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Joint workshop: International trade of bioenergy commodities: Experiences with certification and setting up sustainable supply chains
13 July 2010 - Updated program available [151 KB]
EUBIONETIII and IEA Bioenergy Task 40 are jointly organising a workshop in Rome, Italy on the 21st of October 2010. The aims of this workshop are:
1) To provide an overview of experiences and regarding sustainability certification, including the current status of legislation in the EU and elsewhere.
2) To show concrete case studies of ongoing sustainable international supply chains – both for solid and liquid biomass.
3) To identify and discuss both opportunities to develop sustainable international bioenergy supply chains and identify (policy) barriers to be overcome.
The morning session will mainly focus on ongoing development of sustainability certification systems of solid and liquid bioenergy commodities and effects on international trade. In the afternoon session, we aim to highlight six or seven concrete case studies in which sustainable international supply chains have been set up. The workshop will be free, but registration is mandatory.
Opportunities and barriers for international bioenergy trade
17 May 2010 - The aim of this report [643 KB]
is to provide up-to-date overview of what market actors currently perceive as major opportunities and barriers for the current and future development of international bioenergy trade. The work focuses on three internationally traded bioenergy commodities: bioethanol, biodiesel and wood pellets. Data was collected through an internet-based questionnaire, which was completed by 141 respondents. Results show that import tariffs and sustainability criteria are perceived as major barriers for the trade of bioethanol (and to a lesser extend of biodiesel), while logistics are seen as an obstacle mainly for wood pellets. Development of technical standards was deemed more as an opportunity than as a barrier for all three commodities. Phytosanitary measures were not an issue for any of the investigated commodities, but may prevent the trade of other (mainly solid and unrefined) biomass, such as wood chips. Most important drivers were high fossil fuel prices and climate change mitigation policies. Concluding, some barriers for bioenergy trader are commodity specific, and will need specific actions to overcome. As a first step, import tariffs for biofuels could be reduced or abolished, linked to multi-national trade agreements and harmonization (including provisions on technical standards and sustainability requirements) which might provide the necessary preconditions for further sustained growth of international bioenergy trade.
Updated overview of bioenergy sustainability certification initiatives published
27 April 2010 - The report [1,812 KB]
includes an extensive overview and update on relevant certification initiatives and systems for biomass and bioenergy certification, based on the year of 2009. Examples of included initiatives are the roundtable initiatives (RSB, RTRS, BSI, etc), forestry standards (FSC, PEFC), agricultural standards (SAN, GlobalGAP) and specific voluntary standards for bioenergy (ISCC, NTA8080). Every initiative gives a description of the context, status and organization structure. This is followed by a description of its principles, criteria and indicators. The report is the background document from the paper Dam et al (2010), From the global efforts on certification of bioenergy towards an integrated approach based on sustainable land use planning (submitted to the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews). This article provides a comparison between the systems, followed by an overview of current bottlenecks, and required activities, to come to a harmonized, efficient system to guarantee the sustainability of biomass and bioenergy.
World Bio-trade Equity Fund Study released
16 April 2010 - Investing in bioenergy (and especially in bioenergytrade) is not generally well understood in the investment community. The aim of this study [273 KB]
was to explore the possibility for the creation of a Bio-trade Equity Fund. Such a fund could be to invest in projects that promote world trade in biomass while yielding a rate of return commensurate with risk. Projects could include: improving ground-based biomass feedstock supply systems, such as advanced chipping systems and inland ships; building biomass conversion plants, such as for pellets, BioOil, 2nd generation ethanol and torrefied wood; and enhancing bio-product transportation systems, such as port improvements, purpose built loaders, and specialized biofuel ships. The study concludes that such a fund could be feasible, and outlines a possible business plan, including the setup of the fund, a time schedule and example projects a fund could invest in. It is anticipated that such a fund could result in meaningful volumes of biomass transported where they are needed most in the next 10 years to achieve renewable fuel targets. It in turn would result in the creation of jobs in developing nations, commercialization of new technologies, and ultimately reduction in worldwide GHG emissions. In case you would like to receive more information, please contact the main author of the study, Doug Bradley.
Biomass power and trade conference - summary available
15 April 2010 - On March 11-12 2010, CMT organized a biomass power and trade conference in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, with support from IEA Bioenergy Task 40. The conference aimed to provide opportunities for future and existing biofuels and biomass industry stakeholders to network other industry suppliers and technology providers, as well as utility executives, researchers, policy makers, investors and project developers. IEA Bioenergy Task 40 contributed a large number of speakers on the biomass trade situation in various Task 40 member countries, sustainability certification, torrefaction developments and several other topics. The full program [1,101 KB]
and a summary of the conference [448 KB]
can be downloaded. The presentations are availabe on request from the individual speakers.
2nd Task 40 newsletter published
2 February 2010 - Task 40 has published its second newsletter [177 KB]
in which all recent and upcoming events and publications are summarized. This newsletter will be distributed amongst interested parties in all Task 40 member countries (and beyond). To subscribe to the newsletter, please use the follwing link.
Task 40 website updated
5 January 2010 - With the start of the new triennium (which runs from 1 January 2010 until 31 December 2012), the Task 40 website has been updated and streamlined. While no documents have been removed, some links may have changed. You may also have to press the "refresh"-button in your brower for several pages to update your browsers cache. In case you have any problems accessing documents, please let the webmaster know.
2nd Generation Biofuels and Trade - an exploratory study
16 December 2009 - A new study [1,582 KB]
by Douglas Bradley, Luc Pelkmans and Dieter Cupyers examines the potential supply and demand of 2nd generation biofuels up until 2030, and discusses various impacts on biofuel trade, ranging from cost advantages over shipping capacities and routes to policy impacts. It is an explorative study, highlighting the possible effects of large scale market penetraiton of lignocellulose-based transport fuels, but also highlights the large number of variables and uncertainties determining these developments. Also the impact of the global recession and the role of bio-refineries are briefly discussed.
A reliable supply of biomass and a reliable demand for bio energy is vital to develop stable market activities, aimed at bio-energy trade. Task 40, a task under the IEA Bio-energy Agreement (see http://www.ieabioenergy.com/), will contribute to the development of sustainable biomass markets on short and on long term and on different scale levels (from regional to global). The future vision of this task on global biomass trade is that it develops over time into a real “commodity market” which will secure supply and demand in a sustainable way; sustainability brings a key factor for long-term security.
These webpages provide information about the activities of task 40 and her members. For an overview see our work programme and the Task 40 information leaflet. [1,474 KB]
The Task is lead by Andre Faaij (Copernicus Institute / Utrecht University) and Peter-Paul Schouwenberg (Nidera), assisted by Martin Junginger (Utrecht University).
If you have any comments, suggestions or questions regarding this website please contact Martin Junginger (H.M.Junginger "at" uu.nl)