Fuels of the Future – 17th International Conference on Renewable Mobility in Berlin

More than 600 participants from 25 countries attended the Fuels of the Future conference, which took place on 20-21 January in Berlin, to discuss options for more sustainable future mobility that can contribute to the goals of the Paris agreement and the obligations of the REDII. The conference provided the opportunity to access the most recent information about market developments, technological innovations and the future of renewable mobility.

 

The conference started with a plenary session of experts presenting their analysis of suitable pathways for sustainable and renewable mobility, which is necessary in order to achieve the ambitious climate protection goals set within the sector. Furthermore, representatives of mineral oil companies were present in order to provide their views on the increasingly important role of advanced fuels in the energy sector.

 

ADVANCEFUEL’s co-ordinator, Kristin Sternberg (FNR), was present to engage and learn more about the latest developments in this area, as well as engaging with stakeholders and making them aware of the project’s ambitious goals and possibilities to interact and collaborate.

 

More than 60 speakers from 12 different countries presented their concepts, findings and study cases, guaranteeing active and interesting discussions of all attendees on the mobility of the future. One of the presenters was ADVANCEFUEL’s Advisory Board member Eric van den Heuvel, director of the Dutch Platform for Sustainable Biofuels, who introduced the audience to the “challenges of coupling economic perspectives and climate neutrality in the Netherlands transport system”.

 

Another close co-operation partner of ADVANCEFUEL, the European Technology and Innovation Platform (ETIP) Bioenergy, was represented by its chair Patrik Klintbom, who gave an interesting overview of the activities of the platform aiming to increase the bioenergy deployment across Europe. In summary, it was a successful event and a perfect platform for discussing the multiple challenges of the targeted energy, transport and mobility transitions with experts covering the whole value chain.

 

The present bioenergy associations then further presented their suggestions for reaching the carbon-emission reduction targets, which included:

• Avoiding CO₂ taxes for sustainable, renewable fuels;
• Harmonisation of REDII requirements with the “Green Deal” demand, including a commitment to increase the share of renewable energy in the transport sector, from 14% in 2030 up to 20%, otherwise the targeted reduction of the GHG-emissions will not be seen as feasible;
• Taking RESfuels into consideration in view of the European threshold values for CO2-emissions in the transport sector. The use of renewable fuels and their savings of fossil based emissions must sufficiently be taken into account regarding these efforts.

 

On the second day, several different topics were addressed in a three-way parallel presentation and discussion session that covered different alternative fuel possibilities. Some examples that stemmed from the session include bio methane, bioethanol and power to X, as well as new mobility concepts and sustainability of biofuels in aviation and the marine sector.

 

In summary, it was a successful event and a perfect platform for discussing the multiple challenges of the targeted energy as well as transport and mobility transition with experts covering the whole value chain.