Development of next generation biofuel technologies

Proposals should aim at developing the next wave of sustainable liquid biofuels by moving technologies from TRL 3-4 to TRL 4-5 (please see part G of the General Annexes).

Environment, economic and social issues including health and safety should be considered and appropriately addressed. A methodology that permits robust and reliable sustainability assessment of the environmental (notably in terms of GHG performance), economic and social benefits with respect to current technologies should be included.

Biofuels produced from starch, sugar and oil fractions of food/feed crops are excluded.

Proposals should address both sub-challenges described above, while the main effort in 2016 shall be in addressing sub-challenge a) and in 2017 sub-challenge b). They should also address the particular transport sectorial needs where relevant.

In particular, proposals shall address one of the following:

In 2016:

• Paraffinic biofuels (e.g. diesel and jet fuel) from sugars through chemical and biochemical pathways or through a combination of these pathways;
• Biofuels from pyrolysis or hydrothermal liquefaction and process integration with existing biodiesel or oil refineries;
• Synthetic biofuels/hydrocarbons through biomass gasification.

In 2017:

• Biofuels from CO2 in industrial waste flue gases through biochemical conversion by autotrophic ( chemo and photo –autotrophic) micro-organisms;
• Biofuels from organic fraction of municipal and industrial wastes through thermochemical, biochemical or chemical pathways with improved performance and sustainability;
• Biofuels from phototrophic algae & bacteria with improved performance and sustainability.

An important element will be an increased understanding of risks (whether technological, in business processes, for particular business cases, or otherwise in each area), risk ownership, and possible risk mitigation. Proposals shall therefore include appropriate work packages on this matter.

Proposals shall explicitly address performance and cost targets together with relevant key performance indicators, expected impacts, as well as provide explicit exploitation plans.

The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of between EUR 3 to 6 million would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.

New sustainable biofuels technologies need to be developed that improve performance, notably with regards to the following sub-challenges:

1. improving the technology competitiveness by upgrading the conversion efficiency and possibly diversifying the technology;
2. improving the feedstock supply by reducing the supply costs and possibly diversifying the biomass feedstock.

The new developed technology pathways should improve the economic, environmental and social benefits of biofuels. Favourable energy and GHG balances are expected, as well as a significant cost reduction, which would permit these fuels to compete favourably with conventional biofuels. A favourable performance on secure and affordable energy supply and diversified, cheap feedstock supply are expected. In addition, positive impacts on enhancing Europe's competitiveness should be anticipated where appropriate.