While studies on GHG emissions from biofuel systems abound, economic assessments are still rare and difficult to compare due to different assumptions for feedstocks and conversion technologies (Bridgwater, 2009). Economic data is not

available in the public domain due to confidentiality as the conversion technologies are still under development. Nevertheless, several sources provide estimates of the economic viability of biofuel systems as discussed below:

On a life cycle basis, the costs of biofuels are mainly contributed by:

• the costs of feedstock cultivation, preparation and delivery;

• the capital costs for manufacturing plants for conversion into biofuels;

• other costs such as labour, utilities, maintenance, insurance, etc.

The following sections give an overview of the feedstock and capital costs and discuss how they influence final biofuel prices.