Plenary sessions preview

This plenary session will address the development of maintenance of sustainable value chains for biomass and its utilisation in the emerging bioeconomy.

The first presentation looks at the growth of a bioeconomy without borders and assesses the environmental footprint of EU27. The study upon which the presentation has been prepared uses 2022 as a reference year and considers the EU’s environmental footprint, including impacts both inside and outside the EU and focusing on GHG emissions, land use change (LUC) emissions, land use, and scarcity-weighted water use, all using an environmentally extended multi-regional input-output (EE-MRIO) model. From the model, both production- and consumption-based impacts to capture global supply chain pressures were quantified.

The next presentation considers advancing Public Perception and Social Acceptance for Socially Sustainable Bio-based Refinery Intermediates. The presentation examines how lessons from the Horizon 2020 BioMates project on social acceptance and public perception can inform the ongoing ABATE initiative, and the importance of trust, transparency, and fairness in public support. From the initial findings, ABATE applies an integrated approach using stakeholder consultation to assess how social acceptance can be strengthened.

The study demonstrates that linking social insights with technological development promotes socially sustainable innovation aligned with environmental goals and public expectations within the European bioeconomy.

The final presentation addresses sustainability certification pathways for emerging low iLUC feedstocks with an emphasis on policy and certification insights coming from the CARINA European Project which focussed on integrating oil-seed crops into diversified farming systems. The supply of low iLUC-risk feedstocks for the circular bioeconomy involves innovative cropping strategies, without displacing food crops. Camelina and carinata offer promising low indirect land-use change potentials, but require coherent governance, certification, and policy support for sustainable scale-up. The work contributes to the development of robust Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) frameworks and explores the integration of carbon farming and sustainable carbon cycles into certification systems.

This plenary session addresses and models the availability, quality, and optimal use of wood as a biomass resource, and includes biomass crop potentials in the EU, cascading of wood use in a sustainable bioeconomy and low-ILUC industrial biomass crops.

In the first presentation, biomass from intermediate crops is among the newly added biofeedstocks for producing advance biofuels in the amended REDIII Annex IX. In this contribution insights in all current and future factors that determine the eventual biomass potential from intermediate crops are considered. The selection of crops most suitable to become an intermediate crop addresses climatic suitability (now and expected climate change by 2050), simulated crop yield, environmental performance and TRL level. Identification of current and future land availability is particularly dependent on rotational fallow land availability and expected land use changes in agricultural land under influence of market developments and policies (EGD and CAP) as well as climate change and expected competing land use claims. Results show that biomass production is significantly higher for intermediate crops added to existing crop rotations in the summer season then in the winter season.

The second presentation covers the central role of wood in the bioeconomy by sequestering CO2 in woody biomass, storing carbon in materials, and substituting fossil resources. However, a systemic understanding of wood use across the value chain is essential to support bio-based development and accelerating progress toward net-zero goals. Cascading use of wood is critical in this strategy, repurposed or recycled multiple times before final energy recovery. Building on previous material flow analysis (MFA) of the Swiss wood value chain, a method was developed for scenario development that matches wood flows with applications based on quality and functional requirements. Three material-first scenarios were constructed, for cellulose, biochar, and fibre- and particle-boards, to quantify biomass demand, identify trade-offs, and explore how these materials can extend the lifespan of wood in the technosphere.

The final presentation in this session considers the cultivation of industrial crops on marginal land as a way of minimizing land use competition. Nineteen different biomass-to-product pathways were selected in the framework of the European MIDAS project, including Safflower, Lavender, Siberian Elm, Poplar, Switchgrass, Castor, Sorghum, Hemp, Guayule, Cardoon, Miscanthus, Crambe, as well as cropping systems (intercropping and agroforestry), in different regions of Europe. The work enabled identification of potential limitations associated with the cultivation of these industrial crops in marginal soils. Crop management options were assessed, including use of innovative farming systems (e.g. intercropping, agroforestry, harvesting solutions, irrigation systems, soil amendments), amount of fertilizers and pesticides applied, irrigation needs. Impacts were assessed in terms of biomass yields, impact on soil, water and biodiversity.

This plenary session addresses the broad question of integration of technologies in bioenergy value chains.

The first presentation covers some of the work of IEA Bioenergy Task 44, namely the underrepresentation of flexible bioenergy in energy system models and policy frameworks. Through conceptual development, technology assessment, best practice documentation, and policy recommendations, the Task demonstrates how integration of bioenergy technologies can lead to enhanced system reliability and reduce costs while supporting decarbonization. Results include a comprehensive technology portfolio, real-world case studies, and modelling evidence showing significant economic and reliability benefits. The Task reframes bioenergy’s role from a cost-effective renewable to a systems integrator, offering tools and strategies to unlock its full potential in future-proof energy systems.

The second presentation demonstrates that the development and commercialization of new technologies is rarely a straightforward process from idea to execution. Markets and Science rarely line up so simply as to provide a singular path forward, so that as a new technology moves through the TRL index, it is critical that a strategic and commercial mindset is retained, and that the weight of these considerations is increased the closer to commercialization a technology proceeds.

