Governments and Industry affirm the future of bio-based fuels, chemicals, and materials

Sep 2022
BulletinsPublications

September 23rd, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. Global Clean Energy Action Forum.

The government and industry members of the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) Biofuture Platform Initiative and Campaign announce the release of their Biofuture Statement that affirms the essential role of sustainable bio-based fuels, chemicals, and materials to enabling an inclusive clean energy transition and a Net Zero, circular economy.  The sustainable production and use of bio-based products is also key to increasing energy security, job creation, and socio-economic development. Government and industry emphasize that delivering the GHG reduction benefits, while conserving biodiversity and ensuring high-functioning environmental services, requires 1) improving the evidence-based approaches to improve quantification of sustainable biomass resources and 2) strengthening sustainability governance.

At the Global Clean Energy Action Forum, the Clean Energy Ministerial Biofuture Platform Initiative held discussions between government, industry, and NGO leaders regarding the innovation, investment, and policy needed to fulfil the potential for bio-based fuels, chemicals. Participants stressed that a stable policy framework, including coherence among related clean energy sectors, like CCUS and hydrogen, would enable the transition to a Circular Bioeconomy. Developing markets for products featuring the highest value usage of biomass resources would encourage the private investment needed to realize the sustainable biofuture.

 


The Global Clean Energy Action Forum (GCEAF), a joint convening of the 13th Clean Energy Ministerial and the 7th Mission Innovation ministerial was held in Pittsburgh on September 21-23, 2022.

 

QUOTES FROM THE EVENT

“I am extremely pleased that the Biofuture Platform Member Countries, including Brazil, are putting out today a High-Level Statement committing to an evidence-based approach to quantification of sustainable biomass availability and sustainability governance. We hope that this statement encourages more frank dialogue and coordination regarding the role of bio-based products among experts, leaders, and stakeholders.” – José Guilherme Resende, Secretary for Energy Planning and Development, Ministry of Mines and Energy, Brazil.

“It was a privilege to contribute to the GCEAF events hosted by the Clean Energy Ministerial Biofuture Platform. On behalf of Industry I emphasized the critical need for intensive public-private partnership. Together, governments and industry, need more frank dialogue on what is working and what is not working. When it comes to biofuels – the technology is here. Our government partners now have a critical role to play in sending a global demand signal to the market to unleash rapid commercialization. There is no time to waste.”– Bryan Sherbacow, Alder Fuels, CEO & President

“We are excited to join this timely convening of senior leaders of the global bioeconomy at the Global Clean Energy Action Forum. The sharing of best practices and hard-won experience is much needed to fast-track project development and execution. During our 10-year pursuit to de-fossilize the global maritime sector we gained a deep understanding of what are the best public/private drivers to create real tipping points and systemic change. We are anticipate productive work with the CEM Biofuture Platform Initiative and its Campaign and to realize real solutions for a better world.” – Dirk Kronemeijer, Founder & CEO GoodFuels

Full Statement: https://biofutureplatform.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/High-Level-Statement.pdf

Specifically, the Biofuture Platform Members recognize that

  1. The sustainable production and use of bio-based fuels, chemicals, and materials is key to achieving GHG emissions reductions and offers important co-benefits such as increased energy security and socio-economic development, including job creation across the breadth of the bioeconomy value chain.
  2. Promoting an evidence-based approach to quantification of sustainable biomass availability and sustainability governance is essential to optimizing biomass feedstock production and delivering the GHG reduction benefits of using bio-based products, while conserving biodiversity, protecting environment, and increasing social-economic benefits.
  3. Engaging diverse stakeholders is necessary to identify and implement effective approaches to biomass sustainability governance, and to ensure the credibility of using bio-based products
  4. to reduce GHG emissions.
  5. Policies intending to scale up the production and use of sustainable bio-based products should support wider climate and environmental targets and be performance-based, technology-agnostic, and developed using the best available science and information.
  6. Work is needed to enable the use of transparent and agreed upon carbon accounting methods to inform relevant policies and to optimize the GHG reductions from using bio-based fuels, chemicals, and materials to replace their fossil equivalents.
  7. Investments and project implementation should be made in consultation with local communities to identify beneficial social and economic opportunities, and improve environmental quality and climate justice, while minimizing risks.

For further information about the CEM Biofuture Initiative and Campaign visit https://biofutureplatform.org/