Research must continue on biofuel technologies, says panel
Despite recent questions over the feasibility of biofuels, research into future biofuel technologies must go ahead. In order to reap the quickest and most sustainable results, an integrated approach involving all stakeholders should be taken. These were the resounding messages from a panel discussion on future research needs at an international conference on biofuels, which took place in Brussels on 6 July. Modern bioenergy technologies that produce heat, electricity, and transport fuels are advancing rapidly, with much recent interest focusing on first-generation liquid biofuels, and in particular ethanol and biodiesel. Global production of these biofuels has doubled over the last five years, and will likely double again in the next four. Many countries around the world, from Argentina and Malaysia to India and Zambia, have enacted new pro-bioenergy polices in recent years. The EU's energy policy prescribes that at least 10% of all fuel must come from biofuels by 2020. However, the race towards a world powered by biofuels has caused some alarm. A recent United Nations report warned that if badly managed, these fuels could cause serious damage to the environment and have an adverse impact on the lives of millions. One problem is that the crops needed to produce the fuel are competing with food crops for land, and could therefore jeopardise food supply. Growing biofuels crops has already led to large-scale deforestation in some areas of the world. 'The feedstocks used to produce first generation fuels are not sustainable,' said panellist Carlos Cabrera, President and CEO of UOP, a company specialising in refinery processing technology. '286,000 square kilometres, or the combined area of Belgium and Germany, would be required to cultivate the amount of feedstock necessary to make a penetration of 10% in existing fuel markets. This leads to emerging issues, like food supply, land and water scarcity, and loss of biodiversity and soil erosion.' Given the serious charges levelled at them, are biofuels then really worth the effort? Mr Cabrera believes so. 'These issues do not mean that the development of a biofuels industry is not something to pursue and these issues do not mean it is a bad thing for certain countries to do, what it does mean is that these products need to be understood on world impact basis and on a regional basis, and have to be put into the context of the other sectors which are so important to mankind,' noted Mr Cabrera. Panellists unanimously agreed that while research should focus on improving current first-generation biofuels and their management, ultimately these should not be perceived as the end to the solution. Instead they should be viewed as a stepping stone towards the next generation of biofuels. These so-called 'second generation fuels' can be produced from non-food sources such as agricultural wastes (straw) and waste wood chippings. It is estimated that these fuels could have a much smaller carbon footprint than their ancestors. 'The biofuels industry is a marriage between two sectors that historically had little to do with one another: agriculture and oil fuels,' said panellist Fabrizio Barbaso, Deputy Director-General of Energy and Transport at the European Commission. 'This marriage has lots of potential to produce exciting offspring. So far we have only explored a little of this potential. Many commentators are looking to so-called second generation biofuels to deliver better security of supply, by using new feedstocks like waste and cellulosic material, better greenhouse gas savings, and a lower environmental impact.' Recognising the potential of second-generation biofuels, the US Government recently announced an investment of USD 375 million (€275 million) in three new research centres to accelerate the development of cellulosic ethanol, and other biofuels, using regional plants and crops. A further USD 1.3 billion (€950 million) will be spent over the next four years to build commercial-scale biorefinieries and to launch pilot cellulosic biorefineries 'The US is very serious about the development of biofuels as one of our critical solutions to energy and climate change,' said panellist John Mizroch of the US Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy office. But pumping money into basic research will not be enough, believes Professor Richard Templar of the Imperial College of London. As the only academic on panel, Professor Templar said that it was fitting to be sandwiched between political and industrial representatives. 'It is exactly the right position for basic research to be placed, if we, the researchers, are going to develop new techniques and technologies that are useful to the real world. Most of us in this field are interested in doing something which will appear in the outside world as not just an academic curiosity,' he said. Often in the past, the approach to transferring knowledge between academia and industry has be 'one of handing over a baton', which Professor Templar says is a very-time consuming and an ill-judged process. With the pressure on to offset climate change, a change in approach is desperately needed. 'What we suggest is a dove-tail approach, where we integrate our research with industrial research in order that we can learn from the focus and concision that industry will bring to the table; we in turn can teach them something as well about the creative act of exploring these huge territories.' The outcome of a collaborative approach could be a matrix or toolkit to analyse the sustainability of the processes that may be developed as result of the research findings, suggested Professor Templar. These processes could be scored according to a number of indicators, such as the energy they could supply and the greenhouse gas savings they could bring. 'This has to be done this way because time is short,' he warned. Collaboration is also the approach taken by the European Biofuels Technology Platform, as outlined by panellist and Vice-Chair of the platform Olivier Appert. Established in 2006, the platform is industry-driven, but involves a wide range of stakeholders from academia and civil society. As part of its mandate, the platform will explore a large array of technologies. Strong emphasis will be put on advanced bioconversion and biorefineries. 'There are many alternative biofuel technologies and bioprocesses, but it is important not to lock into any one technology today, these technologies should be allowed to compete with one another,' said Mr Appert. The platform is currently working on a draft research and development (R&D) strategic agenda that will be open to public consultation. The aim is to have an agenda ready for January 2008. It is also working closely with other platforms, such as those on forest, fuel cells, sustainable chemicals and plants for the future. The Biofuels European Technology Platform has also submitted a project for funding under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) on developing innovative pathways from research to industry for biofuel technologies.