Periodic Reporting for period 2 - ETIP-B-SABS 2 (European Technology and Innovation Platform Bioenergy - Support of Renewable Fuels and Advanced Bioenergy Stakeholders 2)
Période du rapport: 2020-03-01 au 2021-12-31
The mission of the European Technology and Innovation Platform Bioenergy (ETIP Bioenergy) is to contribute to the development of cost-competitive, innovative world-class bioenergy and biofuels value chains, to the creation and strengthening of a healthy European bioenergy industry and to accelerate the sustainable deployment of bioenergy in the European Union through a process of guidance, prioritisation and promotion of research, technology development and demonstration.
The objective of the ETIP Bioenergy-SABS 2 project was to provide support to all activities of the ETIP Bioenergy, which are of interest to the bioenergy, advanced biofuels and renewable fuels community and for the general public, to actively engage with the sector's stakeholders and link their needs to policy making of the European Commission. This includes information about technological, market, political, regulatory and financial developments and deployment activities such as the set-up and operation of pilot and demonstration facilities and surrounding research. The advancement of the SET Plan objectives as well as the implementation of the ETIP Bioenergy Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) were major foci in the work programme of the project.
Specific objectives were to facilitate the following activities of the ETIP Bioenergy:
- contributions to the SET Plan activities, in particular Key Action 8 "Renewable Fuels and Bioenergy";
- collaboration and interaction with other relevant initiatives addressing renewable fuels, decarbonisation of transport, bioenergy and biomass valorisation/bio-based value chains;
- engagement with stakeholders as to better understand the actor perspective and the socio-technical aspects of technology development and implementation with a special focus on support for outreach and engagement of actors in the civil society;
- assistance to the European Commission and Member States in defining research programmes, financial instruments, while addressing lower TRL research needs as well as advancing close to market technologies.
The project activities since March 2020 were strongly influenced by the impact of the COV-19 pandemic, resulting in solely virtual meetings, workshops and conferences in the second half of the project. Important events that were organised comprise the 10th Stakeholder Plenary Meeting (SPM), the series of five online workshops entitled “REDII Implementation and Beyond”, organised by ETIP Bioenergy, IEA Bioenergy and the Sustainable Biomass Program as well as two seminars on the climate impact of bioenergy organised jointly by ETIP Bioenergy, IEA Bioenergy and Renewable transportation fuels and systems, a collaborative research program financed by the Swedish Energy Agency and f3 Swedish Knowledge Centre for Renewable Transportation Fuels. Further important events that were the 13 online workshops of the four WGs in the second project period, covering the topics biomass availability, conversion, end use, policy & sustainability.
A constant provision of scientifically sound, unbiased, up-to-date information on renewable fuels and the bioenergy sector has been implemented via constant and regular updates of the ETIP Bioenergy website, the creation of new website sections, the development of a status report on advanced biofuel demonstrations in Europe, review articles as well as user guides related to the search for patents, publications and research projects. ETIP Bioenergy provided input to relevant stakeholder consultations and in expert groups. The extended Steering Committee meetings (together with the Advisory Board) were a central instrument to intensify the exchange with Member States.
To strengthen the dialogue between ETIP Bioenergy and the civil society, e.g. NGOs, regional citizen organisations and consumers, several online workshops and meetings were held in the second project half. The aim was to ensure that research and development activities meet societal expectations and acceptance. The participants of the 10th SPM were a good mix of the different stakeholder groups represented in ETIP Bioenergy. The latest trends in advanced bioenergy technologies were presented during the three-day event. Broadening the biomass feedstock base in Europe was akey topic, which deemed relevant, among others, for civil society actors. The series of five online workshops entitled “REDII Implementation and Beyond” succeeded to reach key stakeholders and contribute to the dialogue on how sustainable biomass is defined, what REDII implementation looks like in practice and how to ensure biomass is supplied and used in a way that contributes to climate goals. The two f3 seminars presented current research on the climate impact of bioenergy with the aim of broadening and deepening the knowledge base for the ongoing debate. The fully virtual meetings since March 2020 decreased networking opportunities; however the barriers to join a meeting were lower, resulting in a substantialy better attendance of SPM and workshops.