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Biofuel is approaching a feedstock crunch. How bad? And what must be done?

January 23, 2023 by IEA

The IEA is warning that biodiesel, renewable diesel and biojet fuel producers are heading for a feedstock supply crunch over the next five years. Rising prices are the signal to seek out new supplies and solutions, which should – and are - driving the development of government programmes and industry innovation. Here, the IEA lays out their projections for 2022-2027, covering all the main feedstocks: sugars, maize, soy oil, rapeseed oil, palm … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Biofuels, Energy Tagged With: AnimalFats, biodiesel, biofuel, biojet, Brazil, CookingOil, decarbonisation, demand, Europe, feedstock, IEA, Indonesia, industry, maize, PalmOil, prices, rapeseed, residues, soy, sugars, supply, US, waste

Turning waste biomass into clean fuel: cheap, portable equipment, cuts emissions, earns income for rural poor

November 2, 2022 by Kathryn O'Neill

The burning of biomass accounts for 10% of primary energy used worldwide: wood, peat, animal dung, corn stalks, rice husks, hay, straw, and other agricultural waste. Billions of people, mainly in remote and poorer regions, rely on such fuels for cooking, heating, and other household needs. But it’s a major source of emissions as well as pollution. And, annually, an estimated $120bn worth of crop and forest residues are burned out in the open … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Biofuels, Energy, Innovations Tagged With: agriculture, biomass, CDR, cooking, crops, forests, heating, India, Kenya, pollution, torrefaction, waste

EVs vs Biofuels: new study looks at ethanol’s impact on agricultural land use, food prices, emissions

July 21, 2022 by Josh Gabbatiss

For transport, biofuels have lower emissions than gasoline/petrol, but EVs will have the lowest emissions of all. Hence the opposition to those biofuels, along with objections to the valuable cropland used to make the ethanol. But the overall advantage depends on the speed of transition to EVs charged with clean electricity. Now, a calculation has been made of the amount of agricultural land preserved for global food production - or kept as … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Biofuels, Energy, Transport and energy Tagged With: agriculture, biofuels, Brazil, CarbonSinks, China, electrification, emissions, ethanol, EVs, Food, India, maize, transport, US

SAFFiRE: cheap, Sustainable Aviation Fuel from agricultural waste

July 6, 2022 by Ryan Horns

SAFFiRE (Sustainable Aviation Fuel From [i] Renewable Ethanol) is a 10-ton-per-day pilot plant project. The goal is 7bn gallons of sustainable, low-carbon aviation fuel by 2040. Ryan Horns at NREL explains that the sustainable fuel is made from corn stover, an agricultural waste product, chemically broken down into sugars that can then be converted to fuels. The SAFFiRE process can take advantage of the existing infrastructure of over 200 ethanol … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Biofuels, Energy, Transport and energy Tagged With: agriculture, aviation, biofuels, biomass, ethanol, fuel, jetfuel, SAF, waste

Russia-Ukraine stalls EU Biofuels, but accelerates its medium/long-term targets

May 23, 2022 by Cornelius Claeys

Rising food and fuel costs are pushing several EU countries to freeze or lower 2022-2023 low-carbon blending mandates for transportation fuels. That will likely mean a rise in emissions, but only in the short term, says Cornelius Claeys at Stratas Advisors. However, the same policymakers understand that ending imports of fossil fuels from a belligerent Russia is an opportunity to raise low-carbon targets for the medium and long term. So, right … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Biofuels, Energy Tagged With: aviation, biofuels, biomethane, oil, REPowerEU, road, Russia, shipping, transport, Ukraine

Event summary: “Unlocking the potential of Bioenergy”

March 21, 2022 by Sara Stefanini

Sara Stefanini provides a written summary of our panel discussion held on Thursday March 17th 2022. It’s a full summary of the 90 minute discussion (including audience questions), but it begins conveniently with a summary of the highlights (potential for bioenergy, hard-to-abate sectors, sustainability, policy needs). Those highlights include the need to scale bioenergy up from around 50 EJ today to 150 EJ by 2050; the importance of carbon … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Biofuels, Energy, Events, Videos Tagged With: aviation, BECCS, bioenergy, biofuels, biomass, CCS, CCUS, cement, chemicals, FitFor55, forestry, GreenDeal, infrastructure, policies, REDII, SAF, steel, sustainability, transport

Biomethane for decarbonising transport: the Swedish example

March 14, 2022 by Angela Sainz Arnau

Biomethane has a critical role to play in the decarbonisation of transport, particularly long-distance trucks and ships, where electrification is more difficult and expensive. Angela Sainz Arnau at the European Biogas Association explains that biomethane represents one of the lowest greenhouse gas intensive pathways when the whole emissions lifecycle is measured. However, when nations implement bans on internal combustion engines to cut the use … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Biofuels, Energy Tagged With: bioenergy, biofuels, biomethane, emissions, ICEs, renewables, ships, standards, Sweden, transport, trucks

