The demand for biodiesel worldwide is expected to double by the year 2015. Fortunately, the supply is supposed to triple. Those predictions came from Tammy Klein, executive director of global biofuels services for Hart Energy Consulting, as she spoke at the recent Canadian Renewable Fuels Summit earlier this week in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Biodiesel Magazine reports that Klein told the group that North America is not the only place for biodiesel growth. Asia-Pacific and Latin America also have great potential:

Thirty countries are implementing biofuels targets in 2010 alone, she said, with many of these countries in the developing world encouraging biofuels as a means of building energy security and improving their rural economies. Biodiesel demand is expected to double between 2009 and 2015, while supply is expected to grow threefold. “Currently there is massive overcapacity on a global basis in the biodiesel industry and utilization rates are generally below 50 percent,” she added. Current global biodiesel capacity is already large enough to supply the demand projected for 2015 of 10 billion gallons per year.

Currently, 30 countries worldwide are blending biodiesel, with the typical B5 beginning to inch upward. Several countries in Europe are moving towards B7, with Brazil moving towards higher blends and Indonesia considering B10. In 2009, developing countries represented 17 percent of biodiesel demand and almost 50 percent of global supply. That is expected to grow to 42.6 percent of biodiesel demand and 59.2 percent of global supply by 2015. Much of that demand among developing countries will be for domestic use, she added.

Klein also gave an analysis of the biodiesel situation throughout the world’s regions. While Africa is expected to use biofuels to create jobs, economic development and domestic energy supply, the continent is not likely to become a worldwide player. Indonesia, Malaysia, China and the Philippines will supply three-quarters of the Asia-Pacific region’s biodiesel demand. Brazil will produce enough biodiesel for its own uses, even while raising blending limits. Europe will see the largest amount of biodiesel into the diesel market, although there are worries about the pending implementation of sustainability standards for its Renewable Energy Directives. Finally, Klein sees the U.S. biodiesel industry continue to struggle with Europe’s tariffs slapped on Yankee biodiesel.