Bioenergy stakeholders get ready for the Energy Union
Decarbonising the EU economy is not a choice – it’s a necessity. Rising oil prices and ever more tangible global warming consequences have left us with no other possibility than to build to make the Energy Union a reality, and this responsibility largely leans on the bioenergy sector. Currently accounting for two thirds of the EU’s total renewable energy supply, bioenergy still suffers from of a lack of investment that considerably slows down innovation. ETIP Bioenergy, an industry-led stakeholder platform, has been aiming to address these barriers, while the ETIP Bioenergy-SABS project was tasked with connecting and supporting its members. The consortium’s mission was fivefold: contributing to the EU’s Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan) that aims to accelerate the development and deployment of low-carbon technologies, in particular its ‘Action 8’ on renewable fuels and bioenergy; defining investment priorities and strategies; helping stakeholders address integration challenges; identifying technical and non-technical barriers to innovation; and assisting the EU and Member-States in defining research programmes and financial instruments. “Our role consisted in connecting all stakeholders from industry, politics, research and development. We monitored the bioenergy and biofuels sector, provided information on biofuels/bioenergy and recent trends, facilitated discussion between various groups, and provided overviews and summaries on stakeholder views to the working groups of the ETIP Bioenergy Platform. The project compiled scientifically sound, fact-based information on technical and non-technical biofuel and bioenergy issues,” explains Birger Kerckow, coordinator of the project. One of the consortium’s key tasks consisted in implementing the new structure and scope of ETIP Bioenergy, whose remit grew from biofuels to bioenergy at large. The platform notably merged the European Biofuels Technology Platform (EBTP) and the Member State branch of the European Industrial Bioenergy Initiative (EIBI) – two other major European initiatives – and a new website was launched. The project also contributed to the drafting of the implementation plan for the SET-Plan’s Action 8 on Renewable Fuels and Bioenergy. The implementation plan suggests concrete R&I activities and proposes relevant funding opportunities for their realisation. It was approved in June 2018 by the SET-Plan Steering Group. Finally, the consortium actively presented and discussed the EBTP Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) of June 2016 at numerous workshops and occasions, resulting in recommendations for a SRIA update. “The SRIA 2016 served as a key background document for the Temporary Working Group on the SET Plan Implementation Plan, Action 8. The update was completed in August 2018, reflecting recent developments and the broadened scope of ETIP Bioenergy,” Kerckow explains. Work on SRIA 2016 was particularly important, as the agenda was a major source of inspiration for H2020 call topics. As Kerckow points out, the SRIA document has had real results and its influence that can be seen through the similarities between SRIA recommendations and the mission statements of ongoing EU projects. Drawing on their success, the consortium has already started working on a follow-up ETIP Bioenergy SABS II project.
Keywords
ETIP-Bioenergy SABS, bioenergy, energy union, SET-Plan, biofuel, ETIP Biotechnology Platform, European Biofuels Technology Platform, European Industrial Bioenergy Initiative, Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda