Dear EBTP Stakeholder,

Since its foundation in June 2006, key activities of the European Biofuels Technology Platform have been related to the guidance, prioritisation and promotion of research, technological development and demonstration of advanced biofuels. Over the past five years, barriers for advanced biofuels have been moving from technology to policy and financing. Bearing this shift in challenges in mind, EBTP calls for a stronger political leadership at EU and Members States level as well as adequate financing and incentives to bring innovative technologies to the markets. These preconditions are crucial to help create the needed long-term path to successful large-scale commercial deployment of advanced biofuels in the EU. Obstacles inhibiting investment in advanced biofuel scale-up need to be overcome quickly. The EBTP is willing to actively contribute to overcome this challenge, in close collaboration with the European Commission.

Lars Hansen
Chair, Steering Committee, European Biofuels Technology Platform

The 23rd EBTP Steering Committee meeting was held at the EU Office of Novozymes in Brussels on 21 June 2011.

Joanna Dupont-Inglis (EuropaBio/SusChem) and Sandro Cobror (Gruppo M&G) were welcomed as new Steering Committee members. Attention was drawn to the recent FAO G20 report "Price volatility in food in agricultural markets", the IEA Biofuels Roadmap, the approval of the standard for paraffinic jet fuel by ASTM, the construction of a biomass gasification plant in Q3 of 2011 by Lurghi (bioliq Karlsrhue, Germany), voluntary sustainability schemes for biofuels under the Renewable Energy Directive, and a new report on IsoButanol by Gevo, which plans in Q1 2012 to convert an ethanol plant for commercial scale production of IsoButanol. Also discussed were successful field tests of BioDME in Sweden, US debates on phasing out subsidies for ethanol, the final report of the BIOSYNERGY project, EC proposal for a revised Energy Taxation Directive, and the white paper "Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area – Towards a competitive and resource efficient transport system”, including the aviation and maritime sector".

An update was provided on the European Algae Biomass Association and the AquaFUELS project, and on the European Bioenergy Industrial Initiative EIBI. The ERANET+ financial instrument will be used to potentially support 3-4 demonstration or flagship plants. An EIBI call for Expressions of Interest will be launched in July 2011 and will subsequently feed into the ERANET+ call. The need for support mechanisms to facilitate the development of flagship plants for advanced biofuels was also discussed. The new European Advanced Biofuels Flightpath initiative was introduced.

The Becoteps project has now come to and end. The EBTP continues to participate in StarCOLIBRI, and a summary of recent activities was presented. A Zero Emissions Platform ZEP-EBTP Joint Task Force on Bio-CCS has been established.

The EBTP will organise its 4th Stakeholder Plenary meeting 14th/15th September 2011 in Brussels - you are cordially invited! For more details, see below.

The EBTP is increasingly being invited to contribute to biofuels related magazines. The following contributions have been made in June and July:

Hydrocarbon Engineering – Biofuels issue – June 2011: WG 5 Chair, Marc Gillmann: “RED to green - biofuels in the EU. Recent trends in the European biofuels markets and how these are affecting refiners”.

Public Service Review: European Science and Technology – June 2011: EBTP Chair, Lars Hansen: article on bio-fuels research in Europe today. Main message: Biofuels are already contributing to greening the transport sector and advanced technologies are ready for deployment

Waste Management World Magazine – July /August 2011: EBTP Secretariat article presenting the EIBI and examples of current demonstration activites under each value chain

The EBTP continues to help shape the EIBI in close collaboration with the European Commission and the Member States. The main challenge is to secure financing. For the time being, some financing will be secured via the ERA-NET+ funding scheme. Under this scheme Member States pool project funding which receives a top up premium from the European Commission. An EIBI call for Expression of Interest (EoI), including demo and flagship plants, will be launched in July 2011. Its timing has been synchronised with the calendar of the FP7 2012 call for proposals. The results of the EoI will then feed into the ERA-NET+ call envisaged for summer 2012. The EBTP will inform its stakeholders once the EoI is published.

Registration for the 4th annual Stakeholder Plenary Meeting of the EBTP is now open. The conference will take place on 14th and 15th September 2011 in the Diamant Conference Centre, Brussels. You are cordially invited to take part in this year’s Plenary Meeting, a unique forum gathering a wide spectrum of biofuels stakeholders. On day one sessions will cover the current status and predicted future of biofuels production and use, as well as the financing and upscaling of advanced technologies. The second day highlights feedstock production and availability, as well as important sustainability issues across the different value chains. A cocktail and networking event on the early evening of the 14th presents a further opportunity for stakeholder discussion.

Registration and further information

The BECOTEPS Becoteps project, in which EBTP partnered with 9 Technology Platforms, ended in March 2011. The key results and the White Paper: 'The European Bioeconomy in 2030 -Delivering Sustainable Growth by addressing the Grand Societal Challenges' were presented at the Becoteps’ final event “Unlocking the potential of the bioeconomy” in Brussels on 22nd March.

