First generation bioethanol deserves revaluation, says nova-Institute
European biofuel policy is being revised. November last year, the new draft renewable energy directive (RED II) has been proposed, and decisions on it will be taken in the coming months. The main difference with RED I is a further reduction of the amount of first generation biofuels. Nova-Institute reviewed the underlying scientific evidence and
Drop-ins lead the biobased economy astray
Earlier this year, German nova-Institute published another thoughtful document on the biobased economy. It starts out from the observation that ten years of European policy making have not been very successful. The amount of biomass used in the European chemical and plastics industry has stagnated. The only sectors showing growth are the bioenergy and biofuel
Thermocatalytic reforming makes most of biomass
The German start-up Susteen Technologies GmbH will come to the Netherlands with its thermocatalytic reforming process (TCR®), an improved pyrolysis technology. Its customers will locally transform various kinds of biomass into synthesis gas, charcoal and oil of diesel quality, to be used as a fuel or for further processing. This will enable them to use
Biorenewables key to reduce CO2 emissions, says macroeconomic study
The launch of a new macroeconomic scenario study marked the opening of the ECO-BIO conference in Rotterdam today. Biorenewables fulfil a key role in climate policy and in future economic development, says the LEI/Copernicus report, concentrating on the Netherlands. In the words of Luuk van der Wielen (Director BE-Basic, one of the supporting organisations): ‘The
Cellulosic ethanol: feedstock costs predominant, sugar cane cheapest
Cellulosic ethanol costs vary greatly among the six units now in operation across the world, according to Lux Research. The single most important factor contributing to the cost differences is feedstock costs. Sugar cane straw costs are half those of corn stover. Price differences indicate that innovation is needed in several relevant areas, says Lux.
Biobased industry review 2015
It’s been another busy year for the biobased chemicals and fuels team at NNFCC; as 2015 draws to a close we take a look at some of the year’s highlights. NNFCC, based in York, is one of the leading European biobased consultancy firms. With their kind permission we re-publish their 2015 review. By Adrian Higson
Multiple use of biomass
Cascading biomass is the latest policy term for a multiple use of biomass, a use that starts ‘at the top’, in some material form (e.g. furniture or bioplastics) and ends up in the least valuable form: energy. Cascading biomass receives much policy support, at least in words. However, actual policies drive biomass to the least
Bioeconomy: much more employment in biobased chemicals than in biofuels
More than once, we devoted our attention to the negative impact of biofuels policy on the biobased chemical industry. New calculations by Nova Institute now show that in the bioeconomy, biobased chemicals production leads to much more employment than biofuel production. Whereas both reduce CO2 emissions. Europe, what’s on your mind? Biofuels and biobased chemicals
