BBEST – IEA Bioenergy 2024 Conference: highlights

The BBEST – IEA Bioenergy 2024 Conference took place in São Paulo, Brazil, from 22 to 24 October 2024. It brought together two conferences in the same event: the Brazilian Bioenergy Science and Technology Conference (BBEST), which is held every three years in Brazil, and the IEA Bioenergy triennial conference, which has been held in different places around the world, also on a three-year basis.

The central theme of the conference was “Bioenergy and bioproducts: Accelerating the transition towards sustainability”. The conference covered important topics such as responsible land use and agricultural productivity; feedstock mobilization; sustainability of bioenergy pathways; biofuels for air, sea and road transport; heat and power from biomass and waste; renewable gases; the future of biorefineries; the use of biogenic carbon; and strategies for the circular carbon economy.

The conference programme, specific highlights of the different conference sessions, as well as recordings and presentations are available here.

In total, 354 people from 31 countries participated in the conference in person. Several more people watched the session recordings online.

Key takeaways of the conference:

Brazil, the host of the conference, is one of the leaders in the production of biofuels in the world. The bioenergy sector in Brazil is a key component of the country’s renewable energy landscape. In 2023, bioenergy (in solid, gaseous and liquid forms) accounted for 44% of the total energy matrix. The country has over 50 years’ experience with bioethanol use in transportation. Until 2023, ethanol in Brazil displaced the equivalent of 2.5 billion barrels of oil and saved US$202 billion in gasoline imports.

Brazil has a pivotal role in promoting biofuels at the global level. The last two years have been monumental for Brazil with the launch of the Global Alliance for Biofuels, Brazil’s G20 presidency prioritizing biofuels in the energy transition agenda, the Agenda for a More Sustainable Brazil, and the recent enactment of the Fuels of the Future law.

The impacts of climate change are showing prominently, with increasing wildfires, storms and excessive rainfall having devastating effects all over the world. This shows the urgent need for climate action to bring down greenhouse gas emissions, but also to adapt land and forest management to this new reality.

At the global level, modern bioenergy is a pillar of the transition to a net zero energy system. It provides an accessible, secure source of energy, which is affordable and compatible with a wide range of technologies. There are enough sustainable biomass supplies without having negative impacts on food production or forested lands if bioenergy resources are developed responsibly. Modern bioenergy accounts for nearly 20% of total energy use by 2050 in IEA’s net zero scenario, with biofuels being one of the critical means to decarbonize/defossilize aviation and maritime transport.

However, bioenergy deployment is not on track to meet its contribution to the net zero pathway. Near-term policy priorities are the development of a clear, global ambition; the implementation and expansion of demand and supply policies (including rewarding carbon intensity reduction); seeking consensus on performance-based sustainability requirements; and the acceleration of technology deployment.

The necessary significant expansion in the production of bio-based fuels, chemicals and materials requires a substantial increase in the supply of sustainable biomass. In addition to traditional feedstocks (woody biomass, sugarcane, corn), there is plenty of room for different sorts of residues and crops from different regions of the world. The key to realizing a true bioeconomy will be tied to the ability to source feedstocks and unlock sustainable biomass potentials. This depends on the participation of biomass producers and the ability to overcome the barriers that they perceive. The scale of feedstock sourcing is important, but there is also room for small holding farmers, or farmers in developing countries, including indigenous populations.

There are several sustainability concerns of bioenergy, but the main concerns are related to the use of land for dedicated energy crops. Sustainability impacts and therefore sustainability trade-offs of biomass feedstock production highly depend on context. For a sustainable biobased economy, we must consider the entire land use system, not just the part used for energy. Understanding and quantifying trade-offs will enable better informed decision making.

Biofuels and bioproducts bring much more than greenhouse gas reduction: when done responsibly, they allow for greater sustainable development, with its social and economic dimensions. Substantial production of biomass for different bioenergy applications and bioproducts is possible in many countries where land is available.

There is a major role for modern bioenergy in emerging economies, especially in the Global South. Many of these countries have considerable biomass potentials; most countries are fossil fuel importers, they have a significant population growth and increasing energy demand, and at the same time they also want to decarbonize their energy and transport system. Biofuels offer a lot of opportunities, not just in reducing GHG emissions, but also in creating jobs and stimulating economic development in these regions, bringing technology and infrastructure to rural areas, as well as reducing the dependency on fossil fuel imports.

Different jurisdictions are establishing different criteria for evaluating or determining sustainability, but these are not always interoperable with each other, particularly related to the carbon intensity of products. This creates uncertainties that make investments and free trade difficult. For bioenergy and bioeconomy to advance in an inclusive and sustainable way, we need to have agreement on clear and interoperable rules to assess sustainability with consistent and common criteria in the various countries and sectors. Transparency is important and objective science should be used as guidance. Countries should learn from what goes on around the world and not reinvent the wheel. We need to acknowledge that there are distinctions among starting conditions and available resources, e.g. for emerging economies, and it is essential to provide incentives (and time) for all parties to improve.

Demand for biomass will increase in many sectors. The aim should be to unlock sustainable biomass potentials and make smart use of the available biomass to maximize its impact. In future there will be a range of integrated biorefineries that can produce fuels and biochemicals. Over time, the focus may shift, depending on market demands.

The limits to biomass availability also imply a focus of biofuels/bioenergy on gaps in the energy system, so called ‘difficult to abate’ applications (e.g. long-distance transport, high temperature heat in industries) where electrification is difficult to implement or where complementarity with other (variable) renewables can be pursued through flexible bioenergy solutions. Moreover, the ability to capture and store biogenic CO₂ from bioenergy and biobased processes is an important opportunity to extract CO₂ from the atmosphere and can have a major role in the strive to carbon neutrality. Biogenic CO₂ may also serve as input for green fuels or chemicals.

Any prioritization of biomass uses is regional specific and evolves over time and therefore should not be generalized. We also need to consider the essential needs for people and the economy. For example, the ability to heat their homes is essential for people, as well as the need to cook their food, particularly in developing countries which now largely rely on unsustainable traditional biomass use for these applications. This can be addressed with modern bioenergy, which can provide this service in an affordable way without moving to fossil fuels.

A further deployment of biofuels requires expanding technologies beyond current feedstocks such as sugar, starch and oils. Biomass plants in future will need to be more flexible in their feedstocks. A much broader feedstock base is available when (lignocellulosic) sources can be included; the types and amounts of these feedstock sources are regionally dependent. But it takes time for new biofuels pathways to reach commercial scale. They need to go through a learning curve, progressing from pilot to demonstration to commercial scale without skipping steps; there is a risk of unrealistic expectations.

Biofuels and bioenergy industries require very broad international collaboration to most effectively develop the global industry.