ART FUELS FORUM

The ART Fuels Forum, established under the project: “Support for alternative and renewable liquid and gaseous fuels forum (policy and market issues)”, is financed by the European Commission and aims at bringing together selected representatives

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KEY
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Development of local circular economy is integrated with existing technologies and infrastructure of Advanced Biofuels (AB) [more]
  • AB are fully compatible with existing fuel infrastructure, distribution systems and engines (see also Directive alternative fuel initiative – DAFI)
  • AB are produced from industrial, agriculture and/or municipal waste, and could be part of circular economy supply chains
  • According to the International Energy Agency (IEA) Bioenergy Task 42, advanced biofuel based biorefineries – co-producing fuels and added value bio-based products (i.e. feed ingredients) will be major foundations for and initiators of a Circular (Bio)Economy (use of sustainable supply chains and industrial infrastructures)
Regulations should adopt a realistic approach to Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC) and emphasis should be given to the deployment of marginal land [more]
  • ILUC is impossible to be measured and is hard to model
  • Focus on options with low risk of ILUC, such as biofuels made from farm or forest residues, feedstocks grown on degraded land, or feedstocks with very high yields, and on the deployment of marginal EU land
  • Employing land that will be economically marginal or even abandoned increases the potential of agriculture production and income
  • Ameliorate environmental problems which are related to abandoning of agricultural marginal land
Massive scaleup of bioenergy is needed to meet the Paris COP21 targets on climate change and predictable, long-term policy support is required to ensure the scaleup [more]
  • Bioenergy is the largest renewable energy form in Europe and globally
  • Modern bioenergy plays an essential role in the International Energy Agency (IEA) 2°C Scenario (2DS), providing nearly 17% of final energy demand in 2060 compared to 4.5% in 2015. Further, bioenergy provides almost 20% of the cumulative carbon savings to 2060
  • International Energy Agency (IEA) reports that biofuels could provide 27% of the world’s transport fuel supply by 2050
  • International Energy Agency (IEA) reports that sustainable biofuels like ethanol can be used in the current vehicle fleet to reduce GHG emissions by 40-90% when compared with fossil fuels
  • Regulatory and policy support is essential to ensure the reliable supply of low carbon transport fuels
  • Support to bioenergy can take the form of a relevant market price for carbon emissions reductions, volumetric targets, or a combination of the two
  • Reliable and predictable support is also required to reduce the costs of innovative conversion technologies and bring them to industrial scale
Advanced Biofuels and e-mobility are complementary: the “policy conflict” between electrical transport and advanced biofuels is fake, both are needed [more]
  • All different decarbonization solutions will have to act in a synergistic way, if the transport sector is to contribute to the achievement of the “2°C” target indicated by COP21 in Paris
  • Despite the expected electrification of light vehicle fleets over the next several decades, large numbers of vehicles will still rely on petroleum fuels which biofuels and other low carbon transport fuels could displace
  • Aviation, marine and heavy freight transport are difficult to electrify and will require the energy density that low carbon fuels can provide
  • International Energy Agency (IEA) sees the penetration of EV in the global car fleet as limited, while biofuels are still expected to represent more than 90% of total renewable energy consumption in road transport by 2022 (read more here)
  • According to the EU Reference Scenario 2016 by EC (read more here), biofuels in transport constitute the main growing market for bioenergy in Europe, as biofuels are essential for reducing emissions in non-electrified transport segments (mainly: trucks, ships, aircrafts)
Advanced Biofuels constitute, in principle, a “domestic source” of energy for the EU and thus increase the security of energy supply and reduce costs for import of fossil fuels [more]
  • Advanced Biofuels contribute to decreasing fossil fuels dependency by replacing them and due to the fact that most of the relevant technology developments and investments on production of AB are under the control of the EU stakeholders; thus AB support the EU Energy Union objectives in terms of increasing security of energy supply
  • Advanced Biofuels contribute to reducing EU costs for importing energy used in transport as a result of decrease of imported fossil fuels
Feedstocks and conversion technologies are available to meet the bioenergy need sustainably [more]
  • Large volumes of feedstock for biofuels can be provided sustainably, without impeding food production or releasing carbon through land-use change
  • A combination of smart agricultural practices, waste and residue policies, high-yield energy crops and the reclamation of degraded or fallow land can provide both the volumes and the high-quality carbon emissions reductions that the world needs
  • Second generation technologies have achieved large-scale demonstration or early commercialization, with a few first-of-a-kind industrial scale plants operational
  • Several new conversion pathways for low carbon transport fuels are under development within Europe and abroad
An evidence-based approach is needed to ensure biofuel sustainability [more]
  • The most effective way to reduce the costs and carbon emissions of biofuels is to reward reductions in carbon emissions per unit of energy produced
  • The preferred approach is to assess and stimulate those feedstocks that have higher yields and those processes that are most cost, energy, carbon-efficient and sustainable
  • Regulatory distinctions between conventional and advanced biofuels, or between food and fuel crops, may not produce the best outcomes as low-emission, cost-effective approaches to low carbon fuel production often involve a mix of feedstocks and conversion processes

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The ART Fuels Forum, established under the project: “Support for alternative and renewable liquid and gaseous fuels forum (policy and market issues)”, is financed by the European Commission and aims at bringing together selected representatives of:

  • the European Alternative and Renewable Transport Fuels (ART Fuels) production industry
  • the transport consumption industry
  • the main international cooperation actors and
  • the EU policy makers and stakeholders

towards facilitating discussion and elaboration of common issues on policy and market penetration barriers for these fuels.

The project contributes to enhancing and strengthening the understanding of the needs of the ART Fuels sector in view of improving:

  • policy understanding and its implementation at European level
  • appreciation of market uptake issues
  • technology insight and deployment issues
  • appreciation of international cooperation, WTO and GHG emissions issues

The Forum integrates a series of organized and structured discussions, plenary meetings, preparation of position papers, etc. towards shaping strategies and policies for market deployment of ART Fuels.

PARTNERS

EXERGIA is an independent firm of consultants operating internationally in the fields of energy and environment, member of SESMA, the Hellenic Association of Management Consulting Companies (Greek branch of FEACO). It was founded in 1991 and maintains since then a rapid growth rate through expansion of its client base and of its activities. Having been involved in a large number of significant sustainable energy projects worldwide, EXERGIA is established among the top energy consulting companies. The wide scope of company’s projects ranges from consultancy to European Union and state policy and strategy formulation up to energy/environmental audits and feasibility studies for private clients.

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The Renewable Energy Consortium for Research and Demonstration (RE-CORD) is a no-profit public-private independent research body established by the University of Florence, which merges numerous competences and resources in the field of basic and applied research, engineering, and sustainable land planning and development. Founded in 2010 under the initiative and as a further development of the Research Center for Alternative and Renewable Energy (CREAR) – University of Florence, RE-CORD develops scientific and technological research in the field of Renewable Energies and in particular Bioenergy, while creating a synergistic effect by combining expertise and resources from the four founding members.

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