Biorefinery Market

[254 Pages Report] The global biorefinery market size was valued at $212.05 billion in 2024 and to reach $314.62 billion by 2029, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.2% from 2024 to 2029. Increased government regulations, incentives, and sustainable practices globally are creating opportunities for biorefinery products. Globally, more companies are taking on principles of circular economy by targeting waste reduction and waste reuse. Biorefineries can help in this area by converting organic waste into high-value products. In fact, biorefineries offer a method to transform organic (biowaste) streams, such as agricultural and industrial residues, into high-value products such as biofuels, biochemicals, and bio-based materials. Biorefineries can contribute to circular economy goals, as they minimize waste and maximize resource use.

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Biorefinery Market Dynamics

Driver : Increasing demand for bio-based products and biofuels

The bio-based products refers to materials, chemicals, and energy sources that are obtained from renewable biological resources including plants, animals, and microorganisms; and not from fossil fuels as such. This produces eco-friendly products that are sustainable, reduce carbon emissions. And, thus, stimulate the economy with premium-quality products. Biorefineries are as important in the production of bio-based products, as they use only renewable biological resources and can create a large number of chemicals, fuels, and materials. They change biomass that includes not only agricultural residues, but also forestry waste, and special-purpose energy crops and turn it into various bio-based products. Accordingly, this procedure serves for the most part to decompose the complex organic compounds into simpler molecules which in turn can be converted into valuable products. Biorefineries are supposed to construct more than one product from a single raw material, which serves to ration the resources. To illustrate, a biorefinery could create biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel, biochemicals like lactic acid or bioplastics from the batch of biomass thus both higher economic profitability and environmental conservation are achieved.

Restraints: Lack of process efficiency and product consistency

One of the factors that is restraining the market from growth is the undeveloped biorefinery conversion processes. These processes comprise both pretreatment, primary refining, secondary refining, purification, product conditioning, and the recovery and re-use of by-product streams. And their main function is to efficiently melt biomass into a marketable product, that is biofuels, biochemicals, and biomaterials. However, lots of them are still in the development stage and have not yet reached the level of being fully optimized, as a result, which makes them inefficient and more costly. More specifically, getting only reactive catalysts for the thermal process, which is the basis for biomass visualization, are still being in the limited phase. Together with this bio-based processes also have challenges such as low product concentration and having multiple side products, which then demand a great deal of energy and massive expenses on recovery and purification processes.

Opportunities: Development of advanced biofuels

Advanced biofuels are a big opportunity in the biorefinery market, because advanced biofuels are derived from non-food biomass, providing an innovative means of attaining a sustainable energy solution. Unlike traditional biofuels that come commonly from food crops, advanced biofuels are based on the use of an enormous diversity of organic materials like agricultural residues, non-food crops, algae, and waste biomass. These advanced biofuels are devised as an economically feasible and environment-friendly alternative source of energy to the traditional fossil fuels, with reduced greenhouse gas emissions and petroleum-based fuel reliance. The primary forms of advanced biofuels are cellulosic ethanol, biomethanol, fischer-tropsch diesel, among others each bearing exclusive advantages and possibilities for the biorefinery market.

Challenges: Variable and high cost of feedstock

A majority of the cost factors for the production of biofuels and chemicals come from feedstock. Since ethanol is being produced to some standard, biomass quality must be certain as well. However, because there is no consistent collection process, there is often variability in biomass when it is presented at refineries, particularly with regard to moisture content, inert matter, and size. Such variability has resulted in delays for the production of biofuels as well as pushed up their producers' costs. The major problems arise from a lack of standardized collection machinery and raising awareness among the farming fraternity about proper ways to collect biomass. Moreover, the short window during which biomass must be collected puts pressure on farmers to clear their lands. However, when unable to purchase the required collection machinery, they have no choice but to collect their biomass through unorganized aggregators who do not use standardized processes for collecting it.

Storage is among the prime infrastructural challenges in the collection supply chain for second-generation (2G) biofuels. In this case, where decentralized storage or sorting facilities are not available, biomass is collected directly taken to refineries in a supply chain that forces increases in costs as well as in collection time.

Biorefinery Market Ecosystem

 Key players in this industry include Chevron (US), ADM (US), Valero (US), Neste (Finland), and TotalEnergies (France). These prominent companies in this sector are renowned for their reliability and financial stability as providers of biorefinery systems. They offer a diverse range of products, cutting-edge technology, extensive experience, and robust global sales and marketing networks. Their proven track record in the industry makes them trusted and knowledgeable partners for clients seeking biorefinery products. These are the companies that have proved that they can still deliver good products and services under the changing market dynamics.

