Mobilizing Sustainable Biomass Feedstocks for Future Fuels and Chemicals

January 30, 2024

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(Biofuture Platform) The CEM14/MI-8 Side Event on Mobilizing Sustainable Biomass Feedstocks was held on 19 July 2023. The Side Event was organized by the CEM Biofuture Platform Initiative and the Co-leads of the MI Integrated Biorefineries (India and Netherlands). The purpose of the event was to enable partners from industry, academia, and technical agencies to share their views regarding how to mobilize sustainable biomass feedstocks for future fuels and chemicals; thereby, shaping the workstreams of the CEM Biofuture Platform Initiative and the MI Integrated Biorefineries Mission.

The Side Event consisted of two technical sessions that (1) supported the launch of the Global Biofuels Alliance and (2) enabled a more detailed exchange in support of the CEM14/MI-8 CEO – Minister Biofuture Roundtable.

The Side Event showcased the need for increasing public and private sector commitment to the innovation, investment, and policy needed to fulfil the potential for bio-based fuels, chemicals, and materials to enable the Net Zero future.

Key Takeaways

1. Participants strongly encouraged international bodies, such as the Clean Energy Ministerial and Mission Innovation, to bring together governments and international technical agencies to harmonize national and sub-national policies whose aim is to reduce the carbon intensity of transportation and heavy industries.

2. Participants agreed that there are multiple sources of underutilized biomass, including sugar cane bagasse, rice straw, and various carbon-rich industrial and organic waste streams.

3. National leadership and coordination is needed to realize the ability of this biogenic carbon to substitute for fossil carbon. G20 countries are encouraged to do national biomass resource assessment and to improve monitoring, reporting, verification, and sharing of data related to the production and use of biomass resources.

Session Highlights

• Abundant carbon rich streams are under-used today, including organic wastes, agricultural crops and residues, and industrial waste streams. National governments should invest in the transportation and storage logistics necessary to bring these sources of renewable carbon to market.

• Industry is making progress on improving the traceability and sustainability accounting for the entire biogenic carbon supply chain.

• Carbon accounting practices and data requirements vary from one jurisdiction (or market) to another. Industry welcomed greater data transparency and recommended harmonizing carbon accounting protocols. Transparent, well-understood carbon accounting protocols are necessary for both voluntary carbon markets and obligatory national and sub-national carbon reduction policies to function well.

• Additional investment is needed to realize the role of bio-based fuels and chemicals in the Net-Zero Circular Economy. Investment is certainly lagging in OECD countries, but it is especially lagging in emerging markets, which is unfortunate because emerging economies would often benefit the most from investments in agriculture and forestry.

• Ensuring that farmers benefit from the increased use of bio-based fuels and chemicals is necessary to realize a vibrant bio-based economy. Digital tools are becoming available to improve farmer participation in and income from evolving biomass supply chains.

• Sustainable biomass can be converted into diverse products, such as power, heat, green hydrogen, compressed biogas (CBG), ethanol, and hydrocarbons like renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel.

• India is developing data resources and knowledge management tools to better understand and manage its biomass resources. Efforts are being made to develop dynamic, digital tools to evaluate and assess residual biomass availability.

• India is working to develop a range of crops with better characteristics as sources of biomass to supply a growing bio-based economy.

• Canada has helped rural communities – and indigenous peoples – benefit from their biomass resources and made investments to help bring these resources to market.

Meeting Agenda

Session 1: Sustainability – Building confidence through data and transparency.

Moderator

Jim Spaeth | Program Manager, Bioenergy Technologies Office, US DOE & Chair, CEM Biofuture Platform Initiative

Speakers

• Paul Bloom | Chief Carbon Officer & Chief Innovation Officer, Gevo

• Lt. Col. Monish Ahuja | Chairman & Managing Director, PRESPL

• Vikram Gulati | Country Head & Senior Vice President, Toyota Kirloskar Motors

• Mariano Ruiz | Vice President of International Affairs, Drax

• Sam Lehr | Manager of Sustainability & Markets Policy, Renewable Natural Gas Coalition

Session 2: Availability – Bringing more sustainable feedstocks to market

Moderator

Paolo Frankl | Head of Renewable Energy Division, International Energy Agency (IEA)

