Instead, it is materials costs that are crucial to competitiveness. In Taiwan, where energy-crop production is low and costs are high, many biodiesel market entrants are clearly anticipating being able to import cheap palm and other vegetable oils from Southeast Asia when the market is liberalized. But others believe that the outlook for local oil production is positive and are investing in experimenting locally with a variety of oil crops.
在國內能源作物產量低、成本高的情況下，目前投入生質柴油廠的業者，顯然是看上開放市場自由競爭後，可以從東南亞進口便宜的棕櫚油等植物油；但也有看好此一新興產業而投入本地新料源試驗的業者。