Risks Associated with the Industrial Biofuels Business Model

In the context of developing an individual biofuel project, or in this case an emerging industry around biomass utilization, whether it’s a biochemical or thermochemical conversion project for producing biofuels, or a utility scale biomass power project, achieving success is all about addressing and reducing risk. The primary risks encountered by biofuels project developers are common to many new businesses and projects regardless of core technology, and include: feedstock supply risk, technology risk, financial risk, construction risk, operational risk, product performance risk, product off-take risk and market risk. This presentation will present an overview of the various categories of risk that must be addressed to achieve a successful commercial enterprise in the emerging biofuels industry, focusing on the specific risks and unique challenges encountered by project developers in the biofuels arena.