) (F.O. Licht, 2013). Advanced
biofuel production of 76 000 litres was recorded in
the United States in 2012 (U.S. EIA, 2013a), which was
the location for almost 120 million litres of the global
advanced biofuels capacity. In the United States, the
KiOR companys fast pyrolysis biomass-to-liquids first
commercial facility has a production capacity of around
50Ml/year. Ineos Florida facility has production capacity of around 30 Ml/year, with the balance of the 120
million litre/year in total coming from several smaller
plants. In Europe, around 70 Ml/year of production capacity is divided between Borregrads cellulosic ethanol
plant (20 Ml/year) in Norway and Beta Renewables
Italian plant (50 Ml/year). Additional cellulosic capacity
is also onstream in Canada and China. China could become a significant player in the short-to medium-term,
with as much as 90Ml/year of production capacity to be
added in 2013 (F.O. Licht, 2013).
By 2015 global advanced cellulosic biofuels capacity
could reach 1.3 billion litres/year (F.O. Licht, 2013), with
around two thirds of this capacity located in the United
States. Although this represents dramatic growth from
todays level, it will still mean that advanced biofuels
contribute just 1-2% of total biofuels production in 2015
and a smaller contribution to total energy demand in
the road transport sector.
3. THE COST OF RENEWABLE

SOLUTIONS FOR ROAD TRANSPORT:
AN OVERVIEW
Conventional biofuels derived from food or animal feed
crops dominate the renewable contribution to road
transport demand today. Conventional biofuels, both
ethanol and biodiesel, have seen their costs increase as
food prices have risen, particularly since 2005. The outlook to 2020 is for little change in food prices, and hence
in feedstock costs for conventional biofuels.
Although the current climate for renewables in transport is challenging, the analysis in this report highlights
that the outlook for the future is increasingly positive. If
support policies are expanded and enhanced, advanced
biofuel technologies to produce biodiesel and ethanol
could be competitive with fossil fuels by 2020, while
PHEVs and EVs could provide mobility at comparable
overall costs to internal combustion engine (ICE) powered vehicles by 2020 in an increasing range of market
segments. Biomethane from biogas expands the renewable options for transport and when produced from
wastes can provide a very competitive transport fuel

even today.
The key challenges for advanced biofuels, biomethane and PHEVs and EVs are to reduce their costs and
improve their performance in order to achieve competitiveness with fossil fuels. The opportunities for cost
reductions are good, particularly for advanced biofuels
and PHEVs and EVs, which are only just beginning to
be commercialised at scale. The data emerging from
these first commercial advanced biofuel projects and
EV offerings from manufacturers are very encouraging,
and the cost reductions from R&D efforts, learning by
doing, larger economies of scale and a wider range of
technology suppliers could be significant by 2020. However, to unlock this potential will require the expansion
of existing support policies and their enhancement in
the coming years, to 2020 and beyond.
1.80
1.60
1.40
1.20
1.00
0.80
0.60
0.40
0.20
Conventionalethanol
Advancedethanol
FThightemp.:2020
l/tonne):2020
2012/13
Jatropha:2020
Jatropha:2012
Grains:2020
Grains:2012
0.00
Advancedbiodiesel
Figure 3.1: Summary of conventional and advanced biofuel production costs, 2012 and 2020
Sources: See sections Four, Five and Six.
23
The road ahead for renewables in transport is challenging, but the positive signs from early commercialisation
mean that the world may be witnessing the beginning
of an era of competitive renewable options for road
transport across a range of modes and vehicle technologies.
3.1 The current costs of liquid biofuels

and biomethane and the outlook to
2020
The production costs of conventional liquid biofuels
derived from food or animal feed crops are dominated
by the feedstock cost, both for ethanol and biodiesel
(Figure 3.1). As a result, the cost of conventional biofuels
from food-based feedstocks is very sensitive to changes
in the prices of the feedstocks used. For ethanol, feedstock costs over the past three years have typically accounted for 60-80% of the total production cost, while
high feedstock costs in 2012 mean that has averaged
around 80% for corn ethanol in the United States.12 For
biodiesel the situation is even more pronounced, with
feedstock costs making up almost 90% of production
costs. For biofuels using food-based feedstocks, this
means production costs will be volatile, as global market
prices for these foodstuffs experience significant variations over time due to changes in demand and supply. If
income received for these conventional biofuels do not
also move with these input costs, then the profitability
and economic viability of their production may be adversely affected.
In 2012, conventional ethanol production from corn in
the United States was estimated to have had production
costs of between USD 0.94 to USD1.0/litre of gasoline
equivalent (lge), while Brazilian sugar cane ethanol was
estimated to have had production costs of between
USD0.69 to USD0.88/lge. This compares to average refinery wholesale prices in the United States of between
USD0.72 and USD0.84/litre in 2012.13
Conventional biodiesel production costs from soy and
rapeseed oils in 2012 were estimated to have averaged around USD1.3/litre of diesel equivalent. Biodiesel
produced from palm oil in Malaysia and Indonesia was
estimated to have lower production costs, of around
USD1/litre of diesel.
12 The United States Agriculture Department forecasts that corn
prices in 2013/2014 will average 30% less than in 2012. This would
mean feedstock costs will be around 75% of total production costs
(USDA, 2013)
13 This monthly average data data is from the U.S. EIA and provides
a price benchmark against which ethanol producers production
costs can be compared.
24
The initial deployment of advanced cellulosic biofuels is

hampered by many of the same problems that face any
new technology. Capital costs are currently two to six
times higher than for corn ethanol plants and the production processes are only now being proven at commercial scale. This means there is currently no certainty
or clarity over what pathways represent the most promising development options. However, data is beginning
to emerge from the first operational plants, while some
data for projects under construction or planned to be
online by 2015 is also becoming available. The key challenge remains to prove the efficiency and reliability of
these processes can be maintained while achieving
continuous production at planned capacity levels.
One of the key advantages of advanced biofuels is that,
in contrast to conventional biofuels, feedstock costs for
advanced biofuels that use cellulosic feedstocks are
expected to range between 30-45% of total production
costs in the long term. Advanced biofuels will therefore
be less sensitive to variations in feedstock prices. They
will also be able to secure biomass feedstocks in longterm contracts that also significantly reduce the feedstock price volatility compared to conventional foodbased feedstocks. However, the high capital costs for
these early commercial-scale cellulosic biofuels plants
are a significant barrier to their deployment. This is also
true of the uncertainties concerning the ability of different process pathways to reliably, continuously and
efficiently convert cellulosic feedstocks into biofuels.
Current production costs for ethanol via the enzymatic
hydrolysis of lignocellulosic feedstocks may be in the
range of USD0.75 to USD1.45/lge, based on the investment cost data for operating, under-construction and
planned plants that should be online by 2015. These
data are tentative, as the processes are yet to prove
those plants reliability and capability to and operate
continuously and efficiently at design capacity. It also
assumes other operating costs are a quarter higher
than the long-term optimised level (Humbird, 2011) and
that feedstock costs are USD65/dry tonne for agricultural and forestry residues or for energy crops, while
municipal solid wastes and sugar cane bagasse costs
are half to a quarter of this. These assumptions are necessary, as the actual data on the other operating costs
and feedstock costs are not yet clear. The cost estimates
will remain indicative until further data is available.
Conventional liquid biofuel production costs are projected to rise to 2020 as the result of modest increases
in feedstock prices. Although food price increases are
expected to slow compared to that experienced since
2005, the OECD-FAO outlook for the agricultural sector to 2020 projects increases in corn prices of around
1% between 2012 and 2020, 11% for global wheat prices
and 25% in the cost of sugar cane in Brazil (OECD-FAO,
PHEVs:2012USD/lgesaved
Japan(9000km/year)
(JapanandEurope)
(UnitedStates)
0
2012
2020
PHEV1
2012
2020
PHEV2
2012
2020
PHEV3
2012
2020
2012
PHEV4
2020
PHEV5
2012
2020
PHEV6
2012
2020
PHEV7
Figure 3.2: Cost of gasoline saved for PHEVs, 2012 and 2020
Sources: sections Seven and Eight.
2012). At the same time, the OECD-FAO outlook projects vegetable oil prices to increase by around 10%.
This could see grain-based conventional biofuel production costs increase by between 6% and 9% compared
to 2012 levels, while production costs for ethanol from
sugar cane in Brazil could increase by between 20% and
22% between 2012 and 2020. The production costs of
biodiesel from vegetable oils may increase by around
8% under these assumptions by 2020.
Biogas production using digesters is a relatively simple
and mature technology, with little opportunity for cost
reductions. Current production costs for biomethane
vary depending on the feedstock, but range from a
low of about USD 0.45/lge for wastes to as much as
USD0.93/lge for small-scale systems purchasing maize
silage.
However, the upgrading process whereby inert components such as CO2 and sometimes also N2 are removed for increased energy density and making the
biomethane ready for injection into the gas network or
for use in vehicles is an area where relatively small-
scale applications have modest deployment numbers.

Accelerated deployment and increasing the scale of
individual production plants, would result in a significantly larger market and better economies of scale for
manufacturers. This might also allow increased process
integration and off the shelf solutions with lower
project costs (Nielsen and Oleskowicz-Popiel, 2008).
However, even assuming a 10% to 20% cost reduction
for upgrading units by 2020 would only reduce biomethane production costs for vehicles by between 1% and
5% in 2020.
3.2 The current costs of PHEVs and

EVs and the outlook to 2020
The current challenge for PHEVs and EVs is their high
incremental costs and relatively low range compared to
conventional ICE vehicles for EVs. However, they are just
at the beginning of their commercialisation and the data
emerging on their costs is encouraging.
25
The average cost of gasoline saved by the first-of-a-kind

mass production PHEVs now being offered for sale taking into account the amortised additional capital cost
and additional electricity expenses varies depending on
the incremental vehicle costs, electricity and gasoline
prices, and the fuel efficiency of the incumbent technology.
multiple sources puts future battery pack costs at between USD 300 and USD 400/kWh for EVs by 2020,
although more optimistic projections also exist.14 An
order of magnitude of the reduction in incremental
costs if battery costs decline to USD350/kWh for EVs
and USD500/kWh for PHEVs can be seen for the Ford
Focus Electrics 23 kWh battery pack, which would be
reduced in price by around USD 5 500. At the same
time, improvements in battery performance should see
the overall life of batteries increase from the current
manufacturers guarantees of around 160000km.
With average retail gasoline prices of around USD2/litre

in 2012 in Europe and Japan, the cost of the gasoline
saved is close or less than the retail price for the PHEV
offerings of Ford, Honda and Chevrolet compared to
a comparable non-PHEV model from these manufacturers (Figure 3.2). However, these results are quite
sensitive to driving patterns and average annual vehicle
travel patterns.
The total cost of ownership for EVs in 2020 assuming

USD 350/kWh, extended life to 200 000 km, and no
change in oil prices in real terms to consumers15 results
in electric vehicles becoming significantly more competitive by 2020 (Figure 3.3). The total annualised cost
of ownership taking into account the vehicle cost (over
a 200000km life) and fuel costs would be reduced by
between one-fifth and a half depending on the vehicle
compared to average battery pack prices in 2012 and a
life of 160000km. Compared to the cost of ownership
for an equivalent ICE vehicle, the total annualised cost of
ownership in 2020 would be lower than for the equivalent ICE vehicle by between 2% and 13% (for the three
models where direct equivalents are available) per year
depending on the region and annual driving distances.
The challenge facing manufacturers is that the base

model against which PHEVs are compared is usually
already relatively fuel efficient, resulting in the incremental costs being apportioned over relatively low fuel
savings.
The average annual cost of ownership for EVs currently
on the market in the United States, Europe, Japan, China
and India varies significantly depending on the vehicle.
Where a direct comparison with an ICE-powered vehicle
is possible, the results are similar to the trend for PHEVs.
Where the base model is not the most fuel efficient in
its class, EVs look particularly attractive, even with todays low-production volume models. However, where
the base-model is relatively fuel efficient the additional
costs of the EV arent recovered within the 160000km
assumed for this economic comparison.
14 McKinsey projects EV battery packs could decline to as little as

USD 200/kWh in 2020 (McKinsey, 2012). It is important to note
that PHEV battery packs will be perhaps two-thirds to twice as
expensive. See sections Seven and Eight.
15 The U.S. EIAs latest Annual Energy Outlook projects that crude oil
prices will be little changed from 2011/2012 prices by 2020 under
their Reference Scenario (U.S. EIA, 2013).
However, cost reductions for PHEV and EV batteries by 2020 could be significant. The consensus from
Annualisedcapitalandfuelcosts:2012USD/lge
5000
4500
4000
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
Japan(9000km/year)
500
2012
EV
EV
Conventional(sub
compact)
EV
Conventional
(compact)
Conventional
(medium)
EV
Conventional(sub
compact)
EV
Conventional
(compact)
EV
Conventional
(medium)
2020
Figure 3.3: Total ownership costs for electric vehicles, 2012 and 2020
26
4. BIOETHANOL
4.1 Conventional bioethanol
production pathways
Bioethanol produced from sugar cane, corn, sugar beet,
wheat and other crops with high sugar or starch contents is the most common biofuel produced today. The
production process is well understood and commercially deployed around the world at small- and large-scale.
The liquid biofuels can then be blended with gasoline
in a variety of proportions and can be used by conventional or flex-fuel vehicles (Box 4.1).
The production of bioethanol from crops high in sugar
or starch is often referred to as a biological conversion
route. This is because a biological process is used to
convert the sugar or starch into ethanol. Depending on
the feedstock, the main components that need to be
extracted are sucrose or starch. For sugar cane or sugar
beet crops, the sucrose is first mechanically pressed

from the raw feedstock that has been heated (milling). It
is then fractionated, after which the extracted sucrose is
metabolised through yeast cells fermenting the hexose.
The ethanol itself is then recovered through distillation
(Figure 4.1).
In contrast, starch crops must first be hydrolysed into
glucose and only after this process can the yeast cells
convert the carbohydrates into ethanol. The process
for starchy crops starts with a similar pre-treatment
process that consists of milling the grains of corn, wheat
or barley, followed by liquefaction and fractionation. At
this point an acidic or enzymatic hydrolysis process is
required, unlike for sugar cane ethanol, that will yield
hexose that can then be sent to fermentation (Figure
4.2). This process is highly efficient, although more
energy-intensive than the sucrose-based route.
Sugarcane trash
Sugar cane
Cleaning
Bagasse
Extraction of
sugars
Juice concentration
multiple effect evaporators
Juice
Cogeneration
(65 bar boilers)
Steam
electricity
Juice treatment
Impurities
Fermentation
Yeast
Centrifugation
Yeast treatment
Double effect
distillation
Vinasse
Dehydration
molecular sieves
Anhydrous
Ethanol
Figure 4.1: Simplified sugar cane to ethanol production process

Source: Based on Dias, 2013.
27
DRY MILL ETHANOL PROCESS

Grain Receiving and Storage
Milling
Dried Distillers
Grains
Liquification
Bottling,
Dry Ice and
Other Uses
Dryer
Distillers Grains
to Livestock
and Poultry
Cooking
Syrup Tank
Evaporator
Fermentation
CO2
Liquids
Centrifuge
Distillers
Grains to
Market
Wet Distillers
Grains
Ethanol-blended Gasoline
to Consumer
Distillation
Solids
Ethanol to Market
Denaturant
Ethanol Storage
Molecular Sieve
Figure 4.2: Simplified corn-to-ethanol production process
The process for producing ethanol from sugar or

starchy crops is almost identical from the fermentation process onwards. Both processes yield residues
and by-products that typically have some value. For
sugar cane, bagasse is left over that can be used to fire
CHP plants to provide process heating and electricity needs for the biofuels plant and potential exports
Box 4.1: Anhydrous ethanol, hydrous ethanol,

blending and flex-fuel vehicles
Ethanol typically contains 7% to 4% water and this is
referred to as hydrous ethanol. Anhydrous ethanol is
ethanol that has been dehydrated to achieve at least
99% purity.
Ethanol can be blended with gasoline, with typical low-level blends varying from 10-25% and this is
typically set by legislation to standardise fuel supplies.
Blends of ethanol and gasoline are known according
to the percentage of ethanol in the blend. For instance,
E15 is a 15% ethanol and 85% gasoline blend. Many
modern vehicles17 can typically run on E10 blends without modification.
17 Different manufacturers and countries have introduced vehicles
modified to run on ethanol blends at different points in time.
Typically only a proportion of the vehicle fleet has these modifications.
28
to the grid.16 With starchy crops, dried distiller grain

can be produced and sold as feed to various livestock
industries.
16 Integrated advanced ethanol plants will be able to produce conventional biofuels from the sugarcane juice, while the bagasse
and other cuttings from the cane fields can be used to produce
advanced lignocellulosic biofuels in a separate part of the plant.
However, flex-fuel vehicles are required for higher

blends and hydrous ethanol. These vehicles have fuel
systems, engines, sensors and management systems
(Figure 4.3) designed to run on any blend of gasoline
and ethanol from 100% gasoline to E8518 or even E100
ethanol. Flex-fuel vehicles have oxygen sensors in the
exhaust system that identify the fuel composition and
adjust the fuel/air ratio appropriately to ensure optimal
combustion on varying ethanol-gasoline blends.
In Brazil, flex-fuel vehicles that can be run on any blend
of anhydrous ethanol, from E18 to E25 to neat E100
hydrous ethanol have been on sale since 2003. The
hydrous ethanol on sale has a maximum water content
of around 5%, which is achievable by distillation alone
and does not require the additional cost of dehydrating to anhydrous standards. For cold weather, where
the lower evaporative pressure of ethanol is a problem,
18 An E85 limit helps to cut emissions and reduce cold start problems during cold weather.
Engine calibration updates:

