IEA Bioenergy operates within the IEA energy technology and R&D collaboration programme. This programme facilitates co-operation among IEA Member and non-Member countries to develop new and improved energy technologies and introduce them into the market. Activities are set up under Technology Collaboration Programmes (TCPs) which provide the legal mechanisms for establishing the commitments of the Contracting Parties and the management structure to guide the activity. Contracting Parties can be government organisations or private entities designated by their governments.

With the data that is available, it is possible to establish data trends for some of the major inputs for biodiesel feedstocks and determine the impact they have on the lifecycle GHG emissions of biodiesel production. Even if other input parameters are held constant, it will be possible to conservatively evaluate how the lifecycle emissions for biodiesel are changing over time and make some projections into the future based on historical trends. The feedstocks considered would be rapeseed/canola, soybeans, and palm oil.

The GHG emissions for biodiesel are estimated for the years 1995, 2005, and 2015. The GHGenius model is used for these calculations, as it is well set up to model biodiesel production with multiple feedstocks over different time periods.