European Industrial Bioenergy Initiative

European Industrial Bioenergy Initiative

The EIBI Implementation Plan for 2013-2015 The current Implementation plan of the EIBI covered 2010-2012. A proposal for an update to the implementation plan for 2013-2015 will be drafted by the internal EIBI team of the EBTP, which consists of Henrik Erämetsä, Markku Karlsson, Véronique Hervouet, Anders Lau Tuxen, Ingvar Landälv, Pierre Porot and Kai Sipilä, and Margarita de Gregorio (representing BIOPLAT). The team will review the goal of 4% advanced biofuels by 2020, which was originally stated in the Implementation Plan in 2010, and work on cost estimates for achieving this or a revised percentage. However, it is recognised that achieving even a modest number of advanced biofuels facilities in the next 8 years will require the rapid introduction of stable support measures to boost investment in demonstration and flagship plants.

The draft implementation plan proposals will be approved by the wider SET Plan EIBI team, which includes representitives of the EC and Member States. EIBI topic under ERA-NET in the FP7 Call July 2012 Topic ENERGY.2013.10.1.1: ERA-NET Plus – Bioenergy: Demonstrations of the European Industrial Bioenergy Initiative The aim of this ERA-NET Plus is to continue to promote joint strategic planning and programming for the implementation of Bioenergy demonstration projects, in accordance with the priorities set out in the EIBI. Further information and links on FP7 Call The 2012 European Industrial Bioenergy Initiative Conference was held by the European Commission in Brussels on 5th June 2012. The aim of the conference was to make the EIBI better known to the various biofuels stakeholders. Stakeholders from acrosss the biofuels value chains attended the conference.  View EIBI Conference Presentations and Video (Web Streaming) What is the EIBI? The EIBI is one of the industrial initiatives launched under the SET Plan. It will support demonstration or reference plants for innovative bioenergy value chainswhich are not yet commercially available (thus excluding existing biofuels and heat & power technologies) and which could be deployed at large scale. A call for Expressions of Interest in the EIBI was held in the Autumn of 2011. An analsysis report on the Outcome of the Call for Expression of Interest carried out by the EIBI Team is now available. Two topics supporting EIBI were included in the most recent FP7 call under FP7-Energy-2012-2 and FP7-ERANET-2012-RTD. The deadlines were 8 March 2012 and 28 February 2012.   The EIBI covers seven value chains; 4 thermochemical and 3 biochemical. EIBI thermochemical value chains View at larger size >> EIBI biochemical value chains View at larger size >> SET-Plan 2011 Conference and Warsaw Declaration The SET-Plan 2011 Conference was held on 28-29 November 2011 in Warsaw, Poland as a part of the Polish Presidency of the EU Council. One of the key outcomes of the conference is a political resolution – the Warsaw Declaration – on a proper reflection of the SET-Plan technologies in the next financial framework (2014-2020). In summary this is a ‘commitment’ to bring new high performance energy tachnologies to market, such as advanced bioenergy at the industrial scale. EIBI call for Expressions of Interest A call for Expressions of Interest for the EIBI was launched on 15 July 2011 and the deadline was extended to 14 October 2011 (from 30 September). In total 52 Expressions of Interested were received, 32 in the thermochemical pathways and 20 in the biochemical pathways.  An analsysis report on the Outcome of the Call for Expression of Interestcarried out by the EIBI Team is now available. The European Industrial Bioenergy Initiative (EIBI) EoI call provides an opportunity for Europe’s bio-energy industrial community to help establish a clear picture of its interest and readiness to participate in new public-private partnerships for demonstration and flagship projects in line with the EIBI specifications. Submission in the EoI does not commit any side. It will help national governments and the European Union to find out in which countries there is a strong interest in EIBI demonstration and flagship projects, and thus also support the estimation of adequate public finding. Further information and EoI documents on SETIS: 6th EIBI Team Meeting The 6th EIBI Team meeting took place on September 14th 2011. EIBI Member States representatives are in the process of preparing a proposal for the above mentioned ERA-NET plus call. ERA-NET plus is a funding scheme where Member States pool financial resources for a joint call, which will be topped up by the European Commission. Provided that Member States are able to commit a budget for project funding of 30M € for the ERA-NET plus call closing in February 2012, and the EC will be able to contribute 15M €, a total of 45M € public funding, plus matching private funds, could be available for EIBI activities (demonstration only). Innovative financing for flagship advanced biofuels projects (“first-of-a-kind commercial scale production facilities”) continues to be explored. Below are links to the relevant topics under the FP7-Energy-2012-2 call. 1) Call FP7-Energy-2012-2, deadline for submission 8 March 2012 Page 20: Topic ENERGY.2012.3.2.3: Pre-commercial industrial scale demonstration plant on lignocellulosic ethanol (budget: 35 M€)  Funding: Collaborative project, including predominant demonstration component, up to 2 projects will be funded The action supports the implementation of the SET-Plan and EIBI. Proposals have to provide data and key performance indicators developed by the EIBI TEAM. 2) Call FP7-ERANET-2012-RTD, deadline for submission 28 February 2012 Page 45: Topic ENERGY.2012.10.1.1: Era-Net Plus – Bioenergy Demonstration of the European Industrial Bioenergy Initiative (EU Budget: 15 M€)  Background to the EIBI EoI During 2011, The EBTP continues to help shape the EIBI in close collaboration with the European Commission and Member States. The main challenge is to secure financing. For the time being, some financing will be provided via the ERA-NET+ funding scheme. Under this scheme, Member States pool project funding, when receives a top up premium from the European Commission. An EIBI call for Expression of Interest (EoI), including demo and flagship plants, has been launched (see above). Its timing has been synchronised with the calendar of the FP7 2012 call for proposals. The results of the EoI will then feed into the ERA-NET+ call envisaged for summer 2012. A SET Plan Workshop on financing was held in Brussels on 21 June 2011.