The European Biorefinery Vision 2030 - prepared within the framework of the StarCOLIBRI project - was presented to the public at the "Expert Forum on Biorefineries" in Budapest on 12th/13th April. The event brought together 110 industry and research delegates from across Europe, as well as policymakers from the European Commission and representatives from the Hungarian government.

The draft European Biorefinery Strategic Research Roadmap 2020, another key document of StarCOLIBRI, has been prepared and a consultation process will run from 6th July to 18th August. Feedback is welcomed from EBTP stakeholders. General comments should be avoided and specific textual changes or new text should be proposed. Please send your proposed amendments to Kristin Sternberg k.sternberg@fnr.de.

The final roadmap will be presented at the "High Level Policy Maker Conference" on 5th October, Brussels.

Based on common acknowledgement that biomass production and use and CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage) present potential synergies worth exploring, a joint task force on Bio-CCS between ZEP and EBTP has been set up. The work and first outputs of the joint task force will be presented to the public at the 2nd international workshop on Bio-CCS organised by Bellona and Cardiff University on 25th/26th October in Cardiff.

4 March 2011 – Cars 21, WG 1 Meeting, Brussels, Belgium
Birger Kerckow (SEC) represented EBTP with presentation on “Overview on the potential of biofuels”

27 April 2011 – Eureka Academy, Brussels, Belgium
Iwona Podrygala (SEC) represented EBTP with presentation on “The European Biofuels Technology Platform”

6 May 2011 – 15 February 2011 –EIBI KPI Meeting, Brussels, Belgium
Harri Turpeinen, Odille Petillon and Mona-Maria Brinker represented EBTP

18 May 2011 – Biofuels in Aviation Workshop
Véronique Hervouet (SC) and Mona-Maria Brinker (SEC) represented EBTP

24 May 2011 – Strategic Energy Technology Plan – Steering Group Meeting
Markku Karlsson (SC) represented EBTP with presentation on “EIBI”

24 May 2011 – Strategic Transport Technology Plan – Stakeholders Conference
Kåre Riis Nielsen represented EBTP

6-10 June 2011 – 19. European Biomass Conference and Exhibition
Birger Kerckow, Iwona Podrygala and Mona-Maria Brinker (all SEC) represented EBTP

16 June 2011 – Informal discussion on transport in CSF
Kåre Riis Nielsen represented EBTP

21 June 2011 – SET-Plan Financing Workshop
Markku Karlsson, Max Jönsson, Michael Persson and Graham Rice represented EBTP with presentation on each company’s projects

23 June 2011 – European Commission Workshop "Secure, Clean and Efficient Energy Challenge”
Lars Hansen (SC Chair) represented EBTP

30 June 2011 – AEBIOM European Bioenergy Conference & RENEXPO Bioenergy Europe
Markku Karlsson (SC) represented EBTP with a presentation on “EIBI”

13 July 2011 – DG RTD Workshop “Access to Risk Finance”
Anders Lau Tuxen represented EBTP

13 July 2011 – DG RTD Stakeholder Workshop: Common Strategic Framework for the bioeconomy
Lars Hansen (SC Chair) represented EBTP

Links and details for the following events are included on the events page of the EBTP website.

28 August – 1 September – Biorefining school
Paris, France

29-30 August – 3rd Annual International Conference Automotive Biofuels
Berlin, Germany

5-9 September – International Nordic Bioenergy 2011
Brussels, Belgium

14-15 September – 4th Stakeholder Plenary Meeting of the European Biofuels Technology Platform
Brussels, Belgium

26-27 September – Pacing innovation for the Bioeconomy, 7th Forest Technology Platform Event
Warsaw, Poland

28-29 September – World Biofuels Markets Brazil
São Paulo, Brazil

28-30 September – TC Biomass 2011-International Conference on Thermochemical Conversion Science
Chicago, USA

6-7 October – 5th Biodiesel International Conference
Berlin, Germany

6-7 October – International Seminar on Gasification-Gas Quality, CHP and New Concepts
Malmö, Sweden

12-13 Oct – 2nd Conference on Lignocellulosic Ethanol
Verona, Italy

A number of new biofuels reports have been added to the EBTP Reports Database. focusing on algae, potentials for bioenergy and renewable energies in general, and indirect land use changes (ILUC) including (in order of the sections of the database):

Sustainability

Indirect Effects of Biofuel Production
Ecofys on behalf of GBEP

Biofuels: Ethical issues
Nuffield Council on Bioethics

Biodiesel GHG Emissions, Past, Present and future
Don O'Connor(S&T)2 Consultants Inc. for IEA Bioenergy Task 39

Indirect Land Use Change and Biofuels
Uwe R. Fritsche and Kirsten Wiegmann, Oeko-Institut

Policy & Markets

EU renewable energy targets in 2020: Analysis for scenarios in transport
JRC Biofuels Programme, EUCAR, CONCAWE

GAIN EU27 Annual Biofuels Report
USDA

Global Biofuels

IEA Technology Roadmap – Biofuels for Transport
IEA

Who’s winning the clean energy race - G20 investment powering forward:
PEW Environment Group