Fueling and spark advance calibrations
directed by vehicle computer to
control combustion, enable cold start,
and meet emissaons requirements
Fuel system electrlcal connections and

wiring: Must be electrically isolated and
made of materials designed to handle
ethanol's increased conductivity and
corrosiveness (if exposed to fuel)
Fuel pump assembly: ln-tank

components must be made from
ethanol-compatible materials and
sized to handle the increased fuel
flow needed to compensate for
ethanol's lower energy density
lnternal engine parts: Piston

rings, valve seats, valves, and
other components must be
made of ethanol-compatible
materials that are designed to
minimise corrosion and the
cleansing effects of alcohol
fuels, which can wash lubrication
from parts
Fuel identifier system:

Automatically senses the
composition of the fuel and
adjusts engine for varying
ethanol-gasoline blends
Fuel injection system: Must be made of

ethanol-compatible materials and
designed for higher flow to compensate
for ethanol's lower energy density
Fuel filler assembly:

includes anti-siphon
and spark-arrestor
features
Fuel rail and fuel lines: Must be made of

ethanol-compatible materials with seals,
gaskets, and rubber fuel hoses rated tor
ethanol use
Fuel tank: Must be made of

ethanol-compatible materials
and designed to minimise
evaporative emissions from
ethanol
Figure 4.3: Flex-fuel vehicle characteristics

Source: U.S. DOE.
a small gasoline reservoir is incorporated to allow cold

starts on gasoline before switching over to ethanol.
Dual-fuel vehicles (e.g. gasoline-biomethane) are also
available.
The additional costs of modifying a vehicle to take E85
blends of anhydrous ethanol and become a flex-fuel
vehicle are modest. They are estimated to be between
USD85 and USD150/vehicle for mass production (van
Mensch, 2011). The incremental costs of making a car
4.2 Conventional bioethanol production costs

Bioethanol production costs are determined by installed capital costs, feedstock costs (which are a function of farming costs, productivity and market supply/
demand), operation and maintenance costs and efficiency. However, total production costs for conventional
bioethanol products are dominated by feedstock costs.
Given that the conversion efficiency of conventional
biofuels is approaching its limits, cost reduction opportunities for conventional biofuels are limited.
compatible with E85 blends if it is already designed to

use E10 blends are very modest and between USD10
and USD30/vehicle for mass production. In the North
American market these costs are not typically passed
on to the consumer now that these modifications are
widespread.19
19 See http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2011/01/the-greatethanol-debate/index.htm
Total installed costs for bioethanol plants

The cost of a corn ethanol plant in the United States per
annual unit of production capacity is around USD 0.7
to USD0.75litre/year (Iowa State University, 2013 and
APEC, 2010). This is similar to other grain-based plants.
Around three-quarters of the total installed costs for a
dry mill corn ethanol plant in the United States derives
from the EPC contract for the plants main processes
and installations (Figure 4.4). The largest remaining
significant investment is for working capital.
29
Working capital
14%
Starch to sugar
(liquefaction and
saccharification)
8%
Start-up costs, loan fees,

and interest
2%
Ethanol processing
12%
Grain handling and milling
5%
Construction contingency
2%
Equipment costs
72%
Fermentation
16%
Co-product
processing
28%
Development, engineering
and construction
management
7%
Common support systems

3%
Land and site preparation

3%
Figure 4.4: Total installed capital cost breakdown for a typical dry mill corn ethanol plant in the
United States
Sources: Iowa State University, 2013 and Kwiatkowski et al., 2006.
The engineering, procurement and construction component of an ethanol plant will include the following major
components (APEC, 2010):
Milling/crushing components (sugarcane);

Cooking tanks (grain ethanol);
Fermentation tanks;
Distillation and evaporation columns and piping;
Dehydration (molecular sieve technology);
Centrifuges;
Drying systems (for the distiller grains);
Boilers;
Thermal oxidizers;
Ethanol storage and loadout of the ethanol for
delivery;
Cooling towers;
Wastewater treatment/digesters;
Makeup water treatment and storage;
Electrical/instrumentation/distributed control
system;
Plant air; and
Miscellaneous plant systems and equipment.
The largest equipment costs are for co-product processing and handling, which account for 38% of the total
equipment costs and 28% of the total costs and the
fermentation system (23% of equipment costs and 16%
of total costs). The ethanol processing requirements of
the system account for 17% of total equipment costs and
12% of total costs.
The capital costs of ethanol plants that use sugar cane
as the feedstock are typically higher, on a like-for-like
basis, than for those that use grains. This is because
the feedstock handling equipment tends to be more
30
expensive. However, the impact of local costs on the

total installed cost can be significant and an analysis of
the capital costs of a United States corn ethanol plant
and a Brazilian sugar cane plant suggest that for a large
plant (110-135Ml/year) the capital costs per litre of annual capacity may be similar, given the lower local cost
component in Brazil (APEC, 2010).
Feedstock costs of ethanol plants

Total operating costs for ethanol plants include the
cost of feedstock, chemicals and yeasts, transport of
feedstock to the site, energy costs, labour, maintenance,
insurance and other operating costs. However, by far the
largest component of operating costs for conventional
ethanol plants, whether they are based on sugar or
starch crops, is the cost of feedstock. This makes the
economics of production heavily dependent on movements in the local and global markets for the feedstock
used.
In the United States in 2012, feedstock accounted for
around 80% of total production costs, given corn prices
ranged from around USD 6 to USD 7.9/bushel (Figure4.5). This may fall to 75% in 2013 (USDA, 2013 and
IRENA analysis) in line with lower corn prices. In Brazil,
sugar cane represents a lower proportion of total costs
due to low production costs for sugar cane. In 2011, sugar cane costs represented around 60-70% of the total
revenue received for the ethanol produced depending
on whether the product produced is hydrous or anhydrous ethanol (Figure 4.6).
nominal USD/gallon
Note: 1 U.S. gallon = 3.8 litres
Figure 4.5: Estimated production costs for corn ethanol in the United States at market prices
for corn, 2005 to 2013
Source: Iowa State University, 2013
1.40
Producer price: Anhydrous
1.20
Producer price: Hydrous
Feedstock costs
USD2012/lge
2012 USD/lge
1.00
0.80
0.60
0.40
0.20
0.00
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Figure 4.6: Sugar cane ethanol producer prices and feedstock costs in Brazil, 2002 to 2012
Sources: CEPEA, 2012 and 2013 and UNICA, 2013.
31
pushed up the demand for food. Meanwhile, the growing demand for biofuels has also contributed to some
extent, although analysis of this area has yet to reach
agreement on the relative weight of different factors.
Since feedstock prices are such a major part of total

ethanol production costs, movements in world, regional
and local prices of these inputs have a large impact on
the cost of production. Global food prices have been
trending higher over the last 12 years, in part due to
higher input costs (Figure 4.7). This is especially true of
liquid fossil fuel energy inputs and inputs like fertiliser,
whose prices are heavily influenced by energy costs.
Sustained economic growth over this period has also
Although prices are an important consideration, the

overall feedstock costs are also determined by the yield
of ethanol from each feedstock. Table 4.1 presents typical yields for different feedstocks. The yields per tonne
100
1500
Maize
90
1250
60
750
50
40
500
30
Crude oil spot price (2012 USD/bbl)
70
1000
2012 USD/tonne
Palm oil
80
20
250
10
0
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Sorghum
Soybeans
Sugar
Wheat
Rapeseed oil
Crude oil
average
($/bbl)
Figure 4.7: Global prices for food-based biofuel feedstocks and crude oil, 2000 to 2012
Source: World Bank, 2013.
Table 4.1: Conventional bioethanol feedstock properties and yields

Corn
Wheat
400-425
390-470
520
550
Minimum
235
249
35
Maximum
310
361
45
Minimum
0.83
0.85
0.55
Maximum
1.15
1.39
0.89
Typical yields (litres/tonne)

Theoretical maximum yield (litre/ tonne)
Sugar cane
76-96
2012 feedstock prices (USD/tonne)
2012 feedstock costs (USD/lge)
Note: This assumes 56 pounds/bushel for shelled corn and 60 pounds/bushel for wheat. Corn prices are for the State of Iowa, while global corn
prices were in the range USD267-333/t (World Bank, 2013).
Sources: Based on Figure 4.7 and AGMRC, 2013; APEC, 2010; CEPEA, 2012; Clarke, 2008; Drapcho, 2008; Perrin, 2009; and Shapouri, 2006.
32
This can represent 35-45% of the non-feedstock other

operating costs in the United States depending on natural gas prices (Figure 4.8).20
of input from conventional biofuels, controlling for variations in starch or sugar content from year to year, have
generally approached their economic limits. However,
incremental improvements in process design, as well
as better breeding or engineering of feedstock species
to result in more efficient ethanol conversion should
provide small incremental improvements in yield in the
future. It may also reduce conversion process costs.
Other operating costs for sugar cane ethanol in Brazil

are lower than for corn-based ethanol in the United
States. This is because heat for process needs and all the
electricity needs of the plant are provided by combusting the bagasse produced in combined heat and power
(CHP) plants. This does however, require higher initial
investment. The amount of bagasse available from ethanol production is much larger than the process heat and
electricity needs. Significant electricity can be exported
to the grid, which can significantly improve the economics of production.
The total cost of feedstock for ethanol production from

conventional processes is presented in Table 4.1. The
ranges presented take into account the different ranges
for ethanol yield per tonne of feedstock as well as high
and low feedstock prices in 2012. Biofuel yields per
tonne of feedstock in the short term for conventional
biofuels have evolved modestly. This is due to the generally well optimised production process. This means that
feedstock costs will closely follow the commodity prices
for the food-based inputs.
The value of co-products arising from ethanol

production
The production of ethanol from sugar cane or grain creates significant quantities of co-products from the feedstock. In the case of grain, dried (or wet) distiller grain
Other operating costs of ethanol plants

The other main operating costs of ethanol plants are
electricity, process heat (i.e. from gas), enzymes, yeasts,
chemicals, denaturant, labour, maintenance and repairs,
insurance, water and other miscellaneous expenses. For
corn and other grain ethanol plants, the largest expense
is typically for the natural gas providing process heat.
18
18
16
16
14
14 Other
12
12
10
10
4 Electricity
2012 US cents/lge
ugar cane
20 Natural gas prices in the United States increased in the second half
of 2012, as the market corrected from very low price levels that
were the result of weak economic activity and the shale gas boom.
Further price rises may occur in the short-term if economic growth
accelerates.
Transportation
Repairs & maintenance
Denaturant
Chemicals
Yeasts
Enzymes
Other
Labour
Repairs and maintenance
Water
Enzymes, yeats and chemicals

Labour
Water, effluent and ash disposal
Heat/natural gas
2
0
United States - corn
Brazil - sugar cane
Figure 4.8: Other operating costs for ethanol production from corn in the United States and sugar cane in Brazil
Sources: APEC, 2010 and Iowa State University, 2013.
33
(DDGS) can be produced after milling and fermentation

and then sold as feed.21 In the case of sugar cane ethanol, bagasse can be combusted to provide process heat
and electricity for the plants process needs, with significant electricity available over and above these needs
for export. The sale of these co-products improves the
economics of ethanol production.
by the additional value of DDGS over MWDGS of around

USD140 to USD155/tonne at the beginning of 2013 in
the mid-western United States markets (USDA, 2013).
The production of ethanol from sugar cane creates large
quantities of bagasse that can be burned to provide
process heat and electricity, as well as electricity for
export.22 For a stand-alone ethanol plant, the use of high
efficiency boilers to produce steam to drive turbines
and create electricity would increase capital costs by
around USD 40 to USD 60 million (28% to 42%). This
is for a plant producing 1 000 m3/day of anhydrous
ethanol, but it would yield electricity for sale to the grid
of 68 and 155kWh/tonne of sugar cane (Dias, 2010).23
The larger incremental investment is required where, in
addition to burning bagasse, around half the harvested
sugar cane leaves and tops are not burned in the field,
but at the ethanol plant. This more than doubles the
amount of electricity available for export to 155 kWh/
Corn and DDGS prices closely follow each other, given

that DDGS are a co-product of ethanol production from
corn (Figure 4.9). Around 30% of DDGS by weight can
be produced per kilogramme of corn used in ethanol
plants. Unlike modified wet distiller grain (MWDGS),
the additional revenue from DDGS needs to be offset
against the additional natural gas required to reduce the
moisture content. This is around 4.2GJ/tonne of DDGS
and represents an incremental cost for DDGS of around
USD 20 to USD 22/tonne. This assumes industrial gas
prices of around USD 5.2/GJ in the fourth quarter of
2012 (Iowa State University, 2013 and Perrin, 2009).
These incremental costs are typically more than offset
22 Advanced ethanol plants will also be able to convert this and other
cuttings from the cane fields into lignocellulosic ethanol.
23 This compares with the ethanol plants own demand of 12 kWh/
tonne of sugar cane where sugar cane preparation and pressing is
mechanical, and 30 kWh/tonne where it is driven by electric motors.
21 DDGS is something of a misnomer, as it still contains around 10%

moisture. This is significantly lower than MWDGS, which contains
about 50-55% moisture, while wet distiller grain typically contain
around 65-70% moisture.
325
Corn
300
DDGS
275
8
7
250
225
175
150
125
3
100
75
50
25
0
T
OC
6
00
AR
7
00
G
AU
12
7
00
C
DE
7
00
AY
8
00
P
SE
8
00
B
FE
9
00
L
JU
12
9
00
V
NO
9
00
AP
10
20
G
AU
10
20
N
JA
Month/Week/Year
11
20
JU
11
20
OC
11
20
AR
0
2
12
20
L4
JU
12
20
C
DE
12
20
Figure 4.9: Weekly Iowa corn and dried distillers grain prices, October 2006 to February 2013
Source: Iowa State University, 2013.
34
DDGS USD/ton
Corn USD/bushel
200
5
to USD1.03/lge, compared to average producer prices

of around USD 0.95/lge in 2012. The increases in Brazilian prices and costs between 2009 and 2011 were
driven by a combination of rising sugar cane prices
and a strengthening of the Brazilian Real against the
United States dollar. Sugar cane prices for 2012 appear
to have declined slightly from their highs in 2011, while
the Brazilian Real also weakened against the United
States dollar.
tonne of sugar cane. In Brazil, the value of the electricity

exported by burning bagasse reduces the cost of ethanol produced by around 8-10% on average. However,
burning the sugar cane leaves and tops as well in larger
boilers and steam turbines can reduce the cost of ethanol production as much as 15% compared to case where
all electricity is purchased from the grid.
Total ethanol production costs

