Advanced BioFuels USA

by Paul Bennett, Chair (IEA Bioenergy/Biofuels Digest)  …  Little attention is paid to the global potential of bioenergy from sustainably sourced biomass – and wrongly so. Because without bioenergy, the urgent step toward fossil free greater energy security and climate neutrality will not succeed. It is the overlooked giant of the energy transition.

The three perspectives of energy security, energy independence and climate change mitigation are in the focus of bioenergy:

• We need to utilize the vast potential of energy production from sustainable biomass
• We need a heat transition for climate-neutral energy security
• We need to seize the opportunities of bioenergy to combine renewable energy production with CO₂ removal from the atmosphere.

Perspective #1: Utilize the vast potential of energy production from sustainable biomass

Bioenergy is the most widely used renewable energy in the world. It accounts for about ten percent of global energy supply (for electricity, heating, cooling and transport). In Europe, bioenergy represents about 60 percent of renewable energy. There is room to expand the mobilization of biomass in a sustainable way and use it for modern and clean bioenergy applications.

Thus, bioenergy is an important and essential part of global, but also of European energy security. It allows for more independence from fossil fuels. Bioenergy prices are much more stable than fossil fuel prices; it can be produced from local resources and absorb seasonal fluctuations of other renewables; bioenergy is compatible with current infrastructures, so it can already be used now. Most importantly, biomass can be stored, it is versatile and can deliver heat and power, supply fuels for transportation or deliver renewable gas.

Bioenergy contributes substantially to climate change mitigation when it is produced from biomass that is grown sustainably or based on waste and residues; converted to energy products efficiently and used to replace fossil fuels.

However, bioenergy is in the slipstream of solar and wind energy, which does not do justice to its global importance. Only with an expansion of sustainable bioenergy – in addition to energy savings and strong growth of other types of renewables – we will be able to meet the increasing demand for renewable energy and also achieve more (national) energy independence. Around 96% of the EU’s current use of biomass for bioenergy originates from the EU itself.

It is necessary to:

• Expand deployment of existing technologies such as biomethane to replace fossil gas, or combined heat and power production from biomass.
• Commercialize new technologies such as biomass gasification or integrated biorefineries to co-produce biochemicals, biofuels and heat.
• Ensure sustainable biomass supply for renewable fuels, e.g. through the implementation of certification and other sustainability governance systems.

Take away:

For the transition to a climate neutral society, all types of renewables are important. We need to reduce energy demand and maximize the contribution of fuels, power and heat from renewable resources – including biogenic resources – to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect the climate. This contributes to the targets of the European Green Deal and to both global and national energy security.

Perspective #2: Heat generation through bioenergy – the overlooked giant

Heat generation (for buildings and industry processes) represents more than 50 percent of global energy consumption and is still largely dependent on fossil fuels such as oil, gas or coal. Moving away from fossil resources in heat generation is a key component in decarbonization. This fact is largely underestimated since the attention of policymakers and the public is more on electricity generation where other renewables (solar, wind) can play a leading role.

For heat generation, biomass is currently by far the most important renewable energy source. It includes heat supply from solid fuels, liquid fuels, gaseous fuels and the biogenic fraction of waste. A large proportion of biobased heat is already produced from residual materials and green waste.

Biomass can be stored cost-effectively on a larger scale (wood chip or pellet storage, biomethane storage, liquid biofuels storage) and can be used in a targeted manner. It is also capable of providing heat at a high temperature level without additional costly technology.

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Perspective #3: Combining renewable energy production with CO₂ extraction from the atmosphere.

To stabilize global temperatures in the coming decades, removal of CO₂ from the atmosphere, so called “negative emissions”, will be a necessity, not just an option. This was recently confirmed by the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report.   READ MORE

Report describes changes to Dutch government’s policy on biomass (Biomass Magazine)

Netherlands ends subsidies for woody bio-based raw materials (Bio Market Insights)

Security alert: Five lessons from the energy crisis (Wood Mackenzie)

Excerpt from Biomass Magazine: According to the report, Dutch Minster for Climate and Energy Rob Jetten on April 22 sent a letter to the Dutch Parliament outlining the Dutch government’s policy for the application of biomass. He indicated that the Cabinet will support the application of biomass for high-value applications, uses which have no renewable alternative, and applications by which carbon is stored. Support for low-value purposes, such as the production of biopower and low temperature heat will be phased out. The letter follows an agreement reached by the newly formed Dutch coalition government in December 2021 in which the coalition of political parties expressed their intent to phase out the use of wood biomass for energy purposes and only allow the use of woody biomass produced in the EU to monitor compliance with sustainability criteria.

In his letter, Jetten stresses that the Dutch Cabinet expects biomass to play an important role in meeting the country’s climate and circular economy goals. He said the Cabinet supports the use of biomass to produce biobased chemicals, plastics, and materials replacing fossil feedstocks. It also supports the use of biomass to produce advanced biofuels for marine, aviation and heavy road transport applications, along with applications for generating high-temperature heat of more than 100 degrees Celsius and for the production of materials that store carbon, such as construction materials.

The letter also addresses Dutch sustainability criteria, noting it will be largely based on the EU Renewable Energy Directive. The Cabinet will also advocate to include socio-economic criteria and the obligation to report carbon dioxide emissions emitted through the production and transport of biomass.

In addition, Jetten confirms that the Cabinet will not limit the sourcing of biomass to EU sources, as it has concluded that such a decision can only be made at the EU level. He also notes that discriminatory sourcing is not compliant with World Trade Organization rules.

A full copy of the report can be downloaded from the USDA FAS GAIN website.  READ MORE