First generation segment expected to be the largest market during the forecast period

First generation biorefineries use already existing technology for most of the widely available feedstock as sugarcane, corn, and vegetable oils. First generation type is common and efficient, as well less expensive to operate. First-generation biorefineries are currently producing biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel which are used in blending with fossil fuels to meet renewable transportation energy targets. For example, ethanol is largely made into a gasoline blend. In the past, many governments have offered subsidies, mandates or other incentives for first-generation biofuels coming from biorefineries producing ethanol and biodiesel.

By product, energy driven expected to be the largest market during forecast period

Energy driven biofuel is a fuel that is made from biomass, such as forestry biomass, agricultural biomass, algae material or animal waste, and used as renewable energy. It has the potential to reduce some undesirable aspects of fossil fuel production and use, such as conventional and greenhouse gas (GHG) pollutant emissions, exhaustible resource depletion, and dependence on unreliable foreign suppliers. Biofuels come in numerous forms: biodiesel, bioethanol, renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAFs) are all examples of biofuels. Renewable organic material usually replaces fossil fuels and is processed through fermentation in case of producing biofuels. One of the main drivers for this segment is the adoption of renewable energy by various industries associated with government policies. Moreover, the increased cost of fossil fuel, rise in demand for fuel for automobiles, and specialized policies designed to encourage the use of biofuel boost the use of biofuel globally. Furthermore, policies in the US and Europe have contributed to a significant increase in demand for renewable diesel, also known as hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO).

"North America: largest biorefinery market during forecast period"

In the course of study on bio-refinery markets, countries like the US and Canada are considered in North American region. The North American bio-refining market has been experiencing considerable development because of the increasing demand for biofuels, the role of government regulations in the promotion of renewable energies, and the general shift to the use of more sustainable energy solutions. US is the world's largest producer and consumer of biofuels. North America's biofuel market is characterized by the existence of three types of bio-products, namely ethanol, biodiesel, and renewable diesel. Ethanol and biodiesel can be mixed with gasoline and diesel fuel which are renewable fuels, while renewable diesel can be used on its own to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and also make improvements in air quality. The main factors that drive biofuels in Northern America are the increased governmental financial assistance in the form of blending requirements, tax breaks, and subsidies. A few big-scale biorefineries are either in the process of being set up or are being expanded with sugar crops and fuels being cleared as a focus area for providing bio-based fuels and chemicals for the future. They are trying to achieve this by converting agricultural waste, forest residues, and other biomass into bio-based fuels and chemicals.  

Key Market Players

• Chevron (US)
• ADM (US)
• Valero (US)
• Neste (Finland)
• TotalEnergies (France)
• Green Plains Inc. (US)
• Wilmar International Ltd. (Singapore)
• Versalis S.p.A. (Italy)
• Honeywell International Inc. (US)
• Clariant (Switzerland)
• Cargill, Incorporated (US)
• BP p.l.c. (UK)
• China Petrochemical Corporation (China)
• GODAVARI BIOREFINERIES LTD. (India)
• Borregaard AS (Norway)
• Sekab (Sweden)
• Chempolis (Finland)
• UPM (Finland)
• Cosun (Netherlands)
• Novozymes A/S (Denmark)

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Scope of the Report

This research report categorizes the market based on technology, product, type, and region.

On the basis of technology, the biorefinery market has been segmented as follows:

• Industrial Biotechnology
• Physico–Chemical
• Thermochemical

On the basis of product, the biorefinery market has been segmented as follows:

• Energy Driven
  • Biodiesel
  • Ethanol
  • Sustainable Aviation Fuel
  • Biomethane
  • Others
• Material Driven
  • Chemicals
  • Bio-naptha
  • Animal Feed
  • Others

On the basis of type, the biorefinery market has been segmented as follows:

• First Generation
  • Corn
  • Vegetable Oil
  • Sugarcane
  • Others
• Second Generation
  • Used Cooking Oil (UCO)
  • Residues
  • Others
• Third Generation
  • Algae
  • Others

On the basis of region, the biorefinery market has been segmented as follows:

• North America
• Europe
• Asia Pacific
• Rest of the World

Recent Developments

• In July 2024, Neste and HELLENiQ ENERGY, one of Southeast Europe's leading energy groups, collaborated to deliver blended Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel to HELLENiQ ENERGY’s facilities in Thessaloniki. It is the first time that blended sustainable aviation fuel is supplied to Greece in bulk using ships for transport.
• In September 2023, ADM and Syngenta Group signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU). The MoU focuses on developing low-carbon, next-generation oilseeds and improving seed varieties to meet the rising demand for biofuels and other bio-based products.
• In January 2023, Valero Energy Corporation and Darling Ingredients Inc. announced that they have made the final investment decision on a sustainable aviation fuel project at the DGD Port Arthur plant, which is owned and operated by Diamond Green Diesel Holdings LLC, a 50/50 joint venture between Valero and Darling.

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