This covered the financing of first-of-a-kind demonstration plants for bioenergy, as well as other energy sources (solar, wind, nuclear, etc.). Presentations and further details are available online. The need for support mechanisms to facilitate the development of flagship advanced biofuels plants has also been raised. EIBI Launch 15-16 November 2010 A EIBI Team has now been established including representatives from industry, Member States and the European Commission. Following meetings in September and October 2010, the EIBI Team has finalised the EIBI Implementation Plan, and the initiative was formally launched at the SET Plan Conference, under the Belgian Council Presidency, on 15th-16th November 2010.  Download EIBI Implementation Plan (309 Kb).  View EIBI presentation by Véronique Hervouet, Chair, EBTP, made at the SET Plan Conference and EIBI launch in Brussels, 15 October 2010 (1.9 Mb).  View a Message of industrial support for EIBI presented by Lars Peter Lindfors, Senior Vice President Technology and Strategy of Neste Oil (1.7 Mb). Under the guidance and authority of the EIBI team, a Task Force on Selection Criteria, consisting of representatives from EC and Industry, has been set up to define eligibility and selection criteria for the EIBI.

The Task Force is co-chaired by the EBTP and the EC. A first draft of eligibility and selection criteria has been agreed in October 2010, but may require further refinement before being finalised. EBTP EIBI Working Group In June 2010, EBTP WG6 on Prioritisation was renamed as the EIBI Working Group. The group provides internal liaison with EBTP members in the SET Plan EIBI Team and the EIBI Criteria Taskforce (which will develop the criteria for EIBI projects).  View EIBI presentation by Véronique Hervouet, Chair, EBTP, made at theEuropean Future Energy Forum in London, 20 October 2010   Proposal to shape a European Industrial Bioenergy Initiative (EIBI) A document presenting a pragmatic proposal to shape a European Industrial Bioenergy Initiative (EIBI) was originally prepared by the EIBI Working Group of EBTP (formerly known as WG6 Prioritisation) and discussed extensively by the Steering Committee. This discussion document is currently available to registered stakeholders via the reports link on the stakeholders members area.  Download EIBI Proposal – Executive Summary (178 Kb) Steps towards a proposal for an EIBI >> Introduction, objectives and outcomes of the EIBI >>   Steps towards a proposal for an EIBI On 22 Nov 2007, the European Commission proposed a plan to accelerate energy technologies for a low-carbon future, the SET Plan. To put the plan into action, European Industrial Initatives on several energy technologies including bioenergy were proposed, with the aim to strengthen energy research and innovation by bringing together appropriate resources and actors in a particular industrial sector.

