Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan

At the SET Plan conference, held on 29 November-1 December in Bratislava, a publication called The Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan was released by the European Union (DG Research and Innovation, DG Energy and Joint Research Centre). The publication collates the main achievements on EU clean energy R&I policies thanks to the SET Plan, dating 10 years, from 2007 to the present. The SET Plan, even if not a funding mechanism per se, has been and will be instrumental for more a targeted spending on clean energy and keeping the momentum for mobilising additional finance either from public and private actors in the future. Successful results are recalled here under several topics, including bioenergy and renewable fuels, examples span from: the improved electrolysis technology for competitive hydrogen production, to the state-of-the-art demonstration of 2nd generation liquid biofuels. What will the future be like? The implementation plan of several low-carbon energy sectors, including the one on bioenergy and renewable fuels, shall be endorsed by the first half of 2018 and will take stock of the R&I progress achieved so far and identify specific technological activities, demonstration projects and other actions needed to meet the SET Plan targets. Several breakthrough innovations are leading to a cleaner, more sustainable and smarter energy system also thanks to the growing interest by technology developers and companies in bioenergy and renewable fuels.