Growing Demand for Biofuel and its Impact on Sustainable Rural Development in Nigeria

The recent upsurge in the demands for energy as well as the anticipated shortages and uncertainties associated with current energy sources, has necessitated the need to explore energy options from renewable sources. Hence, modern biofuels, which is obtained primarily from renewable biomass, are being given top priority in most countries owing to their great potentials in offering opportunities for achieving meaningful strategy for environmental and socioeconomic growth. Admittedly, one major goal of advocating for biofuels projects is the development of the rural economy. Consequently, anchoring on content analysis, the paper explored the implications of biofuel production on rural development. It is the contention of this paper that environmentally friendly and socially acceptable biofuel projects can be of immense benefit to the rural economy in most developing countries, Nigeria inclusive. The paper concludes with the recommendation that assessment of other options for rural growth is germane owing to the fact that biofuel production may not be an exclusive panacea to rural development problems.