Commercial viability needs to be considered in the context of relative value and availability – as we were recently reminded by a World Bank economist: “The issue already for many people around the world is not the relative cost of one fuel against another, but whether they have fuel or not”.

The premium some customers will pay to secure sustainable energy independence is high. In January 2012, the US Navy paid $12/gallon = $3.17/litre for biodiesel – three times the pump price of fossil diesel.

Mandated biodiesel targets means demand far outstrips supply and most countries cannot meet their own mandated levels today*.

The US Navy have mandated 30% biodiesel usage by 2020.

Feedstock is typically 70% or more of the total cost of biodiesel. The cost of feedstock varies dramatically however from nothing for waste stream materials (an estimated 10-15% of all edible crops) to costly refined oils.

The BioCube can produce biodiesel at $0.74/lt from pongamia oil in India and $0.65/lt from mustard seed oil in Alberta based on feedstock oil costs. Fossil diesel prices range from a little over $1.00/litre in subsidized markets to over $3.00/litre in others.

*Columbia 20% by 2014, Germany 12% 2017, Australia 5% 2014, India 5% 2014, Canada 2% 2013