Corn ethanol production costs have risen steadily in
the United States since 2010 as corn prices rose. Corn
prices appear to have stabilised, but at elevated levels
compared to prices prior to 2010.
Figure 4.10 presents historical producer prices for ethanol in the United States and Brazil, as well as estimated
production cost ranges in 2012. Feedstock costs dominate conventional ethanol costs. It is estimated that they
accounted for around 80% of production costs in 2012
for corn ethanol in the United States. Figure 4.10 also
highlights the major impact of the sale of co-products
has on estimated production costs. In 2012, corn ethanol
production costs in the United States would have been
USD0.26 to USD0.36/lge higher than presented if the
sales of DDGS were excluded.
With the increase in corn prices, ethanol production

from wheat in 2012 would have been, theoretically,
more profitable than corn ethanol production in the
United States in some cases. However, the additional
investment required to switch over mills to be able to
handle and process wheat means it is unlikely that many
plants in the United States will risk this investment being
stranded by a return of more normal price premiums for
wheat over corn in the future.
Total production costs for Brazilian sugar cane ethanol

in 2012 are estimated to have been between USD0.69
1.80
1.60
1.40
Cost of production
Producer price - Brazil
Producer price - United States
0.60
0.40
0.20
0.00
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
United States - corn
0.80
United States/Europe wheat
1.00
Brazil - sugar cane
2012 USD/lge
1.20
2012
Figure 4.10: Average producer prices for 2002 to 2012 and estimated production cost ranges for
conventional bioethanol feedstocks in 2012
Sources: Based on Table 4.1, Figure 4.8, APEC, 2010; Dias, 2010; and Iowa State University, 2013.
35
4.3 Advanced biofuels: ethanol and

gasoline replacements
Advanced biofuels from lignocellulosic feedstocks offer
the opportunity to address some of the drawbacks of
bioethanol products derived from food crops. Advanced
biofuel feedstocks do not have to be grown on pasture
or arable land. They do not, therefore, compete with
food supplies. As a result, they also have the potential
for much higher levels of production and very low GHG
emissions. Although advanced biofuels are only just
at the early stage of commercialisation, and costs are
high, the cost reduction potential is good and higher
than for conventional biofuels. However, the technology challenges facing advanced biofuels are significant
and commercial production at large scale today incurs
significant technical and commercial risk.
Ongoing R&D investment, funded by both public and
private sources, is still essential to perfect different pathways and identify new promising production routes.
However, the key immediate challenge is to gain experience with commercial-scale projects in each of the
most promising pathways now that commercialisation
is beginning. This will require major investment in new
facilities that, if they are going to succeed commercially,
will require appropriate risk reduction strategies from
the commercial operators, but also from policy makers
and regulators in order to help accelerate commercial
deployment to meet the medium- to long-term sustainability goals for transport.
The two main production pathways for advanced biofuels from lignocellulosic feedstocks are:
Biochemical routes: where enzymes and other

micro-organisms are used to convert cellulose
and hemicellulose components into sugars,24
these sugars can then be fermented into ethanol
in a manner similar to conventional ethanol.
Thermochemical routes: these are processes

which use pyrolysis/gasification technologies to
convert the lignocellulosic feedstock into a synthesis gas and/or liquid biocrude from which a
wide range of biofuels can be reformed. Gasoline
can be produced from thermochemical routes,
but the main products are likely to be biodiesel,
bionaptha and jet kerosene so this route is discussed under biodiesel.
The biochemical production route for ethanol from lignocellulosic feedstocks requires four distinct steps:
24 The cellulose undergoes enzymatic hydrolysis to produce hexoses
(also called C6 sugars) such as glucose. Pentoses (also called C5
sugars), mainly xylose, are produced from the hemicellulose.
36
Pre-treatment: this is designed to prepare the

feedstock for further processing, and it needs to
expose the cellulose and hemicellulose to subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis. Given the strong
bonds in lignocellulose, this is challenging and
expensive.
Hydrolysis to sugars: this could be done using
enzymes or acids. However, enzymes appear to
be the cheapest option for the fast and efficient
conversion of cellulose to glucose and should
provide better yields. Nevertheless, the enzymes
required for lignocellulosic feedstocks are more
complex and expensive than those needed for
conventional ethanol. After hydrolysis, separation
of solid lignin allows the liquid glucose and xylose
to be fermented.
Fermentation: this is similar to conventional biofuels, except that yeasts and bacteria are required to convert the glucose and xylose into
ethanol. This is more difficult, and more care
needs to be taken to ensure nothing obstructs
the fermentation.
Product recovery: this is similar to the process for
conventional ethanol where hydrous ethanol is
distilled into anhydrous ethanol.
Capital costs for an advanced biofuel ethanol

plant
The installed costs of a commercial-scale advanced biofuel plant producing ethanol are only just emerging, and
most data available up until recently has been based on
engineering estimates.
The purchase of the equipment required for an advanced bioethanol plant using corn stover as a feedstock accounts for 55% of the total installed cost (Figure
4.11). Pre-treatment and the equipment for conditioning the pre-treated slurry prior to its passage to the
sachirifcation and hydrolisation stage account for 8% of
total installed costs. Sacchrification, fermentation and
the equipment required for onsite enzyme production
account for 11%. The boilers and turbines are the largest
single equipment cost at 16% of the total, but allow the
plant to meet its own process heat and electricity needs
from the co-products and export electricity to the grid.
This significantly improves the economics of production,
although not to the same extent as for conventional
sugar cane ethanol, where more surplus electricity can
be produced. Wastewater treatment is also costly and
very significant for advanced plants, which can require
five or more litres of water per litre of ethanol produced.
The cost of advanced bioethanol plants are estimated
to be in the range of USD1.82 to USD2.5/litre/year of
production capacity (APEC, 2010; Humbird, 2011; and
Stephen, 2011) once deployed at scale, processes are
Pretreatment
7%
Construction,
contingency,
comissioning and
other costs
45%
Neutralisation
and conditioning
1%
Sacchrification
and fermentation
7%
Utilities
2%
Boiler and steam

turbines
16%
Enzyme
production
4%
Distillation and
solids recovery
5%
Wastewater
12%
Storage
1%
Figure 4.11: Capital cost breakdown for biochemical production of bioethanol from
corn stover
Source: Humbird, 2011
de-bottlenecked and modular designs are rolled out.

However, the first-of-a kind commercial plants currently
being deployed, sometimes at relatively small-scale,
appear to have much higher investment costs. Data for
recently operational, under construction or advanced
biofuels plants planned to be online by 2015 have capital costs in the range USD 1.5 to USD 4.6/litre/year of
capacity (Figure 4.12). This is between twice and over
six times more costly than conventional ethanol plants
and reflects the more complicated pre-treatment and
5.0
2012 USD/litre of annual capacity
4.0
Abengoa,
Kansas
Corn
stover/waste
3.0
Agricultural/wood/other
Blue Fire Renewables
wastes
2.0
Energy
crops Ethanol
Central Minnesota
Cane
Raizen bagasse
1.0
Zeachem
Mascoma
GranBio
Ineos Bio
Jinan Shengquan & Novozymes
Chemtex
Beta Renewables
POET-DSM
Ineos New Planet BioEnergy
Frontier Renewable Resources
Enerkem Corp.
DuPont
Clean Energy Capital
Raizen
Central Minnesota Ethanol
Blue Fire Renewables
Abengoa, Kansas
0.0
Figure 4.12: Capital costs for current or near future commercial-scale advanced ethanol plants
Sources: F.O. Licht, 2013 and Brown and Brown, 2013.
37
processing needs required to produce bioethanol from

lignocellulosic feedstocks, but also that these plants are
typically first-of-a-kind, unlike the mature technologies
used in conventional ethanol plants.
The indirect gasification of biomass to produce a syngas
that can be synthesised into ethanol and other mixed
alcohols (propanol, butanol, pentanol and hexanol) is
estimated to be around 10% more capital intensive than
for the enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation route,
once fully commercialised. However, it could yield lower
overall costs per litre of ethanol produced (Dutta, 2011).
This is in an interesting prospect for the future, but is
less advanced that enzymatic hydrolysis to ethanol and
the costs are therefore more speculative.
Feedstock costs of advanced biofuel plants

producing ethanol
Lignocellulosic feedstocks can be agricultural or forestry residues (e.g. corn stover, bagasse, black liquor,
hog fuel, forestry arisings and other wood processing wastes, etc) or dedicated crops (e.g. hardwood,
softwood, switchgrass, poplar stems). Residues and
wastes may be available at low or no cost at the site of
production, but perhaps in quantities that would limit
the scale of production to uneconomically low levels.
Purchasing additional feedstock means higher costs but
larger production scales. The planting and harvesting of
dedicated feedstock crops can provide additional supply opportunities, but will typically be more expensive.
A key issue for advanced biofuel production is that
biomass is very heterogeneous and the proportion
of cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, ash and even the
microstructure of the plant at a cellular level varies by
feedstock type (Stephen, 2011). Technologies and plant
designs able to process a number of different feedstocks in a flexible way are therefore desirable. A multifeedstock plant could buy the cheapest feedstocks on
the market at a specific point of time throughout the
year to complement any contracted volumes. However,
multi-feedstock plants are more difficult to design and
more costly to operate. Progress in overcoming these
challenges would help improve the economics of advanced bioethanol plants.
As with conventional plants, the two drivers of the total
feedstock cost per unit of ethanol are the ethanol yield
per tonne and the price per tonne. In some cases, there
are no feedstock costs because residues are available
at the food/agricultural or wood processing site. In others, they amount to as much as USD 80/tonne because
residues need to be collected from the production
site, stored and transported to the ethanol plant. For
instance, the collection, chipping and transport of logging residues in the United States was estimated to cost
38
USD30-35/wet tonne depending on assumptions made

(APEC, 2010). The marginal cost of corn stover, taking
into account collection, storage and transport is estimated to cost between USD65 and USD 80/dry tonne
(APEC, 2010 and Humbird, 2011).
Many dedicated lignocellulosic energy crops are also
being explored for their economics and suitability for
advanced ethanol production. In the United States,
switchgrass (a native North American perennial grass)
can be grown on poor soils and requires minimal fertiliser. Two types exist, with one more suited to semiarid conditions and another to heavier soils and wetter
climates. Yields for commercial operations might be
expected to reach around 13.5 to 18 tonnes/hectare.
The upper yield in ideal conditions may be as high as 22
tonnes/hectare (Garland, 2008). However, typical yields
in less desirable growing conditions are likely to be 4.5
to 9 tonnes per hectare. With these yields, total costs
could be USD65 to USD100/dry tonne.
Maximising ethanol yields from different feedstocks is
crucial to the economics of lignocellulosic ethanol production. Table 4.3 provides details of the composition
and potential technical yields from different feedstocks.
This is shown for all sugars and for the C6 sugars alone.
Actual yields for commercial plants are yet to be determined with certainty, but values of between 110 to 330
litres/dry tonne for agricultural residues and 125 to 300
litres/dry tonne for forest residues might be expected
(IEA, 2009 and NREL, 2011). For instance, the yield from
corn stover is estimated to be around 330 litres/dry
tonne (NREL, 2011). Dedicated energy crops optimised
for lignocelluosic ethanol production could achieve
even higher yields. For instance, energycane25 could
perhaps achieve yields of 375 litres/dry tonne (Alvarez,
2011).
The impact of feedstock costs and ethanol yield on
feedstock costs per litre of gasoline equivalent is presented in Figure 4.13. For instance, an advanced lignocellulosic ethanol plant using corn stover at a cost of
USD 70/dry tonne and yielding 330 litres/dry tonne
would have feedstock costs of USD 0.32/lge. A yield
of 330 litres/dry tonne is around 77% of the maximum
theoretical yield from corn stover (Humbird, 2011). One
important issue to consider is that higher yields are not
necessarily more economic from an overall production
cost basis. This is because there is a complex trade-off
between process design, capital costs, operating costs
and the impact on the yield from the feedstock (Table
4.3).
25 A cross between commercial sugar cane and a species with higher

fibre and lower sucrose contents.
Table 4.2: Theoretical maximum ethanol yields from different lignocellulosic feedstocks
Theoretical yield
All sugars
C6 sugars only
(litres/bone dry tonne)
Corn leaves
Corn stalks
Poplar stems
Douglas fir (heartwood)
Douglas fir (sapwood)
Conifers normal (average of 27 species)
Conifers compression wood
(average of 27 species)
467
476
452
466
445
413
276
293
318
439
423
356
362
313
Source: Stephen, 2011.
Yield
litres ethanol/dry tonne
1.6
Feedstock cost (USD/lge)
1.4
100
1.2
150
200
250
300
350
400
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100
Feedstock cost (USD/dry tonne)
Figure 4.13: Biofuel feedstock costs as a function of ethanol yield and biomass
feedstock price
Table 4.3: Capital costs, ethanol yields and production, electricity generation and final ethanol cost
for biochemical conversion of corn stover by pretreatment process
Dilute acid pre-treatment

(base case)
Dilute acid pre-treatment
(high solids)
Two-stage dilute acid
pre-treatment
Hot water pre-treatment
AFEX pre-treatment
Pre-evaporation-distillation
Separate C5 and C6
fermentation
On-site enzyme production
Total capital
Equipment
investment
only cost
(USDmillion) (USDmillion)
376
164
Ethanol yield
(litres/t)
Ethanol producElectricity
tion (million
export (USD
litres/year)
million/year)
288.8
202.2
11.7
Product
value (USD/
litre)
0.90
389
169
274.5
192.1
12.6
0.95
391
173
177.5
124.2
16.8
1.16
361
386
501
386
156
167
209
168
211.1
249.7
291.3
300
147.7
174.8
203.9
210.1
11.3
16.9
13.6
6.5
1.21
0.97
0.99
0.97
434
188
256.3
179.4
-0.8
0.94
Source: Kabir Kazi, 2010.
39
Other operating costs for advanced biofuel plants

producing ethanol
The other operating costs for advanced biofuels are
currently estimated to be higher than for conventional
biofuels, given the more complex process required for
production and also the additional costs of the enzymes.
Chemicals, enzymes and other materials are projected
to account for around two-thirds of the other operating
costs in the case of corn stover ethanol (Figure 4.14).
The costs of chemicals, enzymes and other materials
alone are more than the total other operating costs for
corn ethanol and more than twice those for sugar cane
in Brazil. The significant solid lignin extracted from the
feedstock makes the provision of process heat and electricity possible, with significant left over material for the
production of electricity for export. Depending on the
local electricity market, these exports can have significant value and help to reduce overall production costs.
For indirect gasification and mixed alcohol synthesis, operating costs are lower and dominated by the
fixed operations and maintenance costs. This process
uses around twice the electricity of hydrolysis and

fermentation, leaving virtually no electricity surplus.
However, indirect gasification and then synthesis of the
syngas yields other mixed alcohols for sale in the ratio
of around 1.1 litres of mixed alcohols for every one litre
of ethanol produced. The estimated value of these coproducts is highly dependent on the market for chemical feedstocks and oil.
Total production costs for advanced biofuels

plants producing ethanol
The estimated total costs for advanced lignocellulosic
biofuels are evolving constantly. This is because new
R&D results come through and commercial experience, albeit limited today, brings new refinements to
processes and a better understanding of the challenges
and opportunities. Lignocellulosic bioethanol is in its
infancy, as far as commercial deployment is concerned,
with around 120 Ml of production capacity in the United
States and around 70 Ml in Europe in 2012 (F.O. Licht,
2013). Uncertainty is therefore likely to remain about
Figure 4.14: Other operating cost breakdown for biochemical production of bioethanol from
corn stover and from forestry biomass with indirect gasification and ethanol and mixed alcohols
from synthesis
Sources: Humbird, 2011 and Dutta, 2011.
40
The often novel combination of processes means there

is a high level of technological risk surrounding commercial scale lignocellulosic bioethanol production. This
is true even if many of the individual processes are
well known. In addition, given that until recently the
estimated costs were also significantly higher than for
conventional ethanol, there has been little investment in
commercial-scale advanced bioethanol plants.
yet clear. The data in Figure 4.15 is therefore also based

on the assumption that operating costs are a quarter
higher than the long-term optimised level (Humbird,
2011) and that feedstock costs are USD 65/dry tonne
for agricultural and forestry residues, and energy crops,
while municipal solid wastes and sugar cane bagasse
costs are half to a quarter of this. However, perhaps
the key uncertainty still surrounds the efficiency of the
process pathways and the ability to operate continuously (except for scheduled maintenance and estimated
unplanned outages) at design capacity.
The cost of current advanced bioethanol from enzymatic hydrolysis is estimated to be between USD1.04 and to
USD1.45/lge (BNEF, 2013; Humbird, 2011; IEA, 2011; Poet,
2011; and IRENA analysis) and is the pathway which
is the closest to widespread commercial deployment.
However, the investment cost data for operating, underconstruction and plants that will be online by 2015 suggest that if the processes prove to be reliable, efficient
and operate continuously at design capacity, then the
lower end of that range could be around USD0.75/lge
(Figure 4.15). This is an estimate, as the actual data on
the other operating costs and feedstock costs are not
Recent advances in R&D and process integration suggest that costs for future plant using todays enzymatic
hydrolysis technology could yield bioethanol costs of
USD 0.7/lge for a feedstock cost of USD30/dry tonne
and USD1/lge for feedstock costs of USD100/tonne in
2020, once the process pathways are proven to be reliable, efficient and able to support continuous production. For this to be achieved a number of factors have
to be in place: the learning experience from the initial
commercial-scale plants needs to be incorporated into
future designs and the scale of the market needs to
grow to allow modular designs, rather than expensive,
current costs and future cost reduction potential for

some time.
1.50
1.25
Other
2012 USD/llge
1.00
Feedstock
0.75
Capital
0.50
0.25
0.00
Operating, under construction or proposed advanced ethanol plants
Figure 4.15: Estimated current lignocellulosic bioethanol production costs

Note: Assumes a 10% cost of capital, a 20 year economic life, feedstock costs of USD65/dry tonne for agricultural and forestry residues,
and energy crops, and USD15/dry tonne for municipal solid wastes and USD15/tonne sugar cane bagasse; and that other operating
costs are a quarter higher than the long-run costs (Humbird, 2011).
Sources: Figure 4.12; Humbird, 2011; IEA, 2011; and Poet, 2012.
41
1.6
1.4
Feedstock costs of USD 30 to 100/dry tonne
2012 USD/lge
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
Current cost range
Indirect gasification
2020 cost for today's technologies fully deployed

and debottlenecked
Figure 4.16: Estimated current lignocellulosic bioethanol production costs and future
cost with todays technologies
Note: Assumes a 10% cost of capital and a 20 year economic life for todays technologies.
Sources: Based on BNEF, 2013; Dutta, 2011; Humbird, 2011; IEA, 2011; and Poet, 2012.
individually engineered first-of-a-kind plants (Figure

4.16).
Indirect gasification and mixed alcohol synthesis of the
resulting syngas could eventually lead to even lower
costs. With total production costs of between USD0.6
42
and USD 0.9/lge for feedstock costs of USD 30 and

100/dry tonne respectively. However, this technology
pathway is yet to be deployed commercially at scale
and much needs to be done to prove the reliability, efficiency and plant availability of this process in real world
circumstances.
5. Biodiesel
Biodiesel produced by converting raw vegetable oils
and fats to esters is a commercially proven pathway
both on small and large scales. Biodiesel is predominantly manufactured from rapeseed, soybeans and
palm oil.
In the United States, biodiesel production in 2012 was
primarily based on soybean oil, although significant
quantities of canola oil, corn oil, tallow, white and yellow grease were also used (U.S. EIA, 2013b). In 2009,
rapeseed was used as the feedstock for around two
thirds of biodiesel in the European Union, with 13% from
imported palm oil, 10% from soybeans, 4% from refined
vegetable oils and 3% each from sunflowers and tallow
(Hamelinck, 2012). Argentina and Brazil also produce
significant quantities of biodiesel, predominantly from
soybeans. Thailand, Malaysia, Colombia, Indonesia and
Singapore all produce biodiesel from palm oil.
5.1 Conventional biodiesel

