Facilitating market roll-out of RESfuels in the transport sector to 2030 and beyond

Project Information

ADVANCEFUEL

Grant agreement ID: 764799

DOI

10.3030/764799

Project closed

EC signature date 28 August 2017

Start date 1 September 2017

End date 31 August 2020

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Secure, clean and efficient energy

Total cost

€ 2 628 246,25

EU contribution

€ 2 628 246,25

Coordinated by

FACHAGENTUR NACHWACHSENDE ROHSTOFFE EV
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - ADVANCEFUEL (Facilitating market roll-out of RESfuels in the transport sector to 2030 and beyond)

Reporting period: 2019-03-01 to 2020-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The transport sector is one of the main contributors of GHG emissions globally and in the EU. There is an urgent need to speed up decarbonising the transport sector in Europe in order to comply with the internationally agreed emission reduction targets. Advanced biofuels and other liquid renewable fuels are among the key options for short to medium-term decarbonisation of the transport sector. However, their further development raises significant challenges in terms of sufficient biomass supply for advanced biofuels, innovative biomass conversion processes, sustainability aspects, energy policy, and the shaping of industry and markets.
The ADVANCEFUEL project aimed to provide clear and scientifically robust support for sustainable transport fuels. It empowers decision makers to take complex, high-risk decisions affecting the full extent of their value chains and the involved market segments. The overarching goal of the project was to facilitate the market roll-out of advanced liquid biofuels and other liquid renewable fuels (further jointly addressed as “RESfuels”) in the transportation sector between 2020 and 2030, with an outlook on post-2030 impacts. This was achieved by providing new knowledge in regard to the current status of the sector, including good-practice examples, a user-friendly set of tools with integrated calculators, sustainability standards, and recommendations to remove the most prominent barriers against RESfuels commercialisation.
ADVANCEFUEL assessed the development of innovative cropping schemes and biomass supply scenarios, the efficiency of conversion technologies and how to integrate them into existing energy infrastructures. Additionally, socio-economic and environmental sustainability was investigated across the entire value chain. This resulted in providing recommendations for international standards and additional sustainability criteria. The main project outputs were compiled in a user-friendly way in form of a “Decision Support Tool”, which is published on the project website (http://www.advancefuel.eu/). The tool focuses on providing results for feedstock production, for the conversion elements of the RESfuels value chain as well as their further development.
The development of the transport sector until 2050 was investigated in a scenario analysis and model calculations, which revealed the most promising pathways for increasing the share of RESfuels.
In the course of the project, frequent stakeholder interactions and consultations were ensured to evaluate its results and for providing new perspectives that helped developing innovative approaches for the further commercialisation of RESfuels.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The ADVANCEFUEL project aimed to facilitate an increasing share of RESfuels within the transport sector in the European Union. This was done by investigating the key barriers, which were summarised and described in the report D1.1 serving as basis for the work in WP2-5.
Five stakeholder workshops helped to improve insights regarding the perspectives of innovative crop rotation schemes, sustainability requirements, challenges regarding the involved conversion technologies or peculiarities of the aviation and maritime sector.
The project partners identified new and innovative approaches to further mobilise biomass for advanced biofuels. The assessment was summarised in D2.2. An assessment of lignocellulosic feedstock availability, supply potential and its suitability for advanced biofuels was conducted (D2.1) which was detailed even further during the second project period, when regional specific investigations were carried out (D4.3).
A comprehensive summary of the most relevant sustainability requirements for advanced biofuels and existing national and voluntary certification schemes was compiled (D4.1). This report was the basis for identifying options to tailor and further adapt sustainability requirements and certification schemes to better fit RESfuels requirements (D4.2 & D4.4). The sustainability assessments in the project also comprised the socio-economic effects of increasing the RESfuel production and use (summarised in D4.5).
The development of innovations in the field of biomass conversion technologies and production of other liquid renewable fuels was another project task. Following the evaluation of different biomass-based conversion routes, concrete suggestions for the further development of the concerned processes and enlargement of facilities was investigated. This involved a detailed assessment of the investment and operational costs, potentials for cost reductions, as well as the identification of specific needs for support of market actors. Integrating RESfuel production into existing fossil fuel infrastructures was one important aspect in that respect. Summarised results can be found within the reports D3.4 and D3.6.
Good Practices in regard to RESfuel production and marketing concepts were defined based on a review of successful cases in Europe and globally (D5.6). Results of the related investigations on end-use options for advanced biofuels and potential scenarios until 2050 were summarised in the report D6.2 and the End-Use Analyser Tool on the project website. A policy and market analysis had been carried out during the first reporting period and was updated in the second period (D5.1 D5.4). In this way, gaps were identified and targeted recommendations were formulated.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The frequent stakeholder engagement enabled the project team to develop outcomes, which go beyond the state of the art since they include the experiences and perspectives of market actors and validate the results of the scientific task of developing concepts and tools to facilitate the marketability of RESfuels. Throughout these investigations and elaborations, the high level of stakeholder involvement (using online consultations, interviews, personal exchanges on relevant conferences and dedicated workshops) guaranteed a focused and market-oriented work of the ADVANCEFUEL consortium.
During the second project period, the results were comprised and summed up not only in reports, but also in a comprehensive decision-support tool and in an innovative End-Use Analyser Tool. These tools allow the assessment of the entire value chain of RESfuels with the aim to create more clarity and confidence for the market actors in this particular sector. Detailed and value-chain specific recommendations were elaborated upon and can be found within the ADVANCEFUEL project’s final publication as well as in D5.4.

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