We are talking about producing biofuels using agricultural biomass, but we can also do this using forest biomass and municipal biomass. Clearly, in the case of first generation technologies, we use mainly, if not solely, agricultural biomass. With the development of second- and third-generation technologies, we will start diversifying the sources of the biomass. The most valuable part of this process will be the carbon component of the biomass that we will manage to convert into a unit of energy or a biofuel. What will become increasingly interesting and important will be to do this, using the least expensive biomass. The common denominator that will mean that converting biomass will have a future will be a low cost for purchasing and converting it.
At the moment, making biodiesel from vegetable oil is too expensive in light of what the market will pay. Only biodiesel production using waste matter such as oil used for frying or animal fats is currently competitive compared to the prices of oil products in Canada. That fact must always be taken into consideration. Even if we want to use biomass to produce bioenergy and biofuels, what actually happens will be determined by the user and the intermediaries involved in this market.
Given this, it is true that regional conversion projects do offer some opportunities, such as the concept of biorefineries or eco-refineries. For each region, we need to consider all the sources of biomass available—agricultural, forest or municipal, and try to find the best processes for converting them into fuel.