Biodiesel today is most commonly manufactured from
oil or fat (triglycerides) crops by the chemical process
of transesterification. If dealing with oil seeds or waste
fats (e.g. tallow, used vegetable oils, white grease or
yellow grease), the oil and fats need to first be extracted
or refined by mechanical or chemical means. After this
the liquid oils or refined fats go through an esterification
process that separates the fatty acids (hydrocarbon
chain) from the glycerine molecule to which they are
attached. It then re-attaches them to an alcohol, which
is usually methanol or ethanol. This can be done without
catalysts, but reaction times are longer and more energy
is required. This means small amounts of catalysts (e.g.
sodium or potassium hydroxide) are typically used to
improve the economics of production. The resulting
compounds are FAME or fatty acid ethyl esthers (FAEE)
biodiesel and glycerine.
During the process of converting a vegetable oil or animal fat into biodiesel, unwanted reactions can occur and
various chemical substances can develop that can contaminate the fuel. The biodiesel can be contaminated
by free fatty acids (FFAs), solid particles, mono- and

di-gylcerides, catalyst salts, glycerine, methanol, water
etc. The FAME biodiesel itself can have variable properties as a result. Separation of the glycerine and FAME
products therefore needs to occur rapidly, and further
distillation will usually be necessary to achieve a uniform
product that meets stringent biodiesel fuel standards.
Conventional biodiesel capital costs

The total installed costs for biodiesel plant are typically cheaper than for ethanol and are typically between
USD0.45 to USD0.8/litre/year of capacity (Figure 5.1)
in developed countries (APEC, 2010 and Iowa State
University). Total installed costs can be lower in developing countries, where the local cost component of the
manufacturing can help keep costs down. The Facility
for Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership of
the European Investment Bank analysed the potential
for biodiesel production. It estimated installed costs
for a range of countries in North Africa and the Middle
East at USD0.25litre/year of production capacity (Agra
CEAS, 2011).
The level of FFAs in the feedstock has an important

impact on the cost of the biodiesel plant. The higher
the level of FFA in the feedstock, the higher the capital costs, as extra equipment is needed for the pretreatment of the feedstock before it can go through the
transesterification process (Figure 5.2).
There are significant economies of scale for biodiesel

plants (Figure 5.2).26 These economies of scale for the
plant size are balanced by feedstock yields and availability, as higher transport costs from an ever increasing
radius around the plant will reduce the cost savings
from larger plant sizes at a certain point.
26 The scaling factor for biodiesel plants is estimated to be between
0.65 and 0.89 (Amigun, 2008 and Yii-Der. 2008).
43
2012USD/litre/yearofproductioncapacity
0.9
Other
0.8
Developmentcosts
0.7
EPC
0.6
Electrical
0.5
Utilities
0.4
Refinery(includingpiping)
HighFFApreparation
0.3
Receivingandstorage
0.2
Sitedevelopmentcosts
0.1
0 .0
Soybean
Palmoil
Jatropha
Figure 5.1: Total installed costs for biodiesel plants by feedstock
Installed costs (2008 USD)
Source: APEC, 2010.
Figure 5.2: Biodiesel installed costs as a function of annual capacity and FFA content
of feedstock
Source: Van Gerpen, 2008.
44
Feedstock costs and biodiesel yields for biodiesel

World prices for vegetable oil feedstocks for conventional biodiesel are presented in Figure 5.3. As can be
seen, global prices have been increasing and more than
doubled for palm oil and soybean oil between 2000
and 2012. Palm oil prices were around USD950/tonne in
2012, down from their peak of around USD1050/tonne
in 2011, but still 2.4 times higher than in 2000.
Yields from vegetable oils typically vary between 1000
litres/tonne of oil to around 1120 litres per tonne of oil
(APEC, 2010; AGRA CEAS, 2011; and Iowa State University, 2013). Taking high and low global feedstock costs
between 2009 and 2012 yields cost per litre of between
USD0.82 and USD 1.12/litre for soybean oil-based bio-
diesel. For palm oil based biodiesel the range was from
USD 0.64 to USD 0.94/litre. Assuming jatropha production costs are around 80% of palm oil costs (APEC,
2010), jatropha biodiesel may have had feedstock costs
of USD0.53 to USD 0.78/litre between 2009 and 2012.
Rapeseed oil prices in Europe (Rotterdam, free on board
prices) grew steadily between 2000 and 2007. They
rose sharply in 2008 to a peak of over USD1700/tonne
in July of that year before collapsing. Prices climbed
again in the second half of 2010 and peaked in April 2011
at USD1447/tonne before declining steadily to around
USD 1 200/tonne in February 2013. Prices between
2009 and 2012 for rapeseed in Europe have therefore
yielded feedstock costs of USD 0.67 to USD 1.38/litre
of biodiesel.
1800
2012USD/tonne
1600
Coconutoil
1400
Palmoil
1200
Soybeanoil
Rapeseed oil
1000
800
600
400
200
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Figure 5.3: Global coconut, rapeseed, soybean and palm oil prices, 2000 to 2012
Source: World Bank, 2013.
Table 5.1: Conventional biodiesel global crop prices and feedstock costs per unit of biodiesel, 2009 to 2012
Oil type
Yield
(litres/tonne)
Soy
Palm
Jatropha
Rapeseed (Europe)
1087
1116
1077
1086
Feedstock prices
(USD/tonne)
Min
Max
893
1216
719
1053
575
842
856
1367
Feedstock cost
(USD/litre biodiesel)
Min
Max
0.82
1.12
0.64
0.94
0.53
0.78
0.79
1.26
Feedstock cost
(USD/lde)
Min
Max
0.87
1.18
0.68
1.00
0.57
0.83
0.88
1.35
Sources: APEC, 2010; IMF, 2013; and World DataBank, 2013.
45
Other production costs and co-product credits
Total production costs for conventional biodiesel
The main non-feedstock operating costs for conventional biodiesel plants are for methanol or ethanol and any
catalysts used in production. However, there are important costs for process heat (natural gas) and scheduled
and unscheduled maintenance of the plant. Figure 5.4
presents the estimated other operating costs per litre
of biodiesel equivalent.
The total annualised cost of conventional biodiesel from

oil seed crops is dominated by feedstock cost. Recent
price volatility has meant the estimated costs of production have varied widely between 2009 and 2013. Estimates of the annual average biodiesel production costs
in the United States range between USD1.01 and USD
1.37/litre between 2009 and 2012, with average production costs in 2012 of around USD1.3/litre (Figure 5.5).
The revenue from the glycerine produced as a coproduct is dependent on the volatile market for this
product. However, it is estimated to typically fall in
the range of USD 0.01 to USD 0.06/litre of biodiesel
produced (APEC, 2010 and Agra CEAS, 2011). Recent
values for the United States were around USD 0.03/
litre for biodiesel produced from soybean (Iowa State
University, 2013).
The average annual production costs for biodiesel from

palm oil in Malaysia between 2009 and 2012 are estimated at between USD0.79 and USD1.8/litre, with an
average in 2012 of around USD 1.05/litre. Production
costs for jatropha oil were estimated to have been lower,
due to the assumption that feedstock costs are around
80% of palm oil costs. Biodiesel from rapeseed in Europe is estimated to have had the highest production
costs between 2009 and 2012. Average annual production costs are estimated at between USD1 and USD1.5/
litre. In 2012, they are estimated to have been around
USD1.35/litre.
Figure 5.4: Non-feedstock operating costs for conventional biodiesel plants by

feedstock
Source: APEC, 2010.
46
2012USD/litreofdieselequivalent
1.60
Capitalcosts
1.40
Otheroperatingcosts Feedstockcosts
2012average
1.20
1.00
0.80
0.60
0.40
0.20
0.00
min
max
UnitedStates:
Soybean oil
min
max
Malaysia:Palmoil
min
max
Malaysia:Jatrophaoil
min
max
Europe:Rapeseedoil
Figure 5.5: Conventional biodiesel total production costs ranges for 2009 to 2012 by
feedstock
Sources: Agra CEAS, 2011; APEC, 2010; IMF, 2013; Iowa State University, 2013; World DataBank, 2013 and IRENA
analysis.
5.2 Advanced biodiesel from lignocellulosic feedstocks
The main three routes for thermochemical biodiesel

production are:
The benefits of advanced biodiesel from lignocellulosic

feedstocks are similar to those offered by advanced
bioethanol. They also share the common challenge of
high costs and unproven technology solutions at commercial production scales. The most promising near
term production route for advanced biodiesel is the
thermochemical production route. However, funding is
needed for more R&D, demonstration and commercialscale projects to explore the most promising pathways,
debottleneck and optimise processes and gain experience with different feedstocks and operating regimes.
Biomass-to-liquids, which includes FischerTropsch synfuels and biodiesel, from gasified

biomass.
Diesel production through hydrothermal upgrading.
The fast pyrolysis of biomass into bio-oil and

then refined to diesel.
The thermochemical routes for biodiesel involves processes where pyrolysis/gasification technologies are
used to convert the lignocellulosic feedstock into a fuel,
synthesis gas or crude bio-oil. A wide range of biofuels
can be reformed from this. Although gasoline can be
produced from thermochemical routes, this is predicted
to be more expensive than biochemical routes, so the
main products are likely to be biodiesel, bionaptha and
jet kerosene.
Gasifying biomass opens the way to producing a number of different fuels, including biodiesel. The most
common means of achieving this is through digesters that create the right environment for the bacterial
breakdown of the biomass into methane. Typically they
use anaerobic digestion. However, impurities mean this
is unlikely to be used for biodiesel production.27
27 The direct use of biogas as a transportation fuel is discussed in
section 6.
47
A number of new technologies are under development

that are designed to yield a variety of different gases
and end products. Broadly speaking, they generally
use chemicals and/or heat to break down the biomass
into gases with little or no microbial action. The choice
of which process is used depends on the feedstock,
as lignin cannot be easily transformed into gas, and
the lignin component of plants can range from 0% to
35%. For plants with a high lignin content, the heatdominated process would be more effective and hence
economic.
Once the biomass has been gasified, the gas is cleaned
and can be turned into a number of different fuels by
a number of different processes. The fuels produced
could be biodiesel, methanol, synthetic gasoline or dimethyl ether (DME) and gaseous fuels such as methane
or hydrogen.
The biomass-to-liquids (BTL) process with gasification can then use Fischer-Tropsch synthesis to convert
the gas into diesel fuel and naptha. A variety of other
products, mainly chemicals (e.g. waxes and lubes) are
produced from this process. If this fuel pathway is to be
successful, markets for these other chemicals will need
to be found.
An alternative process under development is the hydrothermal upgrading (HTU) of biomass to diesel. In
this process, cellulosic materials are dissolved in water
under high pressure, but at a low temperature. The
process then uses various reactions to convert the cellulosic feedstock into a biocrude.28 Various hydrocarbon liquids are then created, predominantly diesel, in a
hydrothermal upgrading unit.
Fast pyrolysis is another promising process for biodiesel production. It rapidly heats biomass in an air-free
environment, and then quickly cools it, thereby forming
a liquid bio-oil and various solids and vapours/gases.
The bio-oil can then be turned into diesel or other fuels.
Advanced biodiesel capital costs

At the end of 2012 no commercial-scale BTL plant via a
syngas route was in operation and there was only one
BTL plant with fast pyrolysis, refining the bio-crude into
diesel.29 This means capital and perhaps even more importantly operating costs are yet to be determined with
any confidence. Advanced biodiesel from algae is only
at the pilot phase, and costs are even higher and more
uncertain. The difficulties in scaling up process designs
28 See Jones, 2009 and NREL, 2013 for a more detailed discussion of
these processes.
29 KiORs 50 million litre/year facility in Mississippi, United States
came on-stream in 2012, but will not be running at capacity until
near the end of 2013 at the earliest.
48
from pilot and demonstration scale are numerous and it

will take some time for reliable data to emerge.
The current estimates of costs for the nth commercial
plant using todays technologies and performance from
pilot-scale or demonstration plants vary by technology.30 The fast pyrolysis of biomass feedstocks to biocrude and subsequent refining to biodiesel and other
drop-in fuels is estimated to have the lowest capital
costs at around USD1/litre/year of production capacity
for a plant with annual capacity of 289 Ml/year (Jones,
2009). Low- and high-temperature BTL processes are
significantly more expensive. Estimated capital costs
for a 123 million litre/year low temperature and a 158
million litre/year high temperature plant are USD3.5 and
USD 3.3/litre/year of capacity respectively for the nth
plant (Swanson, 2010). The production of biodiesel from
algae is still only at the R&D and pilot stage, so costs are
high and very uncertain. Algae production in ponds is
estimated to incur total capital costs of USD10.3/litre/
year of capacity. Using photobioreactors to grow algae
is more capital intensive, requiring USD 16.6/litre/year
of capacity before indirect costs (Davis, 2011 and US
DOE, 2013).
There are very few advanced biodiesel commercialscale projects in operation, although there are numerous
plans for the coming years subject to progress in proving processes at near commercial-scale in demonstration projects. It is difficult to compare todays costs to
that of what can be expected in the future, once there
is large-scale deployment using a variety of feedstocks
and processes around the world. It is also potentially
misleading until more data is available. Taking this
qualification into account, these estimates of cost for
the nth plant can be compared to some of the operating
and announced commercial-scale advanced biodiesel
projects, limited in number though they are.
The first commercial-scale facility using the fast pyrolysis and biocrude refining process route is the USD215
million KiOR Inc. plant in Columbus, Mississippi. This is a
relatively small-scale plant, with production capacity of
around 50 Ml/year. Per unit capital costs are expected
to be high for a small-scale plant, and are estimated
to be USD 4.4/litre. KiORs second commercial plant
will have a capacity of 152 Ml/year and capital costs of
around USD 375, implying installed costs of USD 2.5/
litre/year of capacity (Figure 5.6). Assuming a plant
30 This concept is not exact in specifying how many plants are
required. Humbird (2011) states the key assumption implied by
nth-plant economics is that our analysis does not describe a pioneer plant; instead, several plants using the same technology have
already been built and are operating. In other words, it reflects a
mature future in which a successful industry of n plants has been
established.
scaling factor31 of between 0.7 and 0.8 and taking the

capital costs of the nth plant as the base, implies capital costs for these two smaller plants as follows, once
the technology is mature. They may be in the range of
USD1.5 to 1.8/litre/year of capacity for the 50 Ml/year
plant and between USD1.2 and 1.3/litre/year of capacity for the 152 million litre/year plant. The gap between
these estimates and the costs for these first facilities
suggests that significantly more deployment will be
required to shift from todays high capital costs for the
first-of-a-kind plants to the lower costs projected for the
fully commercialised and mature solution.
ClearFuels Collinwood, Tennessee gasification and FT
synthesis to hydrocarbon project has a proposed capacity of around 76Ml/year and capital costs of USD2.6/
litre/year of capacity. Very similar to KiORs proposed
Natchez plant. Sundrop Fuels proposed Alexandria,
Louisiana plant has similar installed costs per unit of
capacity, but is the most ambitious in scale, with annual
production capacity of 190Ml/year.
31 This is the ratio to be able to scale the known costs for a given plant
size, to a hypothetical plant size. Due to economies of scale, this is
typically less than one. That is to say larger plants are proportionately less costly and smaller ones proportionately more expensive.
The estimated capital cost breakdowns for BTL and

fast pyrolysis solutions per litre of annual capacity are
provided in Figure 5.7. The indirect costs associated
with the plant including engineering and supervision,
construction, legal and other fees are significant for all
plants. The contingency reserve for each project is assumed to be 20% of the total direct and indirect costs
for the two BTL plants.
Pretreatment, gasification and syngas cleaning account
for 33% of the high temperature BTL with FT synthesis
and 24% for the low temperature route. In contrast, the
share of FT synthesis is higher in the low temperature
route, at 14%. The shares for power generation, air separation and balance of plant are similar for low and high
temperature gasification and contribute to around one
fifth of the total capital costs.
For fast pyrolysis, the hydrogen plant dominates capital
costs, accounting for 29% of the total. The front end of
the process is the next largest share of capital costs,
with fuel handling and preparation and the equipment
needed for fast pyrolysis accounting for a fifth of the
total capital costs. The equipment required for the upgrading of the pyrolysis oil to biocrude accounts for 18%
of the total capital costs.
2012USD/litre/yearofcapacity
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
Millionlitres/yearofcapaciity
200
0
KiORColumbus
KiORNatchez
Capacity(Ml/year)
ClearFuels
SundropFuels
Collinwood
Alexandria
Capitalcost(USD/litre/year)
Figure 5.6: Operating, planned or under construction advanced biodiesel plant capital costs
Sources: Brown and Brown, 2013 and F.O. Licht, 2013.
49
100%
Dataforthenth plant
Hydrogenplant
90%
Utilitiesandauxillaries
80%
Hydrocrackingandseperation
Pyrolysisoilupgrading
70%
Pyrolysis(incl.handling)
60%
Contingency
Indirectcosts
50%
Balanceofplant
40%
Airseperation
30%
Powergeneration
Hydrocracking/hydrotreating
20%
Fuelsynthesis
10%
Syngascleaning
Gasification
0%
FT:hightemperature
FT:lowtemperature
Fastpyrolysis
Pretreatment
Figure 5.7: Advanced biodiesel capital cost breakdown for BTL with FT synthesis and fast
pyrolysis routes, future plant
Sources: Swanson, 2010 and Jones, 2009.
Feedstock costs of advanced biodiesel plants

