There are major challenges to achieving a climate-neutral society by 2050, as expressed in the IEA's Net Zero by 2050 roadmap. Among the different sectors, the transportation sector is proving to be a very difficult sector to decarbonize. It means moving away from established fossil fuels through electrification and the use of renewable fuels instead of fossil fuels. One of the most important instruments in the short to medium term is accelerating the use of sustainable biofuels.
IEA Bioenergy is committed to advancing bioenergy technologies based on sustainable biomass feedstocks for a greener and sustainable future. As the world faces a worsening climate crisis and emerging energy security challenges with fossil fuels, finding effective solutions to phase out fossil fuels in the transportation sector is critical, and biofuels offer an attractive option, in synergy with electrification. The recently published reports of the IEA Bioenergy study “Assessment of Successes and Lessons Learned for Biofuels Deployment” highlight the potential of biofuels to stimulate significant market supply, replace fossil fuels and combat global warming. The main objective of the study was to identify key drivers of technological success and the best policy framework conditions for stimulating larger future markets for sustainable transport biofuels.
Tomas Ekbom, Svebio (Sweden), project leader: “ Current renewable fuel production capacity, together with planned and under construction projects, must grow by a factor of more than 5 to produce the renewable fuels (biofuels and e-fuels) that will be needed worldwide by 2050. We need faster progress and lessons from the deployment of biofuels to date to support their further deployment in an efficient manner. "
Biofuels offer cost-competitive options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the road transport sector in the coming decades. Their compatibility with existing fossil fuel infrastructure makes biofuels a practical and much-needed immediate solution to replace fossil fuels in existing fleets. While electric vehicles are making progress in several parts of the world, especially for light-duty vehicles, access to materials for large-scale battery production and underdeveloped charging networks will challenge the speed of their widespread adoption. In the medium to longer term – with the increasing electrification of the road transport sector – the use of biofuels will shift to difficult-to-electrify sectors such as aviation and shipping.
While most current biofuels are produced from agricultural crops such as sugar cane, corn or oil-based crops, the focus is now shifting to the use of biogenic waste, crop residues and non-food crops, many of which require advanced biofuel production technologies. However, most advanced technologies are currently in the early stages of commercialization and the economics are still challenging. To significantly reduce fossil fuel consumption, we do not have the luxury of abandoning existing biofuel options and waiting for new technologies to mature; restrictions on some (crop-based) biofuel feedstocks may need to be reconsidered, especially if they can be produced sustainably, with very low greenhouse gas emissions over their life cycle. We must also recognize that biofuel options are and will continue to be region and country specific.
Heitor Cantarella, Agronomic Institute of Campinas (Brazil): “Liquid biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel, which can directly replace fossil gasoline and diesel, offer mature, scalable alternatives for markets with dominant shares of internal combustion engine vehicles. Driven by sustainability requirements in effective policies, these fuels have shown a low carbon footprint and limited impact on food production.”
Key lessons from the project:
Combine market-pull and technology-push policies
Ambitious strategies and objectives do not automatically create a framework that enables scaling or building innovative technologies along the value chain chain.
Franziska Müller-Langer, DBFZ (Germany): “We looked at case studies of advanced biofuels in Germany, Sweden and Canada. Several advanced biofuels have achieved technical success; However, this does not guarantee the required commercial success. To achieve both technology development and market introduction, we need a combination of policies to stimulate technological developments and attract market demand; comprehensive monitoring of the effects of these policies is also necessary. We also need steering tools to secure financing and thus reduce the risk of investing and exploiting relatively new technologies.”
Enhance existing biofuel options AND support innovative biofuel solutions
Decarbonizing the transport sector needs a transition process that allows starting with promising technological options, gaining experience and learning lessons for continuous improvement. There is no time to wait for optimal options that meet all requirements from the start. It is necessary to continuously work towards harmonised, clear long-term policies that enable improvements to existing biofuel options as a basis for decarbonising the transport sector. At the same time, R&D support for innovative advanced biofuels is urgently needed to broaden the biomass feedstocks that can be used and achieve even better climate performance, for example through the combination of biogenic CO2 from the process with renewable hydrogen.
Consider the entire value chain, from biomass sources to fuel applications
To stimulate the development of biofuels, actions are needed in the areas of resource mobilization and logistics, biofuel production technologies, infrastructure and trade, and appropriate norms and standards for innovative technologies. Cost-effective, reliable and sustainable feedstock supply chains are crucial for the successful development of advanced biofuels. Advanced biofuels will develop in an increasingly internationalized market in terms of tradable raw materials and in international end-use markets such as shipping and aviation. The carbon intensity of fuels, including biofuels, is becoming an increasingly relevant metric in the transportation sector. Sustainability certification schemes are important to provide transparency and verification of the performance of biofuel value chains.
Based on the IEA Bioenergy study 'Assessment of Successes and Lessons Learned for Biofuels Deployment'. Reports and main conclusions are here readily available.
Source: ieabioenergy.com
