Challenges and Opportunities for Bio-diesel Production in Turkey

This paper will discuss the main challenges and opportunities for sustainable production of bio-diesel fuel in Turkey. Turkey's energy demand has risen rapidly as a result of economic and social development over the past two decades, As in many other countries, Turkey is heavily dependent oil fossil fuels to meet its energy requirements. Fossil fuels account for approximately 89% of the country's total primary energy consumption. Turkey imports three major sources of energy, and its dependence oil imported fossil fuels is expected to increase even further. At present, Turkey's oil production met only 7% of demand, the rest was imported. In spite of Turkey's heavy dependence oil fossil fuels for energy demand, the country has a large potential for development of renewable resources of every type. Bio-fuels can provide ail opportunity for Turkey to decrease its dependence on foreign oil, eliminate irregularities in agriculture, create new employment opportunities, decrease rural depopulation, and sustainable energy development. Turkey has a large area of suitable agricultural land for the production of bio-fuel crops. Unfortunately, only about 4-5% of total cultivable area is used for cultivating bio-fuel crops. The vegetable oil sector, which is considered to be one of the strengths of the Turkish agriculture and process industry, could be reformed to meet bio-diesel production demands.