As with conventional plants, the two drivers of the total
feedstock cost per unit of biodiesel are the biodiesel
yield per tonne and the price per tonne of the lignocellulosic feedstocks. The issues surrounding feedstock
production cost and the heterogeneous nature of lignocellulosic feedstocks are the similar to those faced
by advanced bioethanol. The difference for biodiesel
is that heteregoneous feedstocks pose a challenge for
gasification and the quality and consistent composition
of the gas produced rather than for pretreatment and
hydrolysis. This can have an impact on the gas clean-up
design and costs.
As with lignocellulosic feedstocks for ethanol production, the planting and harvesting of dedicated feedstock
crops can provide large supply opportunities. However,
it will typically be more expensive than agricultural or
forestry residues and wastes that may be available at
low or no cost at the site of production. These may be
50
available, though, in quantities that may limit the scale

of production to less economic levels.
Where residues are available at the food/agricultural or
forestry processing site, feedstocks range from costing
nothing to as much as USD 80/tonne32. This is where
biomass crops are the source, or residues need to be
collected from the production site, stored and transported to the plant. For the purposes of this analysis
a central estimate of USD 65/dry tonne is used, with
sensitivities at USD30 and USD100/dry tonne, as with
advanced ethanol.
Yields from cellulosic feedstocks for gasification and
FT synthesis are projected to be lower than for ethanol
at around 180 litres/dry tonne for the low temperature
route and 230 litres/dry tonne for the more capitalintensive high temperature route. However, the yield for
32 This value is consistent with information that has been obtained
about feedstock costs for at least one of the near-term commercial
projects in the United States (NREL,2011).
fast pyrolysis and biocrude to diesel refining is currently

estimated to be higher at around 250litres/dry tonne
(US DOE, 2013). KiOR Inc. Columbus facility is expected
to yield around this level and a new catalyst is expected
to boost this to around 275litres/dry tonne without any
capital modifications, while their long-term goal for
future plants is to achieve 340litres/dry tonne (Biofuels
Digest, 2012).
cesses. Sales of electricity are expected to reduce these

costs by USD0.04/litre for high temperature processes
and USD 0.06/litre for low temperature processes,
reducing the net other operating costs to USD 0.14/
litre and USD 0.16/litre respectively (Swanson, 2010).
For fast pyrolysis to biocrude and then upgrading to
biodiesel, operating costs are estimated to be around
USD 0.16/litre of biodiesel if the hydrogen required is
produced onsite from biomass (Jones, 2009).33
Figure 5.8 presents the costs per litre of biodiesel for

the gasification and FT synthesis route and for pyrolysis
biocrude that is upgraded to biodiesel for lignocellulosic
feedstock costs of USD30 to USD100/dry tonne.
Fixed operating costs (labour, insurance, etc.) are the

largest component of the other operating costs for gasification and FT synthesis, while other major costs are
33 If the hydrogen is produced from natural gas, operating costs
rise to around between USD 0.20 and USD 0.22/litre of diesel,
assuming a gas price of between USD5 and USD7/GJ. However,
this increase in costs is offset by a higher yield of final product per
tonne of feedstock, 380 litres/dry tonne instead of 250 litres/dry
tonne (USD DOE, 2013). Another possibility is the co-location of
the fast pyrolysis plant at a refinery, as cheaper hydrogen could
be purchased from the refinery and some offgases sold to the
refinery. The economics of these options depends on the relative
prices of natural gas, biomass feedstock and incremental capital
costs. For the co-location with a refinery, they also depend on the
available land, costs of the purchased hydrogen and sales value of
the offgases.
Other operating costs for advanced biodiesel

plants
Operating costs for advanced biodiesel plants are expected to be significant even after costs are driven
down through commercialisation. The fully commercialised, debottlenecked BTL plants of the future using
FT synthesis are anticipated to have operating costs of
around USD 0.18/litre for high temperature processes
and USD0.22/litre of biodiesel for low temperature pro-
0.7
FT:high
temperature
(230 l/drytonne)
FT:low
temperature
(180 l/drytonne)
FT:low
temperature
(225 l/drytonne)
Fastpyrolysis
(250l/drytonne)
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
Fastpyrolysis
(275l/drytonne)
0.1
Fastpyrolysis
(340l/drytonne)
0. 0
30
40
50
60
70
2012USD/drytonne
80
90
100
Figure 5.8: Advanced biodiesel feedstock costs per litre as a function of biomass costs and
process yields for BTL with FT synthesis and fast pyrolysis
Sources: Based on Biofuels Digest, 2013; Swanson, 2010; and Jones, 2009.
51
the production of steam and the hydroprocessing costs

(Figure 5.9). The lower capital costs for a low temperature route for gasification and FT synthesis are offset to
some extent by higher other operating costs of around
USD 0.04/litre. However the greater opportunity for
electricity exports is estimated to reduce this gap to just
USD0.02/litre of biodiesel in the United States. For fast
pyrolysis and upgrading of the biocrude to biodiesel,
fixed costs are the largest share of other operating costs
when biomass is used for hydrogen production.
The monthly average crude oil acquisition cost for refiners in the United States in 2012 varied from USD92 to
USD 107/bbl. Meanwhile, the average ex-refinery price
in 2012 for resale by month in the United States for
diesel fuels ranged from around USD0.72 to USD0.97/
litre.34 The selling price required by fully commercialised
and debottlenecked biodiesel BTL plants based on
gasification and FT synthesis falls within this range. This
assumes feedstock costs of USD 65/dry tonne, a cost
of capital of 10% and the cost and performance parameters outlined for feedstock and other operating costs in
this section. However, it is unlikely that these cost levels
will be reached before 2020, unless significant acceleration in deployment occurs in the near future.
By contrast, the fully commercialised and debottlenecked fast pyrolysis and biocrude refining to biodiesel and other drop-in fuels could ultimately have
34 This is from the U.S. EIAs monthly reporting of Petroleum product
retail and wholesale prices by U.S. PAD District and State for No.1
and No. 2 Distillate and No. 2 Diesel. See www.eia.gov for more
details.
0.30
Netcost
0.25
Coproductcredit
0.20
Naturalgas
0.15
Utilities(coolingwater,
electricity,steam)
0.10
Fixed
Wastedisposal
0.05
0.10
Fastpyrolysis:
hydrogenfrom
biomass
0.00
Fastpyrolysis:
hydrogenfrom
nat.gas
Hydroprocessing
FT:lowtemp.
0.05
FT:hightemp.
The other operating costs for algae are estimated to

be significant at around USD 1.3/litre of biodiesel for
ponds and USD 1.69/litre of biodiesel for photobioreactors (Davis, 2009 and Davis, 2012). Cost reductions
will have to be very large if algae are to compete with
other advanced options for biodiesel production, given
the large difference in starting points for the estimated
commercial deployment costs. On the other hand, the
cost reduction potential is good given that this route is
still at the early R&D phase. More experience will be required to determine if, or how quickly, costs can become
competitive with other advanced biodiesel production
routes.
Total production costs for advanced biodiesel
Otherraw
materials/catalysts
Coolingwater
Steam
Figure 5.9: Advanced biodiesel other operating costs for BTL with FT synthesis and
fast pyrolysis for fully commercialised future plant
Sources: Swanson, 2010 and Jones, 2009.
52
significantly lower costs. Deployment looks likely to be

faster than for BTL routes. Based on KiORs first-of-a
kind plant in Columbus, Ohio, capital costs for their
small-scale (50 Ml/year) commercial plant are around
USD 4.4/litre/year of capacity. Assuming a feedstock
cost of USD65/dry tonne, that operating costs are one
and a half times the long-term potential (Swanson,
2010), and that process debottlenecking restricts output to 80% of planned capacity; then this would imply
production costs of USD1.08/litre. However, KiORs second commercial plant has three times the capacity and
capital costs of USD2.5/litre/year of capacity. Assuming
the same feedstock and other operating costs, successful debottlenecking and that the plant meets scheduled
availability predictions, these plants could yield costs of
USD0.76/litre of biodiesel (Figure 5.10).
If these plants can prove the stability of the process
and meet the design availabilities, their biofuels will be
Today's plant
very close to competitive with the average diesel resale

prices in the United States seen in 2012. Fast pyrolysis of
biomass into biocrude, then refining this biocrude into
biodiesel and other drop-in fuels, appears, therefore,
to be a very attractive near-term solution leading to
competitive biodiesel production. Two critical questions
remain: can these first commercial-scale projects be
proved to work reliably and are they capable of being
scaled up to levels that make economic sense? If the
answer is yes, fast pyrolysis to biocrude and then refining to biodiesel or gasoline could prove to be the first
competitive route for second-generation biofuels.
The contribution of feedstock cost to the total cost of
advanced biodiesel is significantly lower than for conventional feedstocks and technologies. However, the
advanced routes are much more capital intensive and
have higher other operating costs. Even when fully
commercialised, the fixed costs of the gasification and
Future plant
Figure 5.10: Total biodiesel production cost breakdown for fully commercialised future BTL
with FT synthesis and fast pyrolysis plants, and todays fast pyrolysis plant
Note: The capital cost data and annual production capacity for the KiOR plants are from publically available data. The
non-feedstock costs are an indicative assumption, while feedstock costs may be higher than assumed here. As such, these
are order of magnitude estimates of the production costs given these assumptions.
Sources: Based on IRENA analysis and Figures 5.6, 5.7nd 5.8 and 5.9.
53
FT synthesis route remain the largest share of total biodiesel production costs, accounting for 43-47% of total
biodiesel production costs (USD0.37 to USD0.40/litre).
The fast pyrolysis route is much less capital-intensive
and even todays first-of-a-kind commercial plants are
estimated to have lower capital costs in absolute and
percentage terms than future gasification and FT synthesis BTL plants.
stock price. The higher operating and capital costs of

advanced biodiesel production routes means they are
significantly less sensitive than conventional biodiesel.
However, securing low cost feedstocks still has a large
impact on total production costs.
Figure 5.11 highlights the sensitivity of the total production costs for biodiesel to the average biomass feed-
1.4
Rangeforbiomass@USD30100/drytonne
2012USD/litredieselequivalent
1.2
Today's plant
Biomass@USD65/drytonne
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
Future plant
0.2
0
Figure 5.11: Total advanced biodiesel production cost ranges by technology for biomass costs
of USD30-100/dry tonne
Sources: Based on IRENA analysis and Figures 5.6, 5.7, 5.8 and 5.9.
54
6 BIOGAS
Biogas is composed mostly of methane and carbon
dioxide produced from organic material. Like natural
gas, it is a versatile fuel and can be used directly to
generate electricity, provide low- or high-temperature
heat or to power vehicles. For transportation, it can
be compressed and used in a vehicle in the same way
that compressed natural gas is used. The advantage of
biomethane is that it can use existing natural gas vehicle
transport and fueling infrastructure, after the biomethane is cleaned and upgraded.
fluents) which is upgraded for use in transport vehicles,

often local buses or transport fleets. An emerging technology under demonstration in Germany is the powerto-gas technology. This uses renewable electricity from
solar or wind to produce hydrogen by electrolysis,
which is blended with carbon dioxide to produce solarmethane or wind-methane depending on the source
of electricity. This could help smooth electricity demand
and at the same time provide additional biomethane for
transport applications.
The key challenges for biogas are to grow the market

and reduce costs. The use of biogas requires natural
or biogas-based fuelling infrastructure and flex-fuel or
dedicated natural/biogas vehicles. Alternatively, existing vehicles can be converted to run on biomethane,
but at a cost and with a loss in storage space and range
to accommodate the compressed biogas storage tank.
AD converts biomass feedstocks with a high moisture

content into a biogas. AD is a naturally occurring process and can be harnessed to provide a very effective
means to treat organic materials, including energy
crops, residues and wastes from many industrial and
agricultural processes and municipal waste streams (Table 6.1). AD is most commonly operated as a continuous
process and thus needs a steady supply of feedstock.
The feedstock needs to be strictly checked and usually
requires some form of pretreatment to maximise methane production and minimise the possibility of destroying the natural digestion process. Co-digestion of multiple feedstocks is most commonly practised to achieve
the best balance of biogas yield and process stability.
The two most promising routes for the production of biogas for transportation are anaerobic digestion (AD) of
organic matter and the gasification of woody biomass
to produce synthetic biogas. AD is commercially mature
and is already used around the world to produce biogas
from organic wastes (e.g. refuse, sewage and other ef-
Table 6.1: Waste feedstocks and appropriate digesters and characteristics

Type of waste
Appropriate digester
Description
Liquid waste
Covered lagoon digester/
upflow anaerobic sludge
blanket/fixed film
Covered lagoon or sludge
blanket-type digesters are
used with wastes discharged
into water. The decomposition
of waste in water creates a
naturally anaerobic environment.
Slurry waste
Complete mix digester
Semi-solid waste
Plug flow digester
Complete mix digesters work

best with slurry manure or
wastes that are semi-liquid
(generally, when the solids
composition is less than 10%).
These wastes are deposited in
a heated tank and periodically
mixed. The biogas produced
remains in the tank until use
or flaring.
Plug flow digesters are used for

solid manure or waste (generally
when the solids composition is 11%
or greater). Wastes are deposited
in a long, heated tank typically situated below ground. Biogas remains
in the tank until use or flaring.
Source: Centre for Climate and Energy Solutions, 2012.
55
6.1 Capital costs for biogas
The two main AD products are biogas and a residue

digestate. After appropriate treatment, the resdiue can
be used as a bio-fertiliser. Biogas is primarily a mixture
of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2). There are
some other minor constituents including nitrogen, ammonia (NH3), sulphur dioxide (SO2), hydrogen sulphide
(H2S) and hydrogen.
Large-scale AD plants using municipal solid waste

(MSW), agricultural waste or other industrial organic
wastes are proven technologies, but they can be limited
in scale by feedstock availability. The use of energy
crops increases the opportunities for larger and/or more
numerous facilities, albeit with higher feedstock costs.
This biogas is then upgraded for use in vehicles. The
upgrade removes the high level of CO2 (typically 45%
before the upgrade) from the biogas to create biomethane. The level of impurities such as carbon dioxide permissible in the biomethane varies by country depending
on local regulations.
Biogas is readily used as a fuel in power or combined

heat and power (CHP) units and has the potential to be
used as a vehicle fuel in the transport sector after appropriate cleaning and upgrading (IEA Bioenergy, 2011).
Germany, with 7090 digesters, was the leading country
in Europe in mid-2011 in both number and installed capacity of AD (Linke, 2011). These have been built to take
advantage of the German feed-in tariff for biogas for
power generation and are associated with total installed
electrical capacity of 2394MW. Virtually all of this electrical capacity is located in the agricultural sector where
maize sillage, other crops and animal slurry are used. In
Germany and the rest of the world, virtually all biogas
production destined for the transport sector comes
from waste, as this is the cheapest feedstock.
Total installed costs for an AD biogas plant can depend

on the feedstock. Those based on manure and sewage
are typically cheaper. This is because the handling and
storage of the feedstock is already available, or would
have to be constructed even if there was no AD being
considered. For AD systems based primarily on energy
crops (e.g. maize silage) the total investment costs will
typically be higher to take into account feedstock storage and handling (Figure 6.1). The digester system is
the most expensive component of an AD biogas plant,
8000
2012USD/Nm3/hourofcapacity
7000
Other
6000
Construction
5000
Electricaland
controls
Storage
4000
3000
Digester
2000
Equipment
1000
0
100
250
500
90%wastesand10%
maize sillage
250
500
1000
1500
2000
90%maize sillageand10%wastes
Capacity(Nm3 /hour)
Figure 6.1: Capital costs per unit of capacity for AD systems by plant size and feedstock
Source: Urban, 2009.
56
although for large-scale systems using energy crops,

the cost of storage can also be large.
Total installed costs for AD systems are usually expressed in terms of cost per unit of capacity, where
capacity is expressed in terms of normal cubic metre
(Nm3)/hour.35 Total installed capital costs for an AD system using 90% manure and 10% maize silage vary from
USD7310 to USD5050/Nm3/hour. This is for systems
with hourly output capacities of 100 Nm3 and 500 Nm3
respectively (Figure 6.1).36 AD system components have
an expected economic life of 15-20 years.
The total installed costs for AD systems using 90%
maize silage and just 10% manure vary. They range from
USD5400/Nm3/hour for capacities of 2000 Nm3/hour
to USD7500/Nm3/hour for systems with an hourly output of 250Nm3/hour respectively (Figure 6.1).
This section discusses the capital costs for upgrading systems to remove the CO2 and other impurities
from the biogas. The main upgrading technologies are
(Bauer, 2013):
Amine scrubbing process use a reagent, typically

a water solution of amines, which chemically
35 This is the volume of gas for a normalised temperature and pressure of 0C and 1.01325 barA respectively.
36 This corresponds to annual production of 18TJ and 91TJ respectively assuming the plant operates for 90% of the year and the
energy content of the biogas is 23MJ/Nm3.
binds to the CO2 molecule and removes it from

the gas.
Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) is a dry method
where the raw biogas is compressed to high
pressure and then fed into an adsorption column
where the CO2 is retained, but not the methane.
Membrane separation uses a dense filter to
separate the components in the biogas or a
liquid at the molecular level. The selective membranes used for biogas upgrading retain most of
the methane while most of the CO2 permeates
through the membrane for treatment.
Water scrubbing uses a physical scrubber where
the CO2 is dissolved into water in an absorption
column in a high pressure environment. The CO2
is then released from the water again in the desorption column, by addition of air at atmospheric
pressure.
In organic physical scrubbing, the CO2 in the
biogas is absorbed in an organic solvent (e.g. a
mix of dimethyl ethers of polyethylene glycol)
in a process otherwise similar to that of a water
scrubber.
Upgrading allows the combustion of biogas in vehicles

and its injection into existing natural gas grids. Table 6.2
presents the typical composition of biogas and landfill
gas, as well as the natural gas network requirements for
the Danish and Dutch networks. Upgrading the biogas
typically requires the removal of CO2 and other impurities such as hydrogen sulphide and ammonia.
Compounds
Table 6.2: Biogas and landfill gas characteristics and natural gas network requirements in
Denmark and the Netherlands
Methane (vol-%)
Other hydro carbons (vol-%)
Hydrogen (vol-%)
Carbon dioxide (vol-%)
Nitrogen (vol-%)
Oxygen (vol-%)
Hydrogen sulphide (ppm)
Ammonia (ppm)
Lower heating value (kWh/Nm3
Biogas
6070
0
0
3040
0.2
0
04000
100
6.5
Landfill gas
3565
0
03
1550
540
05
0100
5
4.4
Natural gas (Danish)*

