Long-Term Prospects for Advanced Liquid Biofuels
The UN Sustainable Energy for All initiative calls for doubling the global share of renewable energy by 2030. IRENA’s “REmap” analysis of cost-effective options for doing so suggests that bioenergy use should triple by then, with biofuel production rising to 500 billion litres of biofuel production per annum. A quarter of this amount might come from advanced processes, converting lignocellulosic feedstocks like farm and forest residues and rapidly growing woods and grasses to a mix of fuel and high-value co-products.
But such a hundred-fold increase in advanced liquid biofuels faces a host of political, technical and economic challenges. With a prolonged period of declining oil prices, the competitive environment has intensified and biofuel investments have stagnated. To compete with petroleum-based gasoline and diesel fuel, as well as with conventional ethanol and biodiesel, advanced biorefineries will have to be built more cheaply, operate more efficiently, and produce more valuable co-products than we’d thought before. In view of concerns over food supplies and carbon sequestration, innovative strategies are needed to ensure that enough biomass feedstock can be sustainably produced on existing forest and farm lands.
This workshop will present the technology status and market prospects for production of advanced liquid biofuels, drawing upon perspectives of leaders in energy project finance, biofuel industry and the aviation industry for which advanced liquid biofuels will be vital to provide a sustainable long-term fuel supply. Panelists will discuss the key challenges to expanding the advanced biofuels market and how to meet them. To what extent will lower oil prices delay investments in pilot plants that are needed to reduce plant costs to competitive levels? What should be done to ensure an adequate supply of residues and other feedstock? What are the prospects for technology progress to reduce plant costs and raise feedstock yields? What are the prospects for innovative products that could add to the value proposition of advanced biorefineries?
Agenda
Chair: Dolf Gielen, Director, IRENA Innovation and Technology Centre
16:00 - 16:10
Opening
16:10 - 16:30
Technology Outlook for Advanced Liquid Biofuels
Francisco Boshell, IRENA
16:30 - 16:50
Land, Water, and Sky - Market Prospects for Advanced Biofuels
Ralph P. Overend - Nextfuels llc.
16:50 - 17:10
Advancing the Advanced Biofuels Industry
Sari Mannonen, UPM Biofuels
17:10 - 17:30
Sustainably Fuelling the Aviation Sector
Invited
17:30 - 17:50
Panel discussion
17:50 - 18:00
Wrap-up
For further information: http://www.eubce.com/parallel-events/workshops/long-term-prospects-for-advanced-liquid-biofuels.html
Keywords
sustainability, sustainable energy, advanced biofuels