#88. Innovation in Advanced Biofuels and eFuels
(Transport Energy Strategies) UPM has been at the forefront of innovating in the advanced biofuels space. Hear from Marko Janhunen, Chair of the EU’s Advanced Biofuels Coalition on policy advancements, challenges and where this evolving industry may be heading.
Marko Janhunen, Director, Public Affairs, UPM
“I think it’s been fantastic to be part of this transformation. UPM, as I said, is a traditional forest industry company. We’ve managed to create a completely new industry business within UPM. Regulation is obviously a key part of this business strategy. We created a product that has extremely interesting and strong environmental sustainability credentials. And, you know, being part of a journey with a team, with colleagues where we’ve actually succeeded very well, that’s exciting. I think obviously also the opportunity of the hydrogen-related, or the hydrogen economy and the assets that we have at UPM, it’s extremely exciting to be engaged in these discussions. It’s a tremendous opportunity. A complex one as well but being able to support and discuss with a lot of different types of people, it’s really multidisciplinary. You need to understand a lot of different aspects. And I guess that means that you’re learning something all the time.”
Marko Janhunen is currently Director, Public Affairs, at UPM, a leading forest industry company headquartered in Finland. UPM is the largest producer of only advanced biofuels in the EU and currently establishing a strong position in wood-based biochemicals. Marko is an expert in public policy issues related to environment and energy, climate change, and transport issues with 20 years of experience from projects on all continents. Marko is the Chair of Advanced Biofuels Coalition (LSB), a coalition of 11 companies from 8 countries promoting advanced biofuels for transport decarbonization. Marko is also on the steering committee of Hydrogen Cluster Finland, a newly established coalition of over 50 companies to promote hydrogen economy, and chairs the regulatory affairs committee of the Hydrogen Cluster Finland.
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“If I had to explain the policy environment to our top management in 2012, when we made the investment decision on our Lappeenranta Biorefinery, it was pretty simple. We had a Renewable Energy Directive, then we had double-counting for certain types of residual feedstock, and then we had some member states who set a higher target than the EU, which was 10% only back then for biofuels. Today, we are considering a major investment in Rotterdam. Even though I work full-time on EU policies and regulatory issues related to UPM’s businesses, it is quite a challenge to explain the regulatory frame of advanced biofuels.
Today, you need to talk about REDIII, you need to talk about the Emissions Trading System, you need to talk about RefuelEU, maritime and aviation, you need to talk about alternative fuels infrastructure, you need to talk about taxation. It’s a long list! And then there’s a lot of these implementing acts and other regulations. It’s actually relatively complex, and each of these directives or regulations actually has interlinkages with each other. It’s quite a complex environment, but again, that’s also the regulation that creates your business opportunities…If you choose the right sustainability credentials and approach, and if you are doing the best possible product for the customers, then you are actually quite safe.” READ MORE; includes AUDIO and transcript
