IEA Bioenergy Task 39 'Commercializing 1st- and 2nd-Generation Liquid Biofuels from Biomass' is currently composed of 15 countries or regional associations, including Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, the European Union, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, the United States and the United Kingdom. Our Task brings together leading researchers, government officials and industry pioneers in our continuing bid to successfully introduce biofuels for transportion into the commercial marketplace. Our activities are organized into two Subtasks, which include the technical challenges of 'second-generation' biofuel production, as well as the market, policy and implementation issues that must be addressed in commercialization of all biofuels.
A short FAQ on biofuels is available here, and our definitions of key terms may be found here.
Goals and Objectives
The overall goal of this Task is to provide participants with comprehensive information that will assist them with the development and deployment of biofuels for transportation fuel use. The Task will build upon the successes of previous efforts to deal with the complex technical and infrastructure issues related to biofuels in a coordinated manner. To meet its goals, the Task objectives are to:
- Provide information and analyses on policy, markets and implementation issues (including regulatory and infrastructure development) that will help participants encourage commercialization of 'first-generation' and 'second-generation' liquid biofuels as a replacement for fossil-based fuels, by continuing the deployment of 'first-generation' fuels and supporting development of 'second-generation' biofuels.
- Catalyze cooperative research and development projects that will help participants develop improved, cost-effective processes for the production of 'second-generation' liquid biofuels.
- Provide information dissemination, outreach to stakeholders, and coordination with other related groups.
Focus
IEA Task 39 has divided its activities into two Subtasks, reflecting the objectives of the Task. A Subtask on Markets, Policy and Implementation will consider all biofuels, with special focus on sugar- and starch-based bioethanol and biodiesel, which are considered to be commercial technologies today. This work will be balanced by a Subtask on 'Second-Generation' biofuels, which will consider bioconversion technologies that can convert lignocellulose to liquid biofuels including bioethanol. Our Task will not focus on other conversion technologies, but instead will liaise closely with other IEA Bioenergy Tasks which have necessary expertise. Conversion technologies we will consider through liaisons include gasification (Task 33), pyrolysis (Task 34), and biogas production (Task 37). These liaisons will allow our Task to consider a variety of 2nd-generation fuels, including Fischer-Trophs, pyrolysis oils, and biomass-to-liquid (BTL).
Leadership
The Operating Agent for this Task is the Canadian Department of Natural Resources (NRCan), as represented by Peter Hall. The Task Leader for this Annex is the University of British Columbia as represented by Jack Saddler of UBC's Forest Products Biotechnology group. The Associate Task Leaders for the work include Manfred Wörgetter who will lead work on markets and implementation, John Neeft and Warren Mabee who are heading efforts on regulatory/policy issues, and Guido Zacchi who is focusing on bioconversion technologies for 'second-generation' liquid biofuels. Emmanuel Ackom will serve as the editor of the newsletter/web site for the Task for the triennium.
History
The International Energy Agency Bioenergy Program has always included Tasks with a liquid biofuels focus (particularly biomass-to-ethanol) since its inception in the late 1970's, when the focus was to displace some of the world's dependence on oil with an alternative or complementary transportation fuel to gasoline or diesel. In the late 1990's, the previous Task 26 focused on the technical process of bioconversion, while Task 27 examined the policy issues involved with biofuel production and commercialization. IEA Bioenergy Task 39, initiated in 2001, combines the complementary technical and policy initiatives into a single framework. Today, Task 39 continues working to promote technology and policy for the economic production and distribution of liquid biofuels from biomass.
Biofuels, including ethanol, biodiesel, and biohydrogen, are derived from biomass generated in agricultural or forest operations, or sourced from urban waste streams. Biomass can be viewed as a renewable source of chemical building blocks; as such, they represent a sustainable option to fossil petrochemical resources. The starch and celluloses found in all crops and trees contain carbohydrates that can be utilized for ethanol production. Of particular interest are oilseed plants, which are a source of vegetable oil and therefore a potential feedstock for biodiesel production. Biofuels are created through a bioconversion process, which first serves to reduce biomass into chemical building blocks, which can then be utilized for biofuels and other value-added products. For ethanol, the bioconversion process generates hexose sugars, in particular glucose, from starch or lignocellulosic materials. These sugars can be fermented into alcohols, while any remaining material (lignin, other sugars) may be utilized for the generation of co-products. For biodiesel, the process involves the bioconversion of vegetable oils derived from oilseeds to alkyl esters or biodiesel, as well as glycerine as a co-product.
Ethanol and biodiesel, both ag-based ('first-generation') and non ag-based ('second-generation') are of particular interest to IEA Bioenergy Task 39 because they can be blended with existing transportation fuels and readily used in today's vehicles. Steady growth in use of these biofuels may serve to bridge our society from 'the end of the oil age' (Economist October 2003) into a carbohydrate-based economy. In the United States and Canada, over 11 billion litres of ethanol was produced and used as fuel in 2002 - enough to supply the annual fuel needs of both British Columbia and Alberta in Canada, or Spain in Europe. By 2006, over 20 billion litres of bioethanol was produced in these two countries. In Germany, rapid development of biodiesel production has raised capacity to over 2 billion litres per annum in only eight years. In the future, it is expected that biofuel use will continue to grow. The European Union has the Directive on the promotion of the use of biofuels for transport (Directive 2003/30/EC), which states that by 2012, 5.75% of its total fuel needs should be met by renewable fuels. The United States has introduced a Renewable Fuel Standard that will see the use of all biofuels rise to 28.4 billion L per annum by 2012 - effectively 5% of total fuel sales. Canada has introduced targets of 5% bioethanol in gasoline by 2010, and 2% biodiesel in diesel by 2012.
In it's third triennium, IEA Bioenergy Task 39 (2007-2009) continues to build upon the successes of previous IEA Bioenergy work in the area, and acknowledges the contribution of past and present Task members to our ongoing activities.