These initatives are to be focused on technologies for which the barriers, scale of investment and risk can best be tackled collectively by the EU, Member States and industry. The initiatives must also demonstrate measurable objectives in terms of cost reduction or improved performance. The aims of the SET Plan are in line with many of the proposals made in the EBTPStrategic Research Agenda and Strategy Deployment Document, launched in January 2008, which identified demonstration of innovative technologies as a critical step in achieving the EU’s ambitious goals for biofuels. During 2008, a newly established EBTP Working Group on Prioritisation (WG6) developed a pragmatic approach to identify and analyse those innovative biofuels and bioenergy technologies that could bring a significant contribution to the ambitious EU objectives for renewables and sustainable biofuels, in addition to existing bioenergy and biofuels pathways. The outcome of the work clearly indicated that a focus on conversion technologies is not enough. The value chain approach developed by EBTP WG6 stressed that biomass resources and product markets are an integral parts of this analysis. As illustrated at the EBTP 2nd Stakeholder Plenary Meeting held in Brussels on 22 January 2009, industry players already active in the development of these pathways and technologies are willing to pursue demonstration and commercial implementation, provided an adequate framework can be developed around public/private partnership to share financing and manage the main risks (feedstock, technology, market, regulatory, financial …).

In 2009, the value chain approach was integrated by WG6 (now rrenamed the EIBI Working Group) into a broader contribution to the European Industrial Bioenergy Initiative (EIBI) within the EU SET Plan. EIBI was extensively discussed within EBTP, its stakeholders and the EC. The EIBI proposal was also a key item of two workshops organised by the European Commission and a conference organised by the EC and the Swedish Council Presidency: Workshop 1, 26 June 2009: Proposal presented to the European Community Steering Group for Strategic Energy Technologies, the European Energy Research Alliance and other relevant stakeholders. See stakeholder section of EBTP website for a summary. Technical Workshop 2, 25th September 2009: Focused on “Eligibility and Project Selection Criteria”. Around 40 technical experts, European Commission staff and representatives of EBTP discussed eligibility and robust selection criteria for projects of the European Industrial Bioenergy Initiative, which are likely to be closer to deployment and larger than the classical Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) projects. SET Plan Conference, 21-22 October 2009, Stockholm: The 6 European Industrial Initiatives (wind power, solar energy, bioenergy, carbon capture and storage, nuclear power and smart grids) were a major focus of the SET Plan conference, where the EIBI proposal was presented by EBTP Chair, Véronique Hervouet within the parallel session on Bioenergy. The EBTP presentation was complemented by interventions of Hans-Harald Jahn, European Investment Bank, and Ed de Jong, IEA Bioenergy, Task 42 “Biorefineries: Co-production of Fuels, Chemicals, Power and Materials from Biomass”. View SET Plan Conference Speech by Energy Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs On 7 October 2009, the European Commission adopted the Communication Investing in the development of low carbon technologies (SET-Plan), calling for an additional €50bn public and private investments in low carbon technologies over the next decade and detailing the technology roadmaps for the Industrial Initiatives. The next steps for all Industrial Initiatives will be discussions between the European Commission and Member States on different political levels during the forthcoming months.

A SET Plan Steering Group Meeting was held on 25 November 2009. Extensive meeting documents are now available for download. More recent developments are shown at the top of this page.   Brief Introduction to EIBI The scope of EIBI is on innovative bioenergy value chains which are not yet commercially available (thus excluding current biofuels, heat & power, biogas) and which could be deployed at large scale (large single units or larger number of smaller units). Key Objectives of EIBI Enabling commercial availability of advanced bioenergy at large scale by 2020, aiming at production costs allowing competitiveness with fossil fuels at the prevailing economic and regulatory market conditions, and advanced biofuels covering up to 4 % of EU transportation energy needs by 2020. Strengthening EU world technology leadership for renewable transport fuels for diesel and jet engines, serving the fastest growing area of transport fuels, in the world. Core Activity of EIBI Selection and funding of Demonstration and/or Reference plants projects Budget and timeline; 6-8 Billion € over 10 years, to fund 15 to 20 demonstration and / or reference plants Main Outcomes of EIBI Developing use in the EU of sustainable biomass resources for bioenergy applications, adjusted to local context. Focusing relevant EU public and private R&D capability on strategic objectives validated at EU level. Contributing significantly to the creation of green jobs, to locally and sustainably produced energy and to the development of a healthy bioenergy industrial base. Stimulating education and training in the related scientific and technological areas, raising the level of competencies and increasing the number of professionals.