Biofuel Testing Services Market Report

Growing concerns over the greenhouse gas emissions is driving the market for biofuel testing services. The biofuel market is gaining traction owing to the rising demand for biofuels. Governments are shifting their attention towards reduction of greenhouse gases while promoting renewable energy sources.  Stringent environmental regulations by the governments are fuelling the market expansion. For instance, as stated in International Energy Agency report, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas of India released National Policy on Biofuels in 2018. However, this policy was updated in 2022. The objective of this policy is to increase domestic biofuel production and lower the import of petroleum products. Moreover, another factor propelling the market for testing services for biofuel is the demand for cost-effective testing techniques. Traditional testing techniques are costly and time-consuming. The novel testing techniques are more economical and produce reliable results. In the upcoming years, it is anticipated that the new testing techniques will increase demand for biodiesel testing services. Furthermore, technological advancements are making it easier to test the quality of biofuels thus driving the market growth. For instance, in January 2023, National Renewable Energy Laboratory launched Synthetic Biology Project with LanzaTech, Northwestern, and Yale To Advance Biofuel Discovery Technologies. This project focuses on production of carbon-negative biofuels and biochemicals by using genome engineering and machine learning.

Market players should anticipate sustained demand as biofuel becomes more and more common in contemporary aircraft, automobile engines, and even the shipping industry. However, the market participants still have to face the challenges of expensive testing service costs. Biofuel testing is done to determine the compositional makeup, characterisation and check overall quality of the biofuel.  The failure of the biofuel testing is another factor that is anticipated to hamper the growth of the market as presence of contaminants like ash, sulphur and chlorine can compromise the performance of the fuel. Moreover, testing services for biofuels require a lot of work. Due to their lower energy density and higher cost of raw materials, biofuels are anticipated to be more expensive for heat production. These are the main factors limiting the expansion of the global market during the forecast period.

The market is dominated by a number of leading companies that emphasize research and development activities in order to increase performance by incorporating advanced technologies. Contracts, new product launching, corporate expansions, collaborations and acquisitions are some of the innovative growth techniques used to expand market globally. In October 2022pre, SGS SA, a leading organization in testing, inspection and certification solutions, increased its biofuel testing capabilities at Amsterdam Laboratory to enable biofuel production in a cost-effective manner while demonstrating compliance with industry standards and regulations. The testing was expanded in order to include testing of bioethanol, bio-methanol, bio-ETBE, and bio-naphtha. In September 2021, Chevron U.S.A. Inc. and Bunge North America Inc. announced a memorandum of agreement for a planned 50/50 joint venture to assist in supplying the demand for renewable fuels and to create feedstocks with lower carbon intensity. Again, in August 2021, in order to satisfy the rapidly growing demand for sustainable diesel fuel, Marathon Petroleum Corp. and Archer Daniels Midland Co. officially declared a joint venture to produce soybean oil.

The North America region is anticipated to hold a significant share in the biofuel testing services market. The major factor driving the market in this region is high production of biofuel in the United States. In 2021, as stated by the U.S.  Energy Information Administration, the United States exported 0.8 billion gallons of biofuels on a net basis, with ethanol accounting for the majority of both gross and net exports. Moreover, the U.S. Department of Energy, grants $118 Million to promote domestic biofuel production in January 2023. Europe holds a lucrative growth potential owing to the presence of the major market participants including, Bureau Veritas, SGS SA among others. Rising industrialization and urbanization in countries like India, China and Japan is driving the market for biofuel testing services. Government initiatives for cleaner energy and rising expenditures in alternative fuel sources are driving the Latin American market for fuel quality testing. Oil condition monitoring testing (OCM) procedures and maintenance programmes for early failure detection of equipment and system breakdowns are driving the Middle East and Africa fuel quality testing market.