89
9.4
0
0.67
0.28
0
2.9
0
11.0
Natural gas (Dutch)

81
3.5
_
1
14
0
8.8
Source: Petersson and Wellinger, 2009.
57
As would be expected, capital costs are proportionately

higher for small-scale applications with throughputs
of 500 Nm3/hour or less (Figure 6.2). Installed costs
for these smaller systems are between USD4400 and
USD 5 950/Nm3/hour of capacity for 250 Nm3/hour
systems and between USD 2 600 and USD 3 450/
Nm3/hour of capacity for 500 Nm3/hour systems. For
large-scale facilities which process 2000Nm3/hour or
more, the capital costs for biogas upgrading are around
USD1950/Nm3/hour of capacity, which adds 36% to the
AD biogas plant costs.
For small-scale systems with capacities of 100500 Nm3/hour of biogas, the total system costs are
between USD 8 950 and USD 13 800/Nm3/hour, with
the upgrading system accounting for 37-47% of the
total installed costs. Large systems with capacities to
generate and then upgrade 1000-2000Nm3/hour of
raw biogas into biomethane have total installed costs of
USD8600 and USD7350/Nm3/hour respectively. The
share of the upgrading system drops to between 27%
and 30% (Figure 6.3).
Figure 6.2: Capital costs for biogas upgrading systems by type and size
Source: Bauer, 2013.
16000
2012USD/Nm3/hourofcapacity
14000
Upgrader
ADsystem
12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
100
250
500
90%wastesand10%
maize sillage
250
500
1000
1500
2000
90%maize sillageand10%wastes
Capacity(Nm3/hour)
Figure 6.3: Capital costs for biogas systems including upgrader by type and size
Sources: Bauer, 2013 and Urban, 2009.
58
6.2 Feedstock costs and other operating costs for biogas plants
The feedstock costs for AD biogas systems depend on
the source. For waste streams such as manure and sewage, there are typically very low or zero costs for the
raw feedstock onsite, as collection and storage systems
are required in any event. In these cases, the only costs
incurred are operational and the amortised capital costs.
In many developed countries, feedstock costs may be
negative, as the biogas plant is being paid to dispose
of wastes and these revenues sometimes exceed the
revenues from biomethane sales. However, for a large
centralised biogas plant that is collecting feedstock
from surrounding farms, transport costs are often an
important consideration.
Energy crops are sometimes purchased to increase the
scale of the biogas plant or for the properties they bring
to the AD process (e.g. increased yield or more stable
digestion). In these cases, the costs of feedstock may
quickly become an important component of overall
costs. For instance, the plants analysed in Figure 6.4
show the estimated impact of feedstock costs on biogas production costs. These are around USD0.19/Nm3
of biogas produced when maize silage is purchased at
USD45/tonne and used for 90% of the feedstock and

10% comes from wastes. This is equivalent to around
USD11.4/GJ of biogas and around USD20.8/GJ of biomethane assuming the raw biogas has a 55% methane
content.
The main non-feedstock costs for AD systems producing biogas are thermal energy for the process, with important contributions from electricity, maintenance and
personnel costs (Figure 6.4). Process energy requirements can vary by AD system and feedstock for digestion, but are typically 7-15% of the biogas produced including electricity and thermal energy (Murphy, 2011 and
Salter, 2008). The thermal energy required is to raise
the feedstock substrate to the temperature required in
the digester. Like many biochemical processes, higher
temperatures result in faster reactions and throughput.
However, the temperature selected for AD is typically a
compromise between the optimal biochemical temperature and the economics of heating the digesters. The
electricity is required for pumping, feedstock, handling,
controls etc.
The operating costs for the upgrader are dominated
by the costs for the electricity or heat used. Significant
costs also arise from maintenance and other require-
0.40
0.35
Feedstock
(maize sillage)
Other
2012USD/Nm3
0.30
0.25
Thermalenergy
0.20
Electricity
0.15
Maintenance
0.10
Personnel
0.05
0.00
100
250
500
100%waste
100
250
500
250
500
1000 1500 2000
90%maize sillageand
90%wastesand
10%wastes
sillage
10% maize
Capacity(Nm3/hour)
Figure 6.4: Operating costs for AD biogas by feedstock and size

90%wastesand10%
59
ments (Figure 6.5). Table 6.3 presents the physical requirements for electricity, heat, water and chemicals for
the main upgrading options to remove CO2, while Figure
6.5 presents the operating costs for the upgrading as a
function of the raw biogas processing capacity of the
upgrader. These operating costs exclude compression,
as this will depend on the distribution route for the
plant. However, given that vehicles will require biometh-
ane at 200 bar, compression energy of around 0.2kWh/

Nm3 will be required (Bauer, 2013)37 somewhere between upgrading and fuelling.
37 The energy required to compress biomethane from 1 bar to 250
bar is around 0.23 kWh/Nm3. However, the exact figure for biomethane will vary given that different upgraders operate at different
pressures and temperatures.
Table 6.3: Selected biogas upgrader systems, their inputs and characteristics
Water scrubber
Electricity consumption (kWh/Nm3)
Heat requirement (kWh/Nm3)
Methane slip (% lost)
Maintenance costs
0.23-0.3
1
Amine scrubber
Upgrader type
Pressure swing
adsorption
0.2-0.3
Membrane
0.12-0.14
0.2-0.3
0.55
0.1
1.8-2.0
0.5
Typically 2-3%/year of the installed cost of upgrading system
Chemical
scrubbing
0.2-0.27
Source: Bauer, 2013.
0.10
0.09
0.08
2012USD/Nm3
0.07
Other
0.06
Personnel
0.05
Otherprocesscosts
0.04
Heat
0.03
Water
0.02
Electricity
0.01
0.00
250
500
1000
Waterscrubber
250
500
500
1000
Aminescrubber
Capacity(Nm3/hour
of capacity)
Figure 6.5: Operating costs for biogas upgraders by type and size
60
6.3 Total biogas production costs to

produce biomethane for vehicles
The total production costs for upgraded biomethane
suitable for use in vehicles are lowest for systems
based on wastes or sewage, where feedstock costs
are non-existent and capital costs are low. Biomethane
upgraded for use in vehicles can be produced for between USD0.45 to USD0.55/lge from wastes or sewage (Figure 6.6), but this range increase to USD 0.65
to USD 0.75/lge when some maize silage is also purchased. Large-scale production will, however, require
the purchase of feedstocks (e.g. maize silage) for the
majority of the throughput. It will therefore be more
expensive, even after taking into account the economies
of scale from moving to higher production capacities.
When maize silage is the primary feedstock, production costs for biomethane will be between USD 0.73
and USD 0.93/lge when water scrubbers are used to
upgrade the raw biogas and between USD 0.75 and
USD0.87/lge when amine scrubbers are used.
There is little difference between the amortised capital and operating costs of the two upgrading systems
examined. The most recent data suggests that upgrading systems based around water scrubbers will be
somewhat cheaper than amine scrubber systems for
capacities up to 1000 Nm3/hour raw biogas processing
capacities (Bauer, 2013). However, cost differences become very small at higher capacities, and the key factor
determining a choice will be the technical performance
of the system depending on the biogas composition and
the biomethane quality requirements.
1.20
1.20
Barchart:
lefthandaxis
(USD/Nm3)
1.00
1.00
Capital
2012USD/Nm 3biomethane
Other
Personnel
0.80
0.80
0.60
0.60
0.40
0.40
2012USD/Lge
Maintenance
Otherprocess
costs
Electricity
Heat
Water
Feedstock
0.20
0.20
0.00
0.00
250
500
100%waste
250
500
90%wastesand
10%
maize
sillage
250
500
1000
1500
2000
90%maizesillageand10%wastes
Waterscrubber
500
500
500
1000
1500
100% 90% 90%maizesillageand

wastes wastes
10% wastes
and
10%
maize
sillage
2000
Total(USD/Lge)
Diamonds:
righthandaxis
(USD/Lge)
Amine scrubber
Figure 6.6: Total production costs for biomethane suitable for vehicle use by upgrader type and
size
Sources: IRENA analysis; Urban, 2009; and Bauer, 2013.
61
7 ELECTRICITY FOR TRANSPORT
The use of electricity from renewable sources as the

energy source for vehicles is another option to decarbonise the fuels used in the transport sector. In addition
to decarbonising transport fuel use, electrification of
the vehicle fleet has significant local environmental and
health benefits, as electrification will also reduce local
pollutant emissions.
There is a continuum of options for the electrification
of vehicles (Figure 7.1). A vehicle that relies 100% on
electricity (from either the grid or an off-grid source) for
motive power is referred to as an electric vehicle (EV)
or sometimes a battery electric vehicle (BEV).38 An EV
dispenses entirely with the internal combustion engine,
and a battery pack supplies electricity to an electric motor, or motors, to convert the electricity into mechanical
power. The battery also provides all the auxiliary power
required (e.g. lights, air conditioning).
In the middle of the spectrum of electrification options
for a vehicle (Figure 7.1) lie PHEVs. These have a smaller
battery than EVs and are plugged into the grid to charge
the battery. They combine an often downsized ICE with
the capability for all-electric driving in charge depleting
38 For simplicity, in the rest of this report these types of vehicles are
referred to as EVs.
mode. PHEVs can be charged from the grid and have

sufficient battery storage and powertrain designs to
allow pure electric operation over a certain distance
depending on driving patterns and battery size. The
ICE provides power when the battery has reached its
minimum discharge level or under certain driving conditions. With significant deep discharging and charging,
the batteries need to be more robust than light hybrid
configurations and even EVs. As a result, R&D into extending the battery life of PHEVs is a very important
cost reduction strategy.
PHEVs can be set up with series or parallel configurations. In the parallel configuration either the electric
motor or the ICE can drive the vehicle, or both where
extra power is needed. In the series configuration, the
drive system becomes pure electric and the ICE is used
only to charge the battery.
The distance that a PHEV can travel on the battery alone
is usually used to categorise the degree of electrification. Thus a PHEV40 is a PHEV with a range of 40 km on
the battery only. This type of vehicle configuration will
often allow the majority of driving to be done on electricity from the battery alone. Meanwhile, the retention
of an ICE means that the total range of the vehicle on
electricity and liquid fuels is comparable to todays ICE
Degree-of-Electrification
Figure 7.1: The range of electrification options for vehicles
62
Electric Vehicle
Extended Range
Electric Vehicle
Plug-in Hybrid
Electric Vehicle
Full Hybrid
Electric Vehicle
Mild Hybrid
Electric Vehicle
Conventional
vehicle
01
vehicles. The size of the battery required to achieve a

given electric driving range will depend on the size and
weight of the vehicle.
7.1 Battery cell and pack costs and

characteristics
Lithium ion (Li-Ion) battery chemistry represents the
technology of choice for electric vehicles today and for
the forseeable future. Li-Ion batteries have overtaken
nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries because of their
better specific energy and power density qualities. The
relationship between power delivery and specific energy density is very important for the performance of the
vehicle. Figure 7.2 maps the specific power density relative to specific energy density for different electricity
storage options. The fact that Li-Ion batteries are to the
right of the frontier of options shows why they have become the focus of PHEV and EV battery development.39
39 Ongoing research is focused on new battery technologies with
significantly improved performance compared to todays Li-Ion
batteries specific energy densities and power outputs. These
performance improvements are needed to allow EVs to go mainstream; an EV with todays battery technology with a 400 km
range would have twice the kerb weight of a conventional ICE
vehicle (NPC,2012).
A delicate equilibrium needs to be found to determine the optimal battery chemistry and size. The need
for high power, acceleration and optimal regenerative
breaking has to be balanced against large energy storage requirements (i.e. a high specific energy density)
that increases the vehicle range.
Li-Ion batteries come in a range of different chemistries,
so the term Li-Ion battery refers to the Li-Ion family of
battery chemistries that induce lithium ions to move
between the anode and cathode in a battery.
Within the family of lithium-ion battery chemistries,
each specific technology usually has a number of tradeoffs between power density, specific energy density,
safety, cycle life and performance, and costs (Table 7.1).
The original Li-Ion chemistries developed for consumer
applications have proven too expensive for automotive
uses, given their large share of the total cost of the vehicle. This has spurred the development and deployment
of alternative, cheaper Li-Ion chemistries with more
suitable thermal characteristics better adapted to automotive applications. These include lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP), lithium-manganese-oxide spinel (LMO),
and nickel-cobalt-aluminium (NCA) (NPC, 2012). To
date, no dominant chemistry has emerged, but deployment for automotive applications is still in its infancy
and further experience will prove invaluable in improving performance and reducing costs.
Figure 7.2: Specific power versus specific energy density for different electricity storage solutions
Source: based on Johnson Controls, published in NPC, 2012.
63
Table 7.1: Li-Ion battery characteristics by chemistry

Anode
Energy
Density
Power
Density
Cycle Life
Safety
Cost
Lithium cobalt oxide
Graphite
High
Fair
Fair
Fair
High
Nickel cobalt aluminum

oxide
Graphite
High
High
Fair
Fair
High
Lithium iron phosphate
Graphite
Low
High
High
Very Good
Fair
Lithium manganese oxide
Graphite
High
High
Fair
Very Good
Fair
Graphite
High
High
Fair
Good
Low
Graphite
High
High
Fair
Good
Low
Graphite
High
Fair
Low
Fair
High
Lithium titanate
oxide
Low
Low
High
Good
High
Graphite
High
Fair
Fair
Fair
Fair
Graphite
High
High
Fair
Fair
Low
Lithium titanate
oxide
Fair
High
High
Good
Low
Cathode

spinel
spinel polymer
Manganese nickel cobalt
oxide
spinel
Lithium nickel oxide
Lithium manganese nickel
oxide spinel
Lithium manganese nickel
oxide spinel
Source: NPC, 2012.
The key parameters a vehicle designer must take into

account when considering a battery are costs, the specific energy density of the battery and the relationship
with power charge and discharge. The specific energy
density can be measured in two ways; either in terms of
energy per unit mass (e.g. Wh/kg) or volume (e.g. Wh/
litre). Depending on the design constraints, one metric
will be more useful than another. For light-duty vehicles,
weight is always an issue, but for PHEVs where space
is at a premium, density per unit of volume may be the
main consideration.
An additional complication for vehicle manufacturers is
that battery cell performance in terms of specific energy
density is higher than the overall battery pack density.
This is due to the additional weight of the protective
casing, thermal energy management systems and controls. In the recent past, the additional load from these
components would double the weight of the battery
pack from the battery cell weight, thereby halving the
specific energy density (NPC, 2012). Further R&D and
deployment should help to reduce this weight burden.
In addition to battery costs, the estimated economic
battery life is critical to determining the overall cost
64
of driving an electric vehicle. Battery performance degrades over time with the number of cycles (charge/
discharge cycles) performed. Maximising the number
of cycles a battery can perform before it deteriorates to
a point it needs replacement will significantly enhance
the economics of PHEV and EVs. To maximise the life
of a battery, the swing in the state-of-charge (SOC)
is typically limited to 40-80%. Thus the effective cost
of electricity available for driving is higher than the
nameplate cost, as only 40-80% of the battery charge
is made available. For instance, a battery pack that costs
USD 500/kWh, but that charges and discharges over
only 60% of its capacity would have an effective cost of
USD833/kWh.
The other key operational area for maximising battery life is the thermal energy management system
for the battery. The main problem is that battery life
is significantly reduced for Li-Ion batteries when the
battery operates at high temperatures. Ensuring the
battery temperature remains as close to design goals
as possible is therefore essential if battery life is to meet
expectations. Most PHEVs today use a liquid thermal energy management strategy, but this is expensive. Some
use cheaper forced air systems, notably the Nissan Leaf
manufacturers are moving to remove this uncertainty

from consumers and offering battery warranties or battery leasing options to transfer the risk from the owner
of the vehicle.
and Mitsubishi I. In contrast, very cold temperatures