Speakers

• Suhas Baxi | Co-Founder & CEO, BiofuelCircle

• Mr. Aditya Jhunjhunwala | President, Indian Sugar Mills Association

• Dr. Pradeep Srivastava | Executive Director, Technology, Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC)

• Dr. A.V. Umakanth | Principal Scientist, (Plant Breeding), ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research

• Frank des Rosiers | Assistant Deputy Minister of Strategic Policy and Innovation, Natural Resources Canada READ MORE

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Excerpt from Biofuture Platform: Key Takeaways

Participants strongly encouraged international bodies, such as the Clean Energy Ministerial and Mission Innovation, to bring together governments, industry, research organizations, and international technical agencies to encourage national governments to enable the use of biogenic carbon to de-fossilize chemicals and materials.
Participants encouraged CEM and MI to convene high-level, cross-cutting meetings between sectors. Bringing together experts and leaders from the clean energy and transportation sectors could accelerate de-fossilization of aviation, maritime, and heavy/long-distance road transport.
Participants encouraged governments to develop performance-based policies that motivate greater efficiencies, performance-improvements, and reduction in carbon intensity across a number of sectors, including heating, cooling, transportation, and chemicals

Session Highlights

Current technical challenges to bio-based technologies include the need to improve biomass conversion efficiencies and the need to be able to manage diverse types of biomass feedstocks, e.g., crops, crop residues, woody biomass, municipal solid waste, etc.
Investments in systems and synthetic biology and biomanufacturing could drive technological breakthroughs in the synthesis of needed fuels, chemicals, and materials.
Likewise research and development is needed to improve biomass yields; better crops for better products.
Biomass feedstocks, and their environmental benefits, need to be better managed. Transparent databases and registries for feedstock production and its carbon accounting would enable valorisation of sustainable biomass and its use in bio-based industries.
Innovation is required in biomass harvesting, handling, and transportation. Improvements are needed in technologies related to densification, liquefaction, and storage.
Prescriptive policies that favor specific technologies tend to create market inefficiencies. Instead policies promoting the clean energy transition should be performance-based and focus on clear deliverables, such as reduction in carbon intensity for a given sector.
The Government of India has supported the tremendous progress in developing ethanol for use in transport, and now India and other countries should advance its de-fossilization goals by supporting bio-based SAF and chemicals. To do so, India should invest in the biomass feedstock supply chain, work with investors to increase the funds available for CAPEX, and improve technologies to reduce OPEX.
In Kenya, global carbon markets are being leveraged to make clean ethanol cooking cost-competitive for consumers and profitable for industry. Other governments should consider carbon markets as a means to bring sustainable, bio-based products to market.
To de-carbonize hard-to-abate sectors, CEM and MI should catalyze cross-cutting dialogs. Specifically, the energy and transportation communities need to interact as much as they can . CEM and MI could break down silos and convene leaders from the clean energy and transportation sectors.
In the case of Aviation, there is a huge mismatch between the ambition to use SAF and the ability to use SAF. Massive effort and investment is needed to scale-up SAF production.

Meeting Agenda

Session 1: Technology needs for liquid biofuels and bio-based chemicals

Moderator

Kees Kwant | Senior Expert Bioenergy and Liaison Biobased Economy & Mission Director, MI Integrated Biorefinery Mission

Speakers

Sangita Kasture | Scientist/Director, Department of Biotechnology, MoS&T, India
Rebecca Groen | CEO, Futuria
Sangeeta Srivastava | Executive Director, Godarvi Biorefineries
GB Deshpande | President/Technology, Praj Industries Ltd
Ravi Gupta | Coordinator, DBT-IOCL Bioenergy Centre, GM R & D IOCL Faridabad

Session 2: Policy needs for liquid biofuels and bio-based chemicals

Moderator

Gerard J. Ostheimer | Manager, Biofuture Campaign

Speakers

Preeti Jain | Global Director (Policy, Chemicals & Carbon Solution), LanzaTech

Rajagopal Manohar | Bioenergy Marketing and Business Development Manager, Novozymes
Sophie Odupoy | Group Head of Public Affairs, KOKO Networks
Jari Kauppila | Head of ITF Secretary-General’s Office, International Transport Forum (OECD) READ MORE