Biomass and Bioenergy
Volume 34, Issue 2, Pages 157-250 (February 2010) Edited by Andre Faaij and Marc Londo
The REFUEL project that was carried out between 2006 and 2008 was designed to encourage a greater market penetration of biofuels, with a focus on the European Union.
Partners in the REFUEL project were Chalmers University (Sweden), Copernicus Institute – Utrecht University (the Netherlands), COWI (Denmark), EC BREC Instytut Energetyki Odnawialnej (Poland), Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN, also project coordinator), International Institute for Applied System Analysis (IIASA) (Austria) and Joanneum Research (Austria).
The REFUEL project developed a quantified biofuels road map, consistent with EU biofuel policies and supported by stakeholders involved in the biofuels field. REFUEL was co-funded by the European Commission under the ‘Intelligent Energy Europe’ programme.
This special issue of Biomass and Bioenergy reports on the key analyses carried out in REFUEL and consists of eight parts:
- The first two papers deal with land use and land use scenario's for the European Union (plus Ukraine, Norway and Switzerland) and include a detailed long-term assessment of technical biomass production potentials for the EU27+, incorporating economic factors, developments in competing land uses, and improvements in agricultural productivity in a coherent manner
- The third paper translates the land use scenarios into economic potentials for different types of energy crops.
- The fourth paper deals with the possible developments in technical and economic performance of both energy cropping systems and biofuel conversion technologies, and presents learning curves for different biofuel options over time.
- The fifth paper provides a scenario analysis in which the competition between different biofuel production options is simulated in relation to different key parameters such as feedstock availability, technological progress and several policy measures.
- The sixth paper goes into strategies that could facilitate the introduction of second generation biofuels, by exploiting synergies with heat and electricity markets, in particular with co-firing of biomass in coal fired power stations.
- The seventh paper deals with the socio-economic implications of building a biofuels sector in Europe.
- The final contribution integrates the findings and applies them to reflect on several of the strategic challenges in the field of biofuelsthat the EU is facing today.
The total set of studies provides a detailed and transparent report of key analytical work required to provide a comprehensive roadmap for Biofuels in Europe. The analyses took into account dynamics in land-use, avoiding competition with food production, nature conservation and other key ecological constraints. It is concluded that domestically produced biofuels can cover a significant share of future EU fuel demand.
Read this Special Issue on ScienceDirect