do not have a significant impact on battery life, but do
have a significant impact on the power availability of the
battery. The significantly reduced power availability will
limit acceleration, top speed and vehicle range. This is an
important issue for EVs that rely exclusively on their battery for power. It is less of a problem for PHEVs because
the ICE can be used to offset the lack of battery power.
The thermal energy generated from battery operation
can be used to raise the operating temperature when
using a smart battery thermal management system,
rather than rejecting the heat. However, for EVs this may
need to be supplemented by an alternative source of
heat prior to operation or during operation.
The estimate of battery pack costs for EVs in 2012 varies

quite widely depending on the literature, but is typically
USD 500-800/kWh (Reuters, 2012; BNEF, 2012; McKinsey, 2012; Element Energy, 2012a; and IEA, 2013). The
average battery cell costs are USD400/kWh, but they
vary widely depending on the scale of production. The
build-up into battery packs adds 50-100% to the cell
costs (Element Energy, 2012a).
All these variables will interact with driving patterns and

charging patterns to produce a wide range of operating
profiles for the charge/discharge cycles of a PHEV or
EV battery pack. Although Li-Ion batteries have been
shown to be able to achieve 4000 to 5000 deep cycles
in the laboratory and 1000 in commercial operation, it is
difficult to translate this into mileage. However, vehicle
The total cost for a battery pack with a capacity of 22

kWh for a mid-size EV is dominated by the battery cells
themselves, which account for just over half of the total
cost (Figure 7.3). The balance of the costs are split between a range of components, with only the margin and
warranty share exceeding 10% of the total.
22kWhEVbatterypack
Packoverheads,
depreciation&
labour
7%
Marginandwarranty
13%
LiIonbatterycells
50%
Temperaturecontrol
(forcedair)
2%
Housing
4%
Internalcellsupport
5%
Wiring,harnesses,
connectorsand
interconnections
5%
Powerelectronics
6%
Batterymanagement
system
8%
Figure 7.3: Total cost breakdown for a 22 kWh Li-Ion battery pack for a 100% electric EV, 2012
Source: Element Energy, 2012.
65
The battery packs for PHEVs can be twice, or even three

times as expensive per kWh of storage for small batteries, than the battery packs of EVs (Figure 7.4). Due
to their higher power performance, the battery cells
themselves carry a price premium of around 30% per
kWh compared to larger EV batteries (Element Energy,
2012a). The smaller size of PHEV batteries also tends
to raise the percentage difference for the balance of
system costs for the battery pack. Finally, the battery
management system is significantly more expensive.
This is because it requires greater flexibility (more sophistication and components) to shift energy to and
from the battery more regularly and in a wide range of
operating modes. There is also a need to more actively
manage the battery cells and state of charge. All these
factors increase the specific cost of the battery pack
relative to that of an EV. The main advantage of PHEVs,
that of smaller battery packs, is therefore offset to quite
a large degree by these higher unit costs.
7.2 Total incremental PHEV and EV

vehicle costs and the cost of vehicle
ownership and operation
The incremental vehicle costs for PHEVs and EVs are
dominated by the cost of the battery pack. However,
the electric motor and generator, as well as the power
electronics, converter and inverter also create significant incremental costs. The cost of gasoline saved will
vary depending on the incremental cost compared to an
equivalent vehicle, the battery life and annual mileage.
PHEV incremental costs and the cost of gasoline

saved
PHEVs are only just taking to the road in any significant
numbers. Costs are still uncertain and will fall over time
as deployment accelerates. The total incremental cost of
PHEVs is dominated by the cost of the battery, particularly for high all-electric driving ranges (Figure 7.5). For
a PHEV with a 16km range, the battery pack is estimat-
1400
2012USD/kWhbatterypack
1200
1000
800
BoScosts
600
Cellcost
400
200
0
SmallCars(21 Midsizecars Largecars(50
kWh)
(30kWh)
kWh)
Vans
(69kWh)
EV
Midsizecars
(12kWh)
Vans
(28kWh)
PHEV
Figure 7.4: Total cost breakdown for Li-Ion battery packs for EVs and PHEVs by vehicle class,
2012
Note: Assumes a maximum 80% of the EV battery is used in charge/discharge cycle and 70% for the PHEV batteries.
Source: Element Energy, 2012a.
66
ed to account for around 45% of the gross40 incremental

costs over an equivalent conventional ICE vehicle. For a
PHEV with a 65km range, the battery costs increase to
72% of the gross incremental cost.
kilometres. Charging at work or anywhere else would

raise these values significantly.42
The average cost of gasoline saved by the PHEV varies
depending on the amortised additional annual capital
cost and additional electricity expenses. These costs are
determined by the incremental vehicle costs, discount
rate, electricity and gasoline prices, and fuel efficiency
of the incumbent technology. The cost of the gasoline
saved is close or less than the retail price for the Ford,
Honda and Chevrolet offerings compared to a similar
non-PHEV model from these manufacturers. This assumes average gasoline prices of around USD2/litre in
2012 in Europe and Japan. The challenge facing Toyota,
Mitsubishi and Volvo is that the base model against
which their products are compared is already relatively
fuel efficient. This means the incremental costs are apportioned over relatively lower fuel savings. A comparison against the best in class fuel efficiency would therefore raise the cost of gasoline saved for the Chevrolet
and Ford. However, it is more open to interpretation.43
In the United States, where gasoline costs in 2012 averaged around USD1.3/litre, the hurdle for competiveness
is much higher.
The incremental vehicle costs and the cost of gasoline

saved for production series PHEVs are presented in
Figure 7.6. The incremental vehicle costs are based on
manufacturers recommended retail prices as of March
2013. In most cases, even where PHEVs are based on
existing models, specifications can be very different,
and making an exact comparison on a like-for-like basis
is difficult. Where multiple specifications of the PHEV or
the base model are possible for comparison, the high
and low incremental costs are provided.
Of the models available, the Toyota Prius has the smallest battery and lowest all-electric range (around 18
km)41, while the Chevrolet Volt, an extended range electric vehicle, has the greatest all-electric range (around
56 km). Taking the average driving patterns of the
United States, Europe and Japan and restricting charging only to the home results in the all-electric range
of the Prius being estimated to cover around 30% of
vehicle kilometres in the United States and around 45%
in Japan over the course of a year. Meanwhile, the Chevrolet Volt would cover around 65-90% of annual vehicle
42 For instance, a 65 km all-electric range vehicle in the United States

would see its all-electric share of annual vehicle km based on average driving patterns increase from around 65% with just home
charging to 73% with charging at work and home, to 80% for
charging everywhere (NPC, 2012).
40 Before any cost savings from switching to a plug-in hybrid configuration.
43 This type of analysis is not presented here given the difficulty in

identifying comparable specifications for the best in class fuel efficiency model relative to the PHEV model from a different manufacturer. What is clear is that this would raise the cost of gasoline
saved for the Ford and Chevrolet PHEVs.
41 In fact, for the Prius some gasoline consumption occurs even

within this all-electric range and this also maybe the case for
other models, depending on driving styles.
Liionbattery
pack
45%
RegenerativeLiionbattery
pack
brakes
72%
3%
Electricpower
steering/water
pump
1%
Electricpower
steering/water
pump
3%
850
95
300
Power
electronics
20%
Electrical
accessories
1%
ElectricA/C
2%
Regenerative
brakes
1%
Electrical
accessories
1%
ElectricA/C
5%
Body/chassis
coponents
Motor/generato
3%
r
20%
PHEV16
Power
electronics
13%
Body/chassis
coponents
1%
Motor/generato
r
9%
PHEV65
Figure 7.5: PHEV gross incremental cost breakdown for all-electric ranges of 16 km and 65 km
Source: NAS, 2010.
67
Che
vrol
et V
olt
g-in
s Plu
Toy
ota
Priu
ergi
ax E
n
C-M
Ford
o V5
Volv
Hon
d
a Ac
0 (d
cord
iese
l)
der
tlan
Mits
u
SUV bishi O
u
ergi
n en
Fusi
o
Ford
Figure 7.6: PHEV incremental costs and cost of gasoline saved

Note: Fuel consumption calculations were based on U.S. testing cycles for all PHEVs, except the Mitsubishi and
Volvo, which are based on European testing cycles. The share of all-electric operation based on all-electric range
from U.S. and European testing cycles and vehicle travel profiles was converted to a percentage of total travel. This
used data from VMCC (quoted in Niste, 2012) and NPC, 2012. Average annual travel for the U.S. was 17000km,
14000km for Europe and 9000 km for Japan. Battery life is assumed to be 160000km. These assumptions provide indicative average point estimates and are not definitive.
Source: EPA, 2013; Eurostat, 2013; fueleconomy.gov, 2013; World Bank, 2013; manufacturers technical specifications and MSRP as of May 2013 (Europe for Volvo and Mitsubishi, U.S. for the rest); Niste, 2012; and NPC, 2012.
EV vehicle costs and annualised costs of

ownership
Pure EVs that rely 100% on batteries for their energy
source and receive only electricity from the grid or
regenerative breaking require larger battery packs to
reach acceptable range levels. This significantly increases the cost of the vehicle. However, compared to
PHEVs, the pure EV battery packs are cheaper per kWh
resulting in relatively lower incremental costs over a
conventional vehicle than for a PHEV for the equivalent
battery size. There are also some cost reductions from
some parts that are redundant when shifting from an
ICE to an all-electric vehicle (e.g. the ICE, fuel tank and
system, exhaust system). However, the net result is a
significant increase in costs over what an equivalent
model would cost.
68
Table 7.2 presents the manufacturers suggested retail

price (MSRP), range and the calculated or estimated
electric efficiency of the vehicle. Only EVs in production
and available for purchase by the general public have
been included in Table 7.2; vehicles available in limited
numbers to fleet customers have been excluded.44
These prices represent a significant premium over an
equivalent ICE-powered vehicle, but the all-electric drive
is around three times as efficient as an ICE. Meanwhile,
electricity prices can also be cheaper than gasoline or
diesel depending on the country. In order to compare
the relative economics of EVs and conventional vehi44 These vehicles are typically leased to the fleet owners, so costs are
not well known and they generally represent technology demonstration or proving programmes.
Table 7.2: Electric vehicle prices, range and on-road efficiency

Cost
(2012 USD)
Mahindra e2o
Range
(km)
Battery lease/
month (2012
USD)
Efficiency
(kWh/km)
15800-16600
100
0.10
Roewe E50
37590
120-190
0.11
Renault Zoe (battery lease)
26910
210
103
125
Tesla Model S (premium 85 kWh)
95400-105400
0.15
0.24
Renault Fluence Z.E. (battery lease)
33930
160
Ford Focus Electric
39200
122
0.2
Bollor Bluecar
24700
250
0.12
BYD e6
52140
310
0.22
Mia Electric L (purchase)
39630
125
0.10
Mia Electric L (battery lease)

Smart electric drive
Nissan Leaf
27020
125
25000-28000
109
0.20
35200-37250
117
0.21
25000
130
0.14
29125
99.2
0.19
JAC J3 EV
Mitsubishi iMiEV U.S. (Peugeot iOn and Citron
C-ZERO)
140
0.14
0.10
Note: Data for vehicle prices (MSRP) and electric range are from the manufacturers website or www.fueleconomy.gov as of May 2013. On-road
efficiency is taken from www.fueleconomy.gov or the New European Driving Cycle calculations. For vehicles not sold in the United States or Europe,
manufacturer data has been used.
Sources: www.fueleconomy.gov, 2013 and manufacturer websites.
cles, a different approach is required from that used for

PHEVs. Instead of estimating the cost of gasoline saved,
the EV evaluations are based on the annualised cost of
ownership for 160000 km. This lifetime was used given
it is the average for the current warranty offerings by
the vehicle manufacturers for the Li-Ion batteries powering this generation of EVs. The number of years over
which the capital costs are spread will therefore depend
on annual vehicle use. However, it represents just over
nine years based on the average annual vehicle use in
the United States, over 11 years in Europe and almost 17
years in Japan.45
new, original designs by their manufacturers, and a

direct comparison with an ICE-powered direct equivalent is not possible. However, this can be done with the
Smart, Fiat 500 and Ford Focus, although specifications
across models are not an exact match and performance
will differ. The results are similar to what was seen for
PHEVs. Where the base model is not the most fuel efficient in its class, EVs look particularly attractive, even
with todays low-production volume models. However,
where the base model is relatively fuel efficient, the
additional costs of the EV are not recovered within the
160000km assumed for this economic comparison.
Figure 7.7 presents the average annual cost of ownership of EVs currently on the market in the United States,
Europe, Japan, China and India. Most of these EVs are
45 Average annual vehicle use in the United States is estimated to be
17 000 km/year, 14 000 km/year in Europe and 9 000 km/year
in Japan. However, vehicles are typically not owned from new till
160000km by average new vehicle purchasers, and these vehicles are likely to be sold significantly before the battery life is met,
particularly in Japan and Europe.
69
Annualisedcapitalandfuelcostsover160000km
(2012USD/vehicle)
12000
ICE
vehicles
9000
UnitedStates
(17000
km/year)
6000
Europe(14000
km/year)
Electricvehicles
3000
Japan(9000
km/year)
Figure 7.7: Annualised costs of ownership (vehicle depreciation and fuel costs) for electric vehicles over 160000km
Note: Analysis is based on MSRPs and efficiency for the main market in which it is currently available. The average cost
of capital is assumed to be 10%, and residual value for the vehicle 30% of the MSRP after 160000km. Values for different regions are based on varying annual vehicle use and fuel prices. It is assumed MSRPs would remain the same.
Results are therefore indicative of annualised running costs. Insurance and maintenance costs are not considered.
Sources: Table 7.2 for vehicle costs and fuel consumption, World Bank, 2013; Eurostat, 2013; and IEEJ, 2013.
Box 7.2: Electrification of freight vehicles

Biofuels can be used in the gasoline and diesel internal
combustion engines in short, medium and long haul
road freight vehicles. Electrification of freight sectors
is more challenging, as battery packs are not going
to be able to provide the required range for mediumto long-haul freight vehicles. Electrification of these
sectors in the longer term may be feasible through
overhead electrification, similar to that used for trams
and many rail systems, over fixed routes, or through
the roadway using inductive power transfer (wireless).
However, these are options for beyond 2020 and are
therefore outside the scope of this report.
However, the electrification of light commercial vans
and trucks could be attractive in the medium term.
Figure 7.8 presents the estimated costs for a conventional ICE van and for PHEVs and EVs. Small plug-in
hybrid vans are estimated to cost twice that of their
conventional equivalent, and pure electric vans 2.4
70
times as much. However, by 2020 this premium could

decline to just 40% for plug-in hybrids and around 8590% for pure electric small vans. Larger panel vans
(small trucks of 2.6-2.8 tonnes) have similar estimated
incremental costs for plug-in hybrids today, but pure
electric panel vans require significantly larger batteries
to maintain payload and range. They also have capital
costs 3.2 times greater than a conventional ICE panel
van. By 2020 these incremental costs could decline to
40% for a plug-in hybrid panel van and 120% for a pure
electric panel van.
These cost reductions mean the total ownership costs
over four years of a small plug-in hybrid van could
decline to a level only 15% greater than the equivalent
ICE. The pure electric small van would have total ownership costs of around a quarter more than the ICE
version over four years. The additional total ownership
costs of panel vans in 2020 are estimated to be 10%
more for a plug-in hybrid and 38% for a pure electric
van (Element Energy, 2012b).
90
2012USD(thousands)
80
70
60
50
40
2011
30
2020
20
10
0
ICE
PHEV
EV
Smallvans
ICE
PHEV
EV
Panelvans(2.62.8t)
Figure 7.8: Vehicle costs for ICE PHEV and EV small vans and panel vans
Source: Element Energy, 2012b.
EVs are only just taking to the road in significant numbers, Figure 7.7 highlights that the economics of some
offerings are already competitive or close to competive
with an equivalent conventionally powered ICE vehicle.
When using electricity generated by renewables GHG
emissions are significantly reduced. However, the most
significant co-benefits of PHEVs and EVs will quite possibly be the elimination of local pollutant emissions and
the resulting improvements in local air quality. To whatever extent these societal benefits are incorporated by
policy makers, they will improve the economics of these
vehicles.
As charging infrastructure grows and consumers fear
of range issues are assuaged by experience with EVs,
favourable support policies should see an acceleration in
deployment and corresponding cost reductions for EVs,
particularly from improvements in battery technologies and the mass production of battery packs. EVs are
therefore likely to become an increasingly competitive
solution to reducing the reliance on fossil fuels in the
light vehicle sector. Electrification of transport in conjunction with increasingly high shares of renewables in
power generation will reduce not only local pollutants
but global GHG emissions as well.
7.3 EV vehicle infrastructure investments and the

