At the beginning of December I had the opportunity to spend two days at the European Biocarbon Summit in Amsterdam with the theme “Helping heavy industry and aviation to decarbonise with biomass”. An event where the entire chain finally came together, from biomass suppliers and technology companies to end users.
The central theme was the use of biomass as a high-quality raw material, or biocarbon, for the decarbonization of heavy industries such as the steel and lime industries or as a raw material, via syngas, with the conversion into hydrogen, bio-methanol and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). as the most promising end products. It was extremely refreshing to spend two days listening, discussing and sharing my own experiences about the use of biomass as a raw material for existing and new industries.
A little further on, COP28 was in progress, where the search for alternatives had begun with the joint position that the phasing out of fossil raw materials must now really happen. You would expect that without an action package, timelines, legislation or other obligations, such a statement would have little or no effect, but fossil fuel users now really seem to realize that this is only possible if they also become part of the solution. The search for alternatives has therefore started with biomass as the most important alternative. Because we cannot rely solely on woody biomass, the use of agricultural residual flows is necessary to meet the expected volumes. Upgrading biomass flows to a product that can compete with its fossil counterpart in terms of nature and composition is still quite a challenge and that is where biocarbon comes into play.
Under the collective name Torrefaction (the carbonization of biomass), many companies have been working for many years on technologies that can upgrade various biomass flows into a bio-coal as a replacement for the fossil counterpart. With rising CO2 price and the need to decarbonize, a market has now emerged that is willing to pay for this.
Biocarbon can be produced from many different types of biomass flows and thus functions as a sustainable replacement for fossil fuels in industrial applications. By converting them into a high-quality raw material, many more (agri) residues have the opportunity to serve as a basis for industrial applications and therefore play a crucial role in reducing the industry's dependence on traditional fossil fuel-based raw materials.
We also see that these new product-market combinations pose challenges. These are other, often smaller, suppliers who suddenly have to serve a market they do not understand. Buying in bulk for multinationals is no longer an option and with smaller suppliers, different products and working methods you also have more risks in terms of security of supply. Governments are also having difficulty with these developments and are lagging behind with legislation and regulations to stimulate and enable this new market. Learning from the woody biomass sentiments, everyone would like to do it in consultation with all parties, but then everyone has to step out of the familiar shadow. The Netherlands has sufficient potential to become a forerunner in this area if we join forces. The future of biomass as a high-quality raw material seems promising. The potential to convert biocoal into hydrogen, bio-methanol and SAF offers sustainable solutions for the industry, while the use of biomass as a raw material opens the way to a circular economy. COP28 and events such as the European Biocarbon Summit have not only highlighted current successes, but also paved the way for further cooperation and innovation in the field of sustainable industrial raw materials. The industry is on the cusp of an exciting shift towards a more sustainable and responsible future, driven by the potential of biomass as a green feedstock.
About the author
John Bouterse
Managing director Komercon BV and board member of Platform Bio-Economie
John Bouterse is co-owner of Komercon BV, board member of Platform Bio-Economie and member of various working groups that deal with various issues and policies regarding the use and sustainability of biomass. Based on his expertise, John works every day to give waste and biomass a new high-quality purpose and from this perspective he looks in these blogs at the special developments and possibilities that biomass offers and the challenges that come with it.
