European Commission - Publication Biofuels in the European Union - A vision for 2030 and beyond

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Biofuels in the European Union - A vision for 2030 and beyond - Final report of the Biofuels Research Advisory Council, Directorate-General for Research Sustainable Energy Systems, EUR 22066, ISBN 92-79-01748-9, Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2006.

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The aim and scope of this 32 page, full colour report is summarised in the preface by Janez Potočnik Commissioner for Science and Research

Preface

The European Union is strongly dependent on fossil fuels for its transport needs. In order to reduce this dependence and to meet our sustainability goals, we need a clean, secure and affordable supply of transportation fuels. There, biofuels can provide a very significant contribution in the short to medium term, and the Commission takes an active approach to promote the use of biofuels. For example, the Commission has recently adopted the Biomass Action Plan and the EU Strategy for Biofuels, and gives a high priority to research and development for biofuels and biofuel technology in the Framework Programmes for Research.

In an effort to better prioritise, co-ordinate and implement future research and development of biofuels, the Commission invited a group of high level experts representing widely different sectors of the biofuel chain. The mission of this group was to develop a foresight report - a vision for biofuels up to 2030 and beyond, which should address all the issues that are relevant to ensure a breakthrough of biofuels and increase their deployment in the EU.

The group, called the Biofuels Research Advisory Council (BIOFRAC), has described a vision for 2030. It is based on the members' past experience, current practice and future expectations. The vision does not mean to carve in stone a roadmap, or to elicit the setting of a target. Rather, it lays out the challenges ahead and suggests what it would take to meet them. Within this ambit, the vision report lays the foundations for a Strategic Research Agenda. It also recommends the creation of a European Technology Platform for Biofuels that will elaborate and implement this research agenda.

The vision report starts from the assumption that certain objectives can be met more effectively if pursued in a coordinated manner. This coordinated effort must fulfil a need that is broadly perceived by the sector at large - biomass producers, fuel producers, vehicle manufacturers and end users. It is in this context that the creation of a privatepublic partnership should bring about a research and development agenda that aims at technology development of value to both European industry and citizens.

I welcome BIOFRAC's recommendation to create a Technology Platform for Biofuels. I hope that its members will come together around a clear and unambiguous goal which will make it effective and will bring high added value to each of them. I wish the platform a lot of success in embarking on its mission and in achieving its objectives.

Contents

Executive summary

Introduction

Actual situation

• Policy context
• Energy supply and demand
• Resource availability
• Biomass to biofuels conversion technologies

Challenges and opportunities for the future

• Securing future mobility
• Reducing greenhouse gas emissions
• Increasing biomass supply

Vision for 2030 and beyond

• A vision for biofuels
• The technical potential underpinning the vision
• Considerations for reaching the vision

Strategic Research Agenda

• Deployment
• Technology roadmap
• Non-technological aspects

Recommendations

References