The SixRing platform has brought to market a new and differentiated process to valorize lignocellulosic biomass, and with it, the potential to deliver compelling alternatives beyond just biomass combustion. Over a period of more than 5 years, SixRing has retained an appropriate balance between the science-first process of discovery of the chemistry and initial products and the business-first process of market options and investigation, competitor analysis and risk-adjusted economic screening.

The third presentation covers the implementation of UPM’s lignocellulosic biorefinery for the production of sustainable chemicals and materials.

This Plenary session covers the wide scope of biorefineries, converting many different kinds of biomass to a wide range of biomaterials and biochemicals.

The session starts with an overview of current developments of biorefineries that are expanding steadily internationally as governments and industries focus on decarbonization, independence from fossil oil, energy security, and developing a real circular bioeconomy. Recent analyses show strong growth in production capacity, technology deployment, and regional investments. But at the same time major challenges are recognized in affordable feedstock availability, energy prices, together with high CAPEX and OPEX. In addition, detailed downstream purification strategies are needed for the production of high value biochemicals. IEA Bioenergy Task 42, ’Biorefining in a Circular Economy’ is an international network that provides detailed up-to-date and scientifically sound information on biorefinery technologies to help stakeholders to establish biorefineries for the future with integrated energy systems and a multiple high grade finished products.

The second presentation addresses China’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) industry as it enters a new stage of development. As biomass-based pathways gain industrial momentum, the broader conversation is expanding toward expanding the scale of production facilities, market development, alignment with policy, and the long-term role of SAF within the energy transition. This presentation will offer a strategic overview of how the Chinese SAF landscape is evolving and how it connects to global developments.

To be included key technological directions, from biomass-based routes to emerging next-generation solutions, and sharing perspectives on recent market signals, regulatory developments, and cross-industry collaboration. Also to be highlighted will be the growing innovation ecosystem around SAF, including startups and new technology players shaping future supply chains

The final presentation addresses the specific challenge of turning biomass into chemicals via fermentation. Within the next 25 years the chemical industry is destined to switch to circular feedstocks, and the use of renewable biomass is essential to achieve this. But the big question is how do we unlock biomass as a feedstock for the chemical industry? Open mixed-culture fermentation of food residues and agricultural by-products into fatty acids can play a key role. ChainCraft is an organisation that is working to develop this technology to a first full-scale factory to produce 20,000,000 kilos of medium chain fatty acid, with expected commissioning in 2027.

This special plenary session is focussed on contributions from industry and achievements in the field of biomass conversion to biofuels and bioproducts.

Three presentations were planned, the first of which addresses industrial perspectives for intermediate crops which are emerging as a possible practical solution to the improvement of agricultural productivity while aligning with climate goals. The particular focus of this presentation will be integrating non-food oilseed crops such as carinata into existing crop rotations with the aim of delivering sustainable biomass without negative impacts on food production. Grown between main crops on otherwise fallow or underutilized land, intermediate crops offer multiple benefits, including additional income for farmers, improved soil health, enhanced biodiversity, and significant greenhouse gas emissions reductions. From an industrial perspective, intermediate crops provide a reliable and traceable feedstock for advanced biofuels in hard-to-abate sectors such as aviation or heavy-duty transport, as well as potentially for bio-based products. EU policy and market enablers will also be discussed.

The second presentation looks at the role played by gasification technologies in the ongoing energy and materials transition and will elaborate on the challenges faced when developing projects in a European setting.  In the Netherlands, for example, conditions in this current phase of the energy transition increasingly favour gasification.

However, there remain many barriers on the road to achieving commercial exploitation. In this presentation, the summary is made of an analysis of challenges faced along the implementation pathway, including legislation, permitting and financing. Examples of different projects under development will be described, including the production of Green Gas, MeOH or hydrogen. Indirect gasification, fixed bed gasification and entrained flow gasification technologies will be covered, with feedstocks including demolition wood, manure and RDF type materials. It will be shown that perseverance is key, and that set-backs are to be expected along the way, although learning from other projects should allow learning from mistakes and obstacles for newcomers to the gasification market.

The final presentation is focussed on the Biogas Tripartite Agreement. Following a rapid expansion of the biogas sector over the last few years, roughly doubling in size every three and a half years, the sector contributed around 19 billion cubic meters (bcm), equating to approximately 6% of natural gas consumption in the EU in 2023. Growth of the sector is projected to add an additional 4 bcm capacity annually by 2030. In addition to biomethane production, biogas production processes also generate digestate, which can be used as substitute for fossil fertilizers, while at the same time enabling carbon capture and storage.

This plenary session will address conversion of biomass into advanced fuels focussing on thermochemical pathways and an array of hybrid systems.

