Sessions of BBEST 2020-21 / Biofuture Summit II Organized Virtually This Year

December 04, 2020

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by Nathália Fernandes Pimentel* (Advanced Biofuels USA) From 30th November to 3rd December this year, the BBEST / Biofuture Summit II was sponsored by Apex, the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency. The event took place on virtual platform Whova and was attended by several authorities, experts and researchers. Aiming at presenting innovations on bioenergy and bioeconomy, the occasion brought into light discussions on best practices, policies around the world and innovative research panels.

Among the authorities, high level executives from the Brazilian government, Apex, International Energy Agency (IEA) and academia were present in the Opening Ceremony. Thus, the event started with their speeches, which strengthened the promotion of a circular economy and also of cooperation between countries, such as a declaration by President of FAPESP Brazil, Marco Antonio Zago: “We see the conference as a special opportunity for dialogue and cooperation between countries, governments, organizations, the academic and private sector.”

The Opening Ceremony was followed by a mini policy forum that singled out the best policies for accelerating the bioeconomy in the US, Brazil and Europe.

Paolo Frankl, Head of the Renewable Energy Division in IEA, started the debate by presenting the policy blueprint study about policies in the above mentioned regions. Such research focused on the diverse policies solutions that can be developed to achieve the same result - transitioning towards a society based on bioeconomy.

After the presentation of Deputy Superintendent of Biofuels and Quality of Products of the Brazilian regulatory agency ANP, Daniele Silva Conde, the focus was aimed at the policies made in the US in order to achieve such goals.

Vice President of the Industrial and Environmental Section at Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), Stephanie Batchelor, introduced recent developments on American policies on bioeconomy, focusing on the importance of reducing transportation greenhouse gas emissions in the US. The presentation also revealed the negative reaction over the last years, when certifications such as Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) were being implemented. The hope is for the Biden administration to strengthen the RFS by pushing a federal Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), which would reduce the gap between rural and urban America, diminishing the power of the attacks from oil companies that advocate against biofuels. Beyond that, BIO continues to support the states’ initiatives on creating LCFS, such as was done by California and Oregon, as well as pursued by New York and Washington.

Afterwards, Sustainability Consultant for Ethanol Europe, Zoltán Szabó, introduced his critical view of the difficulty of real improvement in the European Union due to resistance to biofuels based on a perceived impact on food security. The speaker pointed out that it has already been proved that there is no correlation to one another, but still European authorities seem in doubt.

Last, Director of the Department of Biotechnology at the Ministry of Science and Technology of India, Dr. Sangita Kasture, presented the developments on Indian policy, focusing on efforts to reduce dependency on non-renewable energy’s source.

The conference also included asynchronous activities that were organized in August and September 2020 and were available for BBEST participants. Therefore, Webinar Series were organized discussing the policies on biofuture principles.

The first Webinar, entitled “The Biofuture Principles for post-Covid recovery: An Agenda for Brazil”, focused on Brazilian initiatives. The second, denominated “Building Back Better With Bio: Biofuture Principles for Post-Covid Recovery and Acceleration”, introduced the issue on a global level. The panels reinforced the Biofuture Platform, a coalition of 20 countries that seeks the implementation of actions related to bioeconomy worldwide. Thus, these debates also explained the need not only to develop policies on low carbon solutions, but also to maintain those already created.

Furthermore, researchers' digital poster presentations brought innovative solutions on five topics: (A) “Biomass, Agronomy, Breeding, Other Energy Crops, Biotechnological Aspects of Plants Feedstocks”, with 42 presentations; (B) “Biofuel Technologies, including biomass process engineering and biofuels production”, with 55 posters; (C) “Biorefineries, Bio-based chemicals and biomaterials”, with 50 researches; (D) “Biofuel Engines and Applications to Aviation”, with 4 papers; and (E) “Sustainability, Environmental, Social, Economic and Public Policy Issues”, with 21 presentations.

The Closing Session completed the conference with awards for the nominated researchers in the following categories: Undergraduate, Master, Doctorate and Postdoctoral. Afterwards, Clarissa Forecchi, representing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Brazil, reinforced the success of the event in adapting itself to the reality of the pandemic, with active participants and multiple accesses. In May 2021, sessions of the event will take place in São Paulo, Brazil.