Community Biomass: for energy independence, stable prices and local control

March 11, 2022 by Marine Perrio

Energy independence is now at the top of the EU’s agenda. Almost all Europe’s biomass is already locally produced, contributing around 60% of the EU’s renewable energy. Marine Perrio at IEECP makes the case for promoting biomass prosumer projects. She points at regions dependent on biomass that have reported stable energy prices in the midst of the drastic increases in gas, oil and coal prices. Biomass uses organic feedstock from agriculture, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Biofuels, Energy Tagged With: BECoop, bioenergy, biomass, community, EU, forestry, Italy, prosumer, renewables, Russia, Ukraine

Biomass for industrial heat

March 10, 2022 by IEA

On Thursday 17th March at 12.30CET our latest Energy Post panel, “Unlocking the potential of bioenergy” boasts representatives from two of the most challenging areas for decarbonisation: the cement and aviation industries. Taking part are  Winston Beck, Head of Government Affairs at HeidelbergCement and Laurent Donceel, Senior Policy Director at Airlines for Europe. They will be joined by Thomas Meth, Chief Commercial Officer at Enviva (event … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Biofuels, Energy, Industry Tagged With: bioenergy, CCS, CCUS, electrification, event, hydrogen

Activating a community energy market for bioenergy: a new e-market environment connects biomass heating supply chain stakeholders

February 23, 2022 by Marine Perrio

The e-market environment supports various supply chain stakeholders when developing a community bioenergy project on defining the services and activities needed to support their cases. It demonstrates the various stakeholder interactions and activities/services that must take place to set up an effective and sustainable local supply chain and a community bioenergy project, streamlining the process. The user-friendly, easy to use and intuitive … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Biofuels, Community, Platform Tagged With: bioenergy, communities, demand, market, offer, tool

Engineering yeast to create Biofuels from non-food crops (straw, grass, cellulosic waste)

July 21, 2021 by Anne Trafton

Using ethanol can reduce the global consumption of fossil fuels. But, commercially, ethanol in the U.S. is produced from corn and not enough is grown to make a significant impact on U.S. fuel needs. Anne Trafton at MIT describes research that has engineered yeast to break down straw and woody plant material to create ethanol as efficiently as it’s done from corn. High yields of ethanol were extracted from five different types of cellulosic … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Biofuels, Energy Tagged With: aviation, biodiesel, biofuels, biomass, ethanol, gasoline, petrol, petroleum, shipping, trucking, US, yeast

Sustainably harvested Forest Biomass can help replace coal and gas

May 20, 2021 by Jennifer Jenkins

Burning sustainably harvested wood pellets emits far less carbon than burning coal or gas. That’s the main reason why it should be used in the global energy transition, argues Jennifer Jenkins at Enviva. Coal is declining, but not fast enough. Gas consumption is rising. Forest biomass can more easily be swapped in than wind and solar to provide dispatchable power. But it must be done sustainably. Referencing her white paper, Jenkins sets out the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Biofuels, Energy Tagged With: bioenergy, biomass, coal, EU, forests, gas, sustainability, Taxonomy, US

Aviation and Shipping emissions: will Biden take on the challenge?

February 12, 2021 by William Todts

William Todts at Transport & Environment is very worried about the Biden administration’s approach to aviation and shipping emissions. The signals are that the U.S. wants to work through the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO). But they have neither the ability nor the means to spur technological breakthroughs. That matters, because it’s only the use of alternative fuels that can … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Alternative fuels, Biofuels, Energy, Hydrogen, Transport and energy Tagged With: Airbus, ammonia, aviation, Biden, biofuels, Boeing, Caterpillar, electricity, emissions, hydrogen, ICAO, IMO, kerosine, MAN Energy, shipping, synfuels, transport, US

Bioenergy is the undervalued pillar of the clean energy transition

December 17, 2020 by Seungwoo Kang and Elisa Asmelash

Bioenergy is already the world’s largest source of renewable energy, responsible for 70% of the supply (and around 10% of total primary energy). Burning organic matter goes back to the invention of fire and is still commonplace around the globe. Yet it gets hardly any of the attention and policy support that’s given to other clean energy technologies like solar, wind and now hydrogen. Bioenergy can and should play an even greater role, explain … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Biofuels, Energy Tagged With: aviation, BECCS, bioenergy, biofuels, biojet, biomethanol, cement, chemicals, farming, forestry, shipping

Biofuels vs Hydrogen: which can fuel aviation, shipping, trucks?

December 3, 2020 by Cornelius Claeys

The positive signals coming from EV sales and charge points contrast with the lack of progress in finding alternative fuels for aviation, shipping and trucks. Cornelius Claeys runs through the prospects for biofuels and hydrogen to power long-haul transport. Biofuels are already used as a substitute for fossil fuels, and EV uptake will usefully free them for fuelling heavy transport. But as decarbonisation ambitions rise the pressure on scarce … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Biofuels, Energy, Hydrogen, Transport and energy Tagged With: aviation, biofuels, emissions, EVs, hydrogen, shipping, trucks

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