The first presentation covers low temperature catalytic supercritical water Gasification of food waste digestate to hydrogen. Supercritical water gasification (SCWG) offers faster reaction rates and better mass transfer at higher temperatures than for aqueous phase reforming (APR). However, SCWG also faces issues with catalyst durability and selectivity at 380-450°C. The study described demonstrates a low-temperature catalytic SCWG process using a platinum-on-carbon (Pt/C) catalyst to convert digestate from food waste fermentation into hydrogen-rich gas. Conducted in a TRL-4 continuous-flow system with integrated salt and sulphur removal, the process is capable of achieving full conversion of organics, producing gas with over 60% hydrogen. The Pt/C catalyst showed high stability and selectivity, outperforming conventional Ru-based systems, and proved less sensitive to feed concentration. This work represents a scalable, single-step approach for efficient hydrogen production from wet biogenic waste.

The next presentation looks at maximizing jet-fuel production from HTL biocrude and considers the particular challenge of highly asphaltenic biocrude. HTL biocrudes derived from agricultural waste pose major upgrading challenges due to high inorganic content (up to 3000 ppm) and asphaltene levels (70%), which severely limit standard hydro processing. The study described here involves a novel multi-stage upgrading strategy developed within the Horizon Europe project CIRCULAIR, enabling the conversion of such biocrudes into on-spec sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The process involves four temperature-staged reactors (260–400°C) and a tailored catalyst sequence (Mo/Al2O3 and sulphided NiMo/Al2O3), operated in a continuous lab-scale hydrotreater. Micro-carbon residue (MCR) was used as a key indicator, decreasing from 26.0% to 0.7%. The final product contained 0.5% heteroatoms and 29% jet-range hydrocarbons. This work demonstrates, for the first time, a viable pathway to process highly challenging HTL biocrudes in continuous systems, offering a scalable solution for SAF production from waste feedstocks.

The final presentation describes a flexible power-and-biomass-to-X (PBtX) system integrating reversible solid oxide cells for market-responsive methanol and power production. Bio-methanol and electro-methanol are promising renewable fuels for decarbonizing transport and industry, yet limited biomass availability necessitates coupling with renewable electricity in flexible Power-and-Biomass-to-X (PBtX) systems. This study described in this presentation comprises a novel integrated gasification-solid oxide cell (IGSOC) concept capable of dynamically switching between methanol synthesis and power generation in response to market signals. The process integrates a 100 MWLHV circulating fluidized-bed gasifier, a reversible solid oxide cell (rSOC) stack operating alternately as electrolyzer (SOEC) and fuel cell (SOFC), and downstream methanol synthesis with advanced heat recovery. In methanol mode, the rSOC co-electrolyzes steam and CO2 from cleaned syngas to produce H2- and CO-enriched feedstock, achieving 25.3 t/h methanol production at 91 % carbon and 68.8 % energy efficiency. In power mode, the same stack generates 44 MWe net electricity with 49.7 % efficiency while still producing around 1 t/h methanol. Techno-economic optimization across the DK1 (Denmark), SE1 (Sweden), and FI (Finland) electricity zones indicates break-even methanol prices of 496–661 €/t under 2024 market conditions.

This plenary session is intended to cover some of the main processes used to promote ease of conversion of biomass to bioproducts, by either pre-processing biomass or integrating different technologies into a process chain, while in some cases managing to capture carbon for either storage or use elsewhere.

The first presentation will provide a review of the many processes developed over the years, such as pelletising and torrefaction of biomass so ensure a consistent and controllable flow of uniform quality feedstock to the main conversion process. While there is always a balance between how much effort and cost is taken up by pretreatment processes and the benefits achieved in the core biomass conversion process to bio-products, biomass pretreatment is widely accepted to be essential for the viability of many successful conversion technologies. The presentation will provide a range of examples of the pretreatment processes that have emerged as vital steps in current successful biomass conversion technologies.

The second presentation is derived from the Horizon Europe project Micro-Bio-CHP which involved integrating a highly efficient micro-scale biomass CHP system based on a fixed-bed updraft gasifier and a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) to achieve high electric efficiency and annual full load operation hours of electricity production from biomass while also providing flexibility of heat production for multi-family buildings. The concept perfectly utilises the potential of residential biomass heating systems for CO2 reduction as it foresees a very efficient combination of bioenergy and solar energy providing the possibility of a CO2 neutral energy supply of residential buildings. Based on a 2.5 kWel SOFC with an electric efficiency of 44%, coupled with a 15 kW gasifier, overall efficiencies of more than 90% are possible. In principle, the new system should achieve almost zero emissions regarding CO, OGC and PM and about 60% reduced NOx emissions. Thus, the Micro-Bio-CHP system represents a new milestone in clean and efficient energy and heat production from biomass and can be of high relevance for the future application in apartment buildings.

The final presentation addresses the important topic of carbon dioxide capture, particularly from biomass combustion processes. Climate neutrality requires not only reducing greenhouse gas emissions but also developing solutions capable of delivering negative emissions. Capturing CO2 from biomass combustion represents a key opportunity to remove carbon from the atmosphere while generating renewable energy. This presentation focuses on the potential for coupling biomass-fired systems with commercially available technologies for CO2 capture. The talk will review the main capture processes ready for the market, and integration challenges. Particular attention will be given to the advantages and limitations of these solutions, highlighting how their deployment can pave the way towards large-scale Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) implementation and contribute to achieving a carbon-negative energy future.