* By Nathália Fernandes Pimentel, undergraduate student at Federal University of Goiás, majoring in International Relations. Also a volunteer at Advanced Biofuels USA and Intern at the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ - German Cooperation Agency) in Brazil, building her path towards a career in circular economy policies and international cooperation.

The opening session, the wrap-up final session, closing ceremony and the four major keynotes have been made publicly available through YouTube and more is published in the BBEST-Biofuture YouTube Channel .

The 20-country Biofuture Platform multilateral initiative has joined forces with the Brazilian Bioenergy Science and Technology Conference (BBEST) to bring together the world´s very best in policies, innovation, science and market outlook in the bioenergy and bioeconomy sectors. The conference was organized by the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Biofuture Platform chair and host, and the Bioenergy Research Program, (BIOEN) from the State of São Paulo Science Research Foundation (FAPESP), with support from the APEX-Brazil trade promotion agency and the International Energy Agency (IEA), among several other partners.

The opening session, the wrap-up final session, closing ceremony and the four major keynotes have been made publicly available through YouTube and more is expected to be published in the BBEST-Biofuture YouTube Channel soon.

More than 640 attendees and 212 speakers from 40 countries participated in the event. The week’s events included high-level opening and closing ceremonies, a keynotes session on the low carbon bioeconomy’s place in the fight against climate change and energy transition, and several live webinars, pre-recorded roundtables, panels and technical sessions devoted to many aspects of accelerating the sustainable low carbon bioeconomy, for a total of 40 sessions. The topics covered include policies, finance, technology and innovation support, transportation, bioproducts, biorefining, sustainability governance, aviation biofuels, advanced biofuels and cellulosic ethanol, and many others, as well as a virtual visit to the São Martinho Plant and Refinery, originally planned as an in-sight visit. The full event is available on the Whova Platform . Registered delegates can continue to use the app to keep in touch with fellow attendees and watch and interact in the recorded sessions.

The Biofuture Summit II highlighted the transfer of the chairmanship of the Biofuture Platform from Brazil to the United States. Thanking the current leadership of the Biofuture Platform for “launching, leading and conducting” what he qualified as a “key instrument for spearheading multilateral collaboration and policy discussion”, David Turk, Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy, said of the US priorities for their term as Chair: “As the new Chair of the Biofuture Platform Initiative, the US will focus on continually increasing the number and breadth of country members to make this truly a global coalition, focusing on the key challenge areas of developing sustainable biomass supply chains, exploring and forging consensus on environmental understanding of biomass as a key element of the clean technology revolution, stimulating private sector engagement, and critical policy convergence to enable success.”

The opening ceremony included, among others, interventions from the Brazilian Minister of Mines and Energy, who addressed the positive effects of using biofuels to reduce CO2 in the atmosphere and local pollution, as well as the need to ensure support for the sector, through consistent public policies, the Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), who commented on the critical role of bioenergy in creating jobs and the importance of exchanging experience between countries, and the Undersecretary for Economic Affairs of Brazil, who highlighted the progress and achievements of the Biofuture Platform under Brazil’s chairmanship and welcomed the US as the new Biofuture Chair. All recognized the negative effects of COVID-19 in the bioenergy sector in the year 2020. The President of APEX-Brazil highlighted the role of Brazil as a provider of technological solutions in bioenergy and as one of the largest ethanol producers in the world. The Platform´s Policy Blueprint was also unveiled, with the goal to help accelerate the growth of the global bioeconomy. In the Keynotes the IEA Net-Zero by 2050 report was presented highlighting the critical role that sustainable bioenergy will play in the clean energy transition.

The pre-recorded roundtables, panels and technical sessions presented a wide array of scientific and technological advances, highlighting the capability of science in providing the basis for a cleaner and more sustainable future. The BBEST Conference proved once more to be an important showcase of research, latest technological developments and launching of new initiatives fostered by FAPESP BIOEN and its partners across the globe. READ MORE/WATCH VIDEOS

The BBEST-Biofuture YouTube Channel is now complete with the 2020/21 activities.

A total of 23 technical webinars are now available where you can find research findings and analysis from: