ADVANCEFUEL: Removing barriers to renewable transport fuels

Advanced renewable transport fuels, including a new generation of biofuels produced with sustainable feedstock, can play a critical role in reducing Europe’s greenhouse emissions. However, scepticism about sustainability and lack of common standardisation measures are holding back their large-scale deployment. To achieve its 2020 and 2030 targets for renewables in transport, the European Union needs to monitor progress in biofuel conversion technologies, and assess their performance, as well as their environmental and socio-economic impacts.

The ADVANCEFUEL project will contribute to these objectives by generating new knowledge, tools, standards and recommendations to help remove barriers to the commercialisation of renewable transport fuels. “To gain the trust of investors, policy makers, and potential end-users, we have to demonstrate that advanced biofuels have substantial environmental benefits,” says Birger Kerckow, head of the International Department at FNR. “Within ADVANCEFUEL, we will develop tailored tools to assess environmental and socio-economic impacts of renewable fuels, providing evidence of their market potential.”

To this end, ADVANCEFUEL brings together a multidisciplinary team, including seven renowned players in the transport fuels, renewable energy resources and the bioeconomy. The project is co-ordinated by FNR, the German Agency for Renewable Resources and is set to run until September 2020.

The ADVANCEFUEL project held its Kick-off meeting at Greenovate! Europe premises in Brussels on 25 September 2017. This first meeting allowed partners to present their roles in the project and discuss synergies between activities.