annualised costs of ownership
The analysis presented here is based on home charging
only, this yields a conservative estimate of the percentage of vehicle kilometres that will be covered by PHEVs.
For the widespread adoption of EVs, additional charging infrastructure is likely to be required to remove consumer uncertainty about range issues, at least with the
likely battery technology performance in the short- to
medium-term.
The charging of electric vehicles is not completely
standardised. The Society of Automotive Engineers
(SAE) has defined three levels of charging related to the
circuit rating and power of the charging system (Table
7.3). However, an alternative way of considering charging that is more pertinent from an electricity system
operator perspective is also possible. EURELECTRIC has
laid out their categorisation related to the power and
current delivery (AC or DC) (Table 7.3).
Level 1 and normal power charging can rely on existing residential or commercial power circuits. It may
not require additional investment, either in the home
or for the distribution network, if EV deployment can
be scheduled into existing investment plans (AECOM,
2009), but provides the slowest charging rate. Level 2
charging and medium power charging requires addi-
71
Table 7.3: Electric vehicle charging infrastructure costs
SAE
Level 1*
Level 2
Level 3
EURELECTRIC
Normal power
Medium power
High power
High power
Mains connection/
circuit rating
Power
(kW)
Power
(Amps)
Indicative recharge
range per hour
(km)
120V-240V
2.4
10-20
12
240V
480V 3-phase
19.2
192
80
400
96
960
1-phase AC
1 or 3-phase AC
3 phase AC
DC
3.7
3.7-22
> 22
> 22
10-16
16-3
>32
>32**
<20
20 110
>110
>110
Note: * Voltage and amps for residential/commercial electricity circuits is country specific.
** This will vary depending on the batteries DC voltage rating and the power of the charger.
Sources: AECOM, 2009 and EURELECTRIC, 2011.
tional infrastructure in the home, at work or public parking spaces. In the home or work parking spaces, these
charging points may cost between USD 1 000-1 300
each (AECOM, 2009 and NREL, 2013). In public spaces
or work parks without existing electrical infrastructure
these dedicated charging points may at present cost
between USD 4 000-9 000 (AECOM, 2009; Chang,
2012 and NREL, 2013) per charging point.46 However,
this should decline over time. In addition, these may
require 3-phase power in the home and a corresponding
increase in local distribution network capacity to cope.
High power AC or DC fast charging points are significantly more expensive, and costs range from
USD10200-50000 installed (Nemry and Brons, 2010;
and Wirges, 2012). They will also tend to shorten the life
of the PHEV or EV battery.
The simulation for the Stuttgart region to 2020 (Wirges,
2012) analyses the number and location of charging stations required to support the significant deployment of
EVs. Based on a detailed modelling of the location, driving patterns and ownership of EVs, the analysis demonstrates that relatively few public charging locations are
required in the base case for EV expansion. However, a
higher quota for public charging stations to help accelerate deployment does not have a huge impact on the
46 The lower value is for a charging station with ten connections,
significantly helping to amortise costs.
72
required number of charging points. The deployment of

charging points over time follows an exponential trend.
Table 7.4 presents the results of the increase in annual
ownership costs, assuming a 10% cost of capital and a
15 year life for the charging equipment. The results assume that level 2/medium power charging points in the
home or in work car parks with access to electricity infrastructure in close proximity requires total installation
costs of USD1150 on average between now and 2020.
For public charging points costs are assumed to average USD6000 including all installation works. For work
car parks where electricity infrastructure is not closely
available or suitable (as in the case of most outside
parks), USD6000 per charging station is also assumed.
Although costs may be lower than this on average for
a large-scale roll-out, this is not yet clear. Given most
employment occurs in small- to medium-sized businesses, hence limiting the scale of individual projects,
this conservative assumption is used. Maintenance costs
for the workplace, public and fast charging stations are
assumed to average USD200/year through to 2020.
Table 7.4 presents the results for two cost pathways. The
low cost pathway assumes that 75% of home charging
points are level 1/normal power connections with no
incremental costs. It also assumes 75% of workplace
charging stations are placed in car parking areas with
ready access to electricity infrastructure and hence
have the lower costs identified above. In the high cost
pathway, the share of these low cost options is only 25%.
Table 7.4: Electric vehicle charging infrastructure investment needs in 2020 for the Stuttgart region for low cost
and high cost pathways
Low cost pathway
High cost pathway
Investment
Investment
Charging stations
(2012 USDmillion)
(2012 USDmillion)
Base EV scenario
More public
Base EV scenario
More public
charging
charging
21851
12.6
12.6
18.8
18.8
16268
58.2
58.2
77.9
77.9
478/1678
2.9
10.1
2.9
10.1
94/240
1.4
3.6
1.4
3.6
75.0
84.4
101.0
110.4
2012 USD/vehicle
Home
Work
Public
Fast
Total
Annualised cost of charging
infrastructure
O&M costs
Total annualised cost
256
288
345
377
96
352
104
392
96
441
104
481
Note: In the column for charging stations the number before the slash is for the Base EV scenario and after the slash for the more public charging
point scenario.
Sources: Based on Wirges, 2012 and IRENA analysis.
As can be seen, the average annualised costs of infrastructure requirements add an average of between
USD350 to USD480/vehicle. This represents an aver-
age annualised ownership costs increase for fuel and

vehicle purchase costs analysed in Figure 7.7 of 6-25%
in 2020 for the lower value for infrastructure costs and
Annualisedcapitalandfuelcostsover160000kmbattery
life (2012 USD)
5000
4000
UnitedStates
(17000
km/year)
3000
Europe(14000
km/year)
2000
Japan(9000
km/year)
1000
0
No
Low High
infra. infra. infra.
costs costs costs
Fiat500:electric
No
Low High
costs costs costs
Fiat
Sport
ICE
Smartelectric
No
Low High
costs costs costs
Smart
ICE
FordFocusElectric
Ford
Focus
ICE
Figure 7.9: Annualised costs of ownership (vehicle depreciation and fuel costs) in 2020 for
electric vehicles over 160000km including charging infrastructure costs
Note: Analysis is based on Figure 7.7 and Table 7.5.
73
9-35% in 2020. (See Figure 8.2 for the total annualised

ownership costs in 2020 without the infrastructure
costs).
The impact of the increase in the annualised costs of
EVs for which direct comparisons with an ICE equivalent are possible are presented in Figure 7.9. For small,
relatively efficient ICE vehicles, the additional infrastructure charging costs are an issue that could slow
the competitiveness of EVs. For larger, less fuel-efficient
ICEs, average charging infrastructure costs by 2020
still result in EVs being competitive with a fossil fuel
equivalent. However, this is apportioning average costs
74
to each vehicle owner. In reality, vehicle owners will

be able to choose the level of charging infrastructure
they access and hence the costs they face. Figure 7.7
reflects most EV owners accessing charging with level
1/normal power charging points that require little or no
incremental costs. Figure 7.9 represents the case where
vehicle owners access a wider range of charging points,
although still predominantly at work or at home. These
scenarios are consistent with the assumption that PHEV
and EV deployment is focused on urban users and the
predominantly short journeys that dominate their total
annual vehicle kilometres.
8 Outlook for costs to 2020

The renewable options for road transport are diverse
and at different stages of technological and commercial
maturity and deployment. The outlook for the costs of
each one to 2020 is therefore wide. Conventional biofuels are based on mature, commercially proven technologies, but the costs of production are at the mercy
of movements in their food-based feedstock world
prices. Advanced biofuels and electric road vehicles
are only just beginning to be deployed at commercialscale. Production is only just scaling up so their cost
reduction potential is good. Biomethane for transport is
somewhere in between these extremes. It benefits from
a mature production technology but limited feedstock
availability for low cost production (e.g. waste streams)
and relatively little deployment of upgrading facilities
from biogas to biomethane.
reach the goals for cost reduction identified in the literature. It is important to note that these rates of deployment are ambitious and will not be achieved without
continued policy and, in some cases, accelerated policy
support.
8.1 Outlook to 2020 for liquid biofuels

and biogas costs
Conventional liquid biofuel costs are projected to rise
to 2020 as the result of increases in feedstock prices.
Analysis by OECD-FAO into the outlook for the agricultural sector to 2020 predicts corn price increases
of only around 1% between 2012 and 2020, but a 25%
increase in the cost of sugar cane in Brazil (OECD-FAO,
2012). Wheat prices are expected to increase by a more
modest 11% between 2012 and 2020, while vegetable
oil prices are projected to increase by around 10%. This
could see grain-based conventional biofuel production
The rate of deployment to 2020 for advanced biofuels

as well as PHEVs and EVs will be crucial to the amount
of learning cost reductions that will occur by 2020. The
analysis in the following sections assumes that deployment accelerates for these technologies sufficiently to
1.80
1.60
1.40
1.20
1.00
0.80
0.60
0.40
0.20
Conventionalethanol
Advancedethanol
FThightemp.:2020
l/tonne):2020
2012/13
Jatropha:2020
Jatropha:2012
Grains:2020
Grains:2012
0.00
Advancedbiodiesel
Figure 8.1: Summary of conventional and advanced biofuel production costs, 2012 and 2020
Sources: See sections Four, Five and Six.
75
costs increase by 1-9%, while production costs for ethanol from sugar cane in Brazil could increase by 20-22%.
The production costs of biodiesel from vegetable oils
may increase by around 8% in this scenario by 2020.47
If advanced biofuel deployment accelerates, process
stability, reliability and availability could be proven, and
production costs could fall to very competitive levels.
Advanced ethanol production costs from biochemical
and thermochemical routes could decline by 29-45% if
capital costs are reduced to the fully deployed, debottlenecked and upscaled plant designs identified in recent studies (Humbird, 2011 and Dutta, 2011). Advanced
biodiesel production costs under the same conditions
could fall by 40-50% if the capital costs can be reduced
to long-run optimised levels (based on Wright, 2010).
Fischer-Tropsch synthesis is yet to be deployed commercially using biomass-based feedstocks. However, if
deployment can be accelerated and the syngas production from biomass optimised and proven to be reliable,
costs in 2020 might be competitive with fossil fuels.
Biogas production using digesters is a relatively simple
and mature technology, with little opportunity for cost
reductions. However, the upgrading process is an area
where relatively small-scale applications have modest
deployment numbers. Although the technology is relatively mature and is based on commercial technologies
from the chemical industry, the application for biogas
upgrading is not yet extensive.48 A larger market would
result in better economies of scale for manufacturers
and might also allow increased process integration and
off-the-shelf solutions with lower project costs (Nielsen
and Oleskowicz-Popiel, 2008). Assuming a 10-20% cost
reduction for upgrading units by 2020 would reduce
biomethane costs for vehicles by between 1-5% in 2020.
8.2 Outlook to 2020 for PHEV and

EVcosts
The key cost component for PHEVs and EVs are their
battery packs. Cost reductions from improved R&D,
economies of scale in manufacturing and learning effects will all help to push down costs in the period to
2020 as deployment accelerates. Learning rates for
cells and the remaining pack components and the rate
of deployment to 2020 will determine cost reductions.
As a result of diverging assumptions on learning rates
47 No changes in the yields of biofuels per tonne of feedstock are
assumed in this analysis, although higher feedstock prices might
make some small incremental improvements economic.
48 In 2012 just 221 biogas upgrading plants were operating worldwide
(Bauer, 2013).
76
and the rate of deployment, the cost reduction potential

varies widely depending on the source.
Analysis of the existing literature from multiple sources
puts the consensus at USD 300-400/kWh for battery
pack costs for EVs by 2020 (Contestabile, 2012; IEA,
2013; Element Energy, 2012; NPC, 2012). Meanwhile,
PHEV battery packs will remain perhaps two-thirds
to twice as expensive (Element Energy, 2012). However, more optimistic projections exist. McKinsey has
estimated that EV battery packs could cost as little as
USD200/kWh in 2020 (McKinsey, 2012).
Assuming that battery costs decline to USD350/kWh
for EVs and USD500/kWh for PHEVs, this will significantly reduce total ownership costs over the life of the
vehicle. For instance, the incremental costs of the Ford
Focus Electrics 23 kWh battery pack would be reduced
by around USD5500 in this scenario. At the same time,
improvements in battery performance should see the
overall life of batteries increase from the current manufacturers guarantees of around 160000km.
The total cost of ownership of EVs in 2020 assuming
USD 350/kWh, extended life to 200 000 km, and no
change in oil prices in real terms to consumers49 results
in electric vehicles becoming significantly more competitive by 2020 (Figure 8.2). The total annualised cost
of ownership, will be reduced by 20-50% depending on
the vehicle compared to average battery pack prices in
2012 and a life of 160000km. This takes into account
the vehicle cost (over a 200000km life) and fuel costs.
The total annualised cost of ownership in 2020 compared to that for an equivalent ICE vehicle would be
2-13% lower (for the three models where direct equivalents are available) per year. This depends on the region
and annual driving distances.
However, given oil market volatility a high oil price
scenario could occur if global economic growth recovers more rapidly than anticipated in the next few
years. Assuming oil prices increase to between USD150
to USD 155/bbl by 2020, would increase consumer
gasoline prices by around a quarter over 2012 levels by
2020 in the United States. However, smaller percentage increases would be felt in Europe and Japan where
gasoline prices are higher due to taxation (U.S. EIA,
2013). This would significantly improve the economics
of electric vehicles in 2020. The annualised total cost of
ownership for the three EVs for which there is a direct
equivalent is estimated to be 15-22% lower than their
conventional ICE powered equivalent in this high oil
price scenario.
49 The U.S. EIAs latest Annual Energy Outlook projects that crude oil
prices will be little changed from 2011/2012 prices by 2020 under
its Reference Scenario (U.S. EIA, 2013).
Annualisedcapitalandfuelcosts:2012USD
5000
4500
4000
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
Japan(9000km/year)
2012
EV
Conventional
(subcompact)
EV
Conventional
(compact)
EV
Conventional
(medium)
EV
Conventional
(subcompact)
EV
Conventional
(compact)
EV
Conventional
(medium)
2020
Figure 8.2: Annualised total costs of ownership for EVs in 2012 and 2020
Note: Analysis is based on Figure 7.7 for 2012. The average cost of capital is assumed to be 10%, and residual value for the
vehicle 30% of the MSRP after 200000km. Battery pack costs are assumed to decline to USD350/kWh by 2020. Values
for different regions are based on varying annual vehicle use and fuel prices. The results are indicative of annualised running costs. Insurance and maintenance costs are not considered.
Sources: Table 7.2 for vehicle costs and fuel consumption, Contestabile, 2012; U.S. EIA, 2013; IEA, 2013; Element Energy,
2012a; NPC, 2012; World Bank, 2013; Eurostat, 2013; and IEEJ, 2013.
77
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IRENA REPORT

International Renewable Energy Agency

ROAD TRANSPORT: THE COST

Copyright (c) IRENA 2013

R OAD TRAN SPORT: T HE C O ST O F R ENEWA B L E S O LUTI O N S

R OA D TRA N S P O RT: TH E C O S T O F RE N E WA BLE S O LUTI ONS

R OAD TRAN SPORT: T HE C O ST O F R ENEWA B L E S O LUTI O N S

these two issues in the market place, with actual prices,

R OA D TRA N S P O RT: TH E C O S T O F RE N E WA BLE S O LUTI ONS

R OAD TRAN SPORT: T HE C O ST O F R ENEWA B L E S O LUTI O N S

2012 USD/litre of annual capacity

electricity, to provide low- or high-temperature heat, or

R OA D TRA N S P O RT: TH E C O S T O F RE N E WA BLE S O LUTI ONS

Figure ES.3: PHEV cost of gasoline saved, 2012 and 2020

Cost reductions for PHEV and EV batteries by 2020

For EVs, the total cost of ownership, rather than cost

R OAD TRAN SPORT: T HE C O ST O F R ENEWA B L E S O LUTI O N S

R OA D TRA N S P O RT: TH E C O S T O F RE N E WA BLE S O LUTI ONS

R OAD TRAN SPORT: T HE C O ST O F R ENEWA B L E S O LUTI O N S

R OA D TRA N S P O RT: TH E C O S T O F RE N E WA BLE S O LUTI ONS

R OAD TRAN SPORT: T HE C O ST O F R ENEWA B L E S O LUTI O N S

ing. The increased production of both advanced biofuels

R OA D TRA N S P O RT: TH E C O S T O F RE N E WA BLE S O LUTI ONS

information supports the transparent assessment of

1.1 Scope of the analysis and background of renewable solutions

Part of plants used

social development and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG)

Fats and oils

Figure 1.1: Biofuel pathways from feedstock to products

R OAD TRAN SPORT: T HE C O ST O F R ENEWA B L E S O LUTI O N S

Basic and applied R&D

Diesel type Biodiesel from microalgae;

1. Biomass-to-liquids; 2. Fischer-Tropsch; 3. Dimethylether; 4. Bio-synthetic gas.

Figure 1.2: Maturity of different biofuel pathways

mature processes at commercial scales. For bioethanol,

distillation into ethanol. Methanol and butanol produced

R OA D TRA N S P O RT: TH E C O S T O F RE N E WA BLE S O LUTI ONS

However, they are extremely sensitive to food price

R OAD TRAN SPORT: T HE C O ST O F R ENEWA B L E S O LUTI O N S

The key challenge is to improve the performance of

they have zero local pollutant emissions;

These advantages have to be offset by the early stage

1.2 Methodology and boundaries for

fusion about the comparability of data and allows the

The approach used in the analysis presented here is

Biofuels and biogas

6 An analysis based on nominal values with specific inflation as(

R OA D TRA N S P O RT: TH E C O S T O F RE N E WA BLE S O LUTI ONS

Plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles

It = investment expenditures in the year t for the

PHEVs and EVs require separate methodologies. For

Given liquid biofuels and biogas are direct competitors

R OAD TRAN SPORT: T HE C O ST O F R ENEWA B L E S O LUTI O N S

Cost of gasoline/diesel saved =

It = additional investment per vehicle (over a conventional vehicle) in the year t;

ECt = electricity cost in the year t (as a function of

FSt = fuel saved in litres as a result of electric km

r = discount rate; and

n = economic life of the vehicle.