Advanced BioFuels USA

5 July 2020 Opening Highlights  The first ever entirely virtual edition of the European Biomass Conference and Exhibition started today with the opening session streamed online.  This year’s theme of the EUBCE is the role of the bioeconomy in the post-pandemic economic recovery and this is the topic that was addressed by the scientific and political keynotes and during the panel debate.

The overarching and recurring concept expressed by the full range of speakers is that domestic bioenergy can both stimulate the post-pandemic economy recovery and decarbonise the environment at the same time, if based on well-designed and sustainable biomass supply chains, as pointed out by David Chiaramonti, Polytechnic of Turin, in its scientific opening speech.

He also emphasized the strategic role that biofuels could play to contribute to fuel security and energy storage, when considering EU’s large storage capacity in the gas grid and liquid fuels tanks.

Bioenergy and the bioeconomy can be also enablers for sustainable agriculture, sustainable biomass resources can be made available in large amounts while achieving synergies with sustainable farming, forest management and the restoration of degraded lands, as clearly explained by prof. André Faaij, Scientific Director at TNO the Netherlands in its keynote speech. He emphasized that sustainable European biomass potentials can cover one third of the future primary energy supply; comparable to the role of mineral oil today. Advanced technologies and BECCS offer pathways to supply high-quality fuels and heavy industries with negative emissions. These are major opportunities that should not be missed for the post-pandemic economic recovery. A concept backed Giovanni De Santi, Director of the Directorate for Sustainable Resources European Commission: the bioeconomy is key to drive the green transition towards a climate-neutral economy, he said. Deploying a sustainable and circular bioeconomy will boost the competitiveness of the bio-based sectors and support the creation of new value chains across Europe, while restoring and enhancing the overall status of our natural resources. The European Commission Knowledge Centre on Bioeconomy provides the knowledge base for a sustainable and circular bioeconomy that operates within safe ecological limits.

The panel debate also provided different expert’s views on the relation between bioenergy, the bioeconomy and what is needed to the ensure they can fully contribute to the economic recovery. The main highlights from the discussion can be summarized by the following statements from the panelists:

• Bioeconomy as a modern form of agriculture is the future of Europe (Arnaud Leroy, ADEME President);
• Sustainable Bioeconomy will only develop on the basis of scientific knowledge, the role of research is very crucial for innovation for mitigation and adaptation of climate change. (Monique Axelos INRAE Scientific Director for Food and Bioeconomy, France);
• Message to institutional organizations: let’s move from words to real policy and real development (Paolo Frankl, International Energy Agency).

During the final debate, panelists explained also the single most important issues to attract finance to the bioenergy and bioeconomy sector:

• We need successful, commercial and pioneering demonstration plants to prove that the technology is ready and working to attract private investors (Jim Spaeth, IEA Bioenergy ExCo Chair & U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency & Renewable);
• Stable policies are crucial to ensure investor’s security and to support a solid business case (Gloria Gaupmann, LSB Advanced Biofuels Coalition, Chair & Clariant Head of Public Affairs, Technology & Innovation);
• There is no problem to attract private investors in PV and wind because of a stable regulatory framework. We need to be inspired from these technologies and do the same for bioenergy (Jean-Louis Bal SER – Syndicat des énergies renouvelables, President, France);

• Policy stability and market stability develop when one adapts mechanism for effectively monitoring price risks, credit risks and supply chain risks over a longer time frame (Freddy Staermose, Generation Fuels & Dry Bulks – Vice President, ARGUS);
• Increase ambition of Europe’s climate goals, possibly a 55% reduction goal for 2030 and review the corresponding directives on renewable energy and energy efficiency for the higher ambition (Giulio Volpi, European Commission DG Energy Renewables and CCS policy);
• We also need a positive narrative for bioenergy (Paolo Frankl, International Energy Agency).

The quote form Jennifer Holmgren CEO LanzaTech US best describes todays’ situation:

• Our world is on fire, we have to do something, we need to do it quickly and we can do this together. Bioeconomy has the potential to have a great impact on a sustainable future and also in the job creation, we need to enable our economies to come out from the Covid crisis.

The complete recording of the Opening session can be watched at https://youtu.be/mbiXEVFTra4

The interactive platform and its content will be available for viewing until September 2020.

9 July 2020  Closing Highlights

Despite the travel restrictions and the pandemic, this week the global biomass community demonstrated all its liveliness, creativity, and commitment, with an outstanding participation to the e-EUBCE 2020 (28th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition).

In the last four days, more than 1,550 experts from research, industry and institutions spread across 87 countries, contributed to the success of the first-ever fully virtual biomass conference and exhibition, providing more than 540 presentations and moderating 65 webinar sessions in total.

Just like it was for all the EUBCE events in the past, the conference sessions and the exhibition were always animated by participants from near and far, in some cases even from opposite sides of the world and time zones, speaking and listening to live presentations, watching slideshows, asking and replying questions through their screens at the same time.

On Monday 6 July, the virtual opening session totalled over 1,530 attendees, the exhibition scored 1,784 visitors on one day. European policymakers rated the conference as highly relevant for the current European political agenda. Economic recovery and climate policy are both top priorities for them, and this year’s EUBCE has been dedicated to it.

Claudes Turmes, Minister for Energy of Luxembourg, recorded his videomessage for the conference from a forest, underlining how important the bioeconomy is for European citizens. He places bioeconomy as a cornerstone for making Europe more resilient and points how the climate urgency requires us to not loose time. (watch video).

Maria Gracia Carvalho, former Minister of Energy of Portugal and currently Member of the European Parliament, welcomed the conference -which she was chairing last year- as a wonderful contribution for creating the vision for a real Green Deal, by integrating the first time the aspects of bioeconomy in the conference. (watch video).

During the closing session, Nicolae Scarlat, Conference Technical Programme Chair, resumed the key take home messages from the conference: the European Green Deal and the Recovery Plan represent a great opportunity to recognize a key role to sustainable bioenergy as an essential contributor to achieving the climate target. Ensuring the sustainability of biomass supply and a stable long-term policy framework are necessary to boost investments for the deployment of bioenergy.

We missed the feeling of the physical conference just as much as you all missed your colleagues and friends, such as the applauses after each speech, the chatting during coffee breaks, the hugs and handshakes, said Heinz Ossenbrink, EUBCE ExCo Member and facilitator of the e-EUBCE addressing the attendees, nevertheless we succeeded in giving as much human touch as possible and never left anyone alone behind their screens.

Next year the EUBCE will hopefully go back to its traditional physical format, in Marseille (France) from 26 to 29 April 2021.

The e-EUBCE interactive platform and all its multimedia content will be available for viewing until September 2020.

About e-EUBCE 2020 – 28th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition

The EUBCE 2020 is a leading platform for the biomass specialists. The conference programme addresses topics from biomass to bioliquids and biofuels for heat and electricity, transport and biobased products. It covers all the aspects of each value chain, from supply and logistics to conversion technologies, from industrial application of research results to impacts on the environment, from market and trade aspects to policy strategies, not least to the role of biomass as a source in integrated energy systems.

The EUBCE is supported by European and international organizations such as the European Commission, UNESCO – United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – Natural Sciences Sector, WCRE – the World Council for Renewable Energy, EUBIA – the European Biomass Industry Association, The Central European Initiative, The Global Bioenergy Partnership and other organisations.

The Technical Programme is coordinated by European Commission, Joint Research Centre.

This year for the first time the EUBCE is organized as an entirely virtual conference and runs from July 6 to July 9, 2020.

The interactive platform and its content will be available for viewing until September 2020.   READ MORE    WATCH VIDEOS