The European Commission states in a new report that industrial capacity for advanced biofuels must increase by a factor of 30 by 2030 to meet climate goals. The publication emphasizes that the current focus on refinery capacity alone is insufficient; the entire economic chain surrounding the collection of bio-based feedstocks must be revised.
Scaling up necessary for RED III goals
To comply with the tightened Renewable Energy Directive (RED III), the transport sector relies heavily on the availability of advanced biofuels. These are fuels produced from residual flows that do not compete with food supply, such as agricultural residues, forestry waste, and specific industrial byproducts.
The report 'Advanced Biofuels – Role in Decarbonising European Transport by 2030' concludes that the technological basis for this transition exists, but commercial rollout is lagging behind. According to the researchers, a transformation from isolated pilot projects to an integrated European industrial sector is necessary to deliver the required volumes.
Bottleneck at the source
According to the Commission, a significant barrier to scaling up is the uncertainty surrounding the supply of raw materials. The report advises Member States to invest not only in the factories themselves, but also in the logistics chain leading up to them. Key points from the advice include:
- Incentives for collection: Direct support for farmers and forest managers to get residual flows from the field to the processor in an economically viable way.
- Infrastructure: Accelerated development of regional hubs for biomass storage and pretreatment.
- Financing: Bridging the 'valley of death' for the first large-scale commercial installations through European guarantee funds.
European market integration
Although Member States like the Netherlands already have strategic processing points in port areas, the report notes that fragmented regulations between Member States hinder market development. Achieving the necessary thirtyfold growth requires a cross-border approach that applies sustainability criteria uniformly while simultaneously simplifying access to unused residual flows.
The Commission emphasises that without a radical overhaul of raw materials policy, the 2030 targets will remain out of reach.
Source: European Commission – Research & Innovation
Photo: Comofoto, Adobe Stock
