IEA Bioenergy report looks at how to cut advanced biofuel production costs

In Germany, IEA Bioenergy has published a new report on the potential for advanced biofuels cost reduction carried out under Task 41 with contributions from Germany, Netherlands and Sweden. The report “Advanced Biofuels – Potential for Cost Reduction ” confirms that there is a gap between the cost of the advanced biofuels and current fuel prices. This gap can be reduced in the medium term through process improvements in designing, building and operating plants, financing costs reduction as well as technology learning. Policy support will continue to be needed to enable these technologies to mature either in terms of added value for low carbon fuels or carbon costs applied to fossil fuels.

This new report, carried out by an experienced international team, uses as its starting point a study on the costs of advanced biofuels carried out within the programme of work of the Sub-Group on Advanced Biofuels (SGAB) (under the European Commission’s Sustainable Transport Forum (STF)) and published in 2017. The report:

• Updates and extends this study to provide estimates of the current costs of producing a selection of relevant advanced biofuels;
• Identifies the scope for cost reduction for these advanced biofuels;
• Compares these costs and cost trajectories with likely trends in fossil fuel prices, and those of conventional biofuels;
• Examines the impact of policy measures, including carbon pricing, on the economic competitiveness of advanced biofuels.