Even though biofuels represent a great hope for the future of energy, Shell CEO expressed a conservative view of the current state of this part of the renewable energy industry. In a recent statement made to the press at a briefing recently, Peter Voser said it will be quite a number of years before there was a commercially proven biofuel plant. Indeed, so far there is still no biofuel production plant capable of outputting enough biofuel to put a dent in the supply of traditional fossil fuel supply.

Voser's assessment is not that biofuels are not going to take over at some point, but rather that it will take more development and focus towards second generation biofuels, such as cellulose ethanol, to contribute significantly to the world's fuel supplies. Shell has been contributing to research and development in this area for many years now.

First generation biofuels, such as ethanol made from corn, are being criticized for producing even higher carbon footprints than traditional fossil fuels. Additionally, fuel made from crops competes directly with the food industry, bringing prices up, which creates social, as well as environmental issues, according to an article on Financial Times.

[via: Financial Times]