EU: 11 November 2024

2024 Motto: Our Shared Steps Towards the Energy Transition

The Bioenergy Days celebrate Europe’s progress in clean energy, highlighting bioenergy’s essential role in the defossilisation of EU economy, job creation, and energy security. This campaign showcases local projects advancing the transition and strengthening communities throughout the EU

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As of Today, the EU Could Rely Until the End of the Year on Bioenergy Alone

Brussels, November 11, 2024 – On November 11th, the European Union celebrated its Bioenergy Day, marking bioenergy’s vital contributions to Europe’s economic resilience, energy security, and decarbonization goals.

As of November 11, Bioenergy Europe’s calculations indicate that the EU could potentially meet its energy needs for the remaining 49 days of 2024 using bioenergy alone. This milestone emphasizes bioenergy’s capacity to support Europe’s energy independence while contributing to its climate goals and fostering innovation in sustainable energy technologies, like bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS).

Commission’s Agenda: Where Does Bioenergy Stand?
As the incoming European Commission sets its goals in climate neutrality, energy security, and a new bioeconomy strategy, today’s Bioenergy Day serves as a reminder of bioenergy’s relevance in the EU’s agenda.

Today bioenergy is a valuable European industrial asset, supporting over 500,000 jobs across the Union and supplying 82% of Europe’s renewable heating. It strengthens local economies and offers new employment opportunities, particularly in rural areas. Bioenergy is a leading European technology for the world, about 74% of bioenergy technology suppliers are based within the EU, showcasing Europe’s expertise in advanced green technologies and energy solutions.

“The Bioenergy industry is ready to deliver on the up-coming Clean Industrial Deal with its unique know-how and energy capacity. As Europe is set to strengthen the future of its industries, Bioenergy can step in, providing both a sustainable energy source and creating new opportunities for growth, making the EU’s economy more competitive and sustainable. ‘’ says Jean-Marc Jossart, Secretary General of Bioenergy Europe.

A Critical Ally in the New Mandate
With the celebration of Bioenergy Day 2024, Bioenergy Europe presents bioenergy’s role in reinforcing energy security, driving local economic growth, and creating green jobs, aligning with the new Commission’s priorities. By fostering bioenergy and other sustainable solutions, Europe takes a step towards a carbon-neutral future, reinforcing energy independence and building a resilient economy.

About the campaign

The European Bioenergy Day campaign is powered by Bioenergy Europe and relayed across Europe by both national and international partners supporting the view that bioenergy is more than a renewable energy source, it is also a reliable path that will lead Europe to achieve its renewable energy transition.

European Bioenergy Day on Social Media

Solid Biomass Conversion Processes

Logging, grinding, screening and drying operations are mechanical processes for enhancing solid biomass fuels. These operations help transform biomass into homogeneous fuel that is easy to handle, with a higher energy recovery (eg. woodchips, wood logs, agrofuel). In general, moisture content in woodchips used for energy generation in municipal or industrial plants ranges between 20-30%.

Densification is another popular way to transform woody material into an advanced fuel with high calorific value. This process involves compressing biomass and lowering moisture levels to a range of 8-10%, allowing for an homogenous fuel – either in the form of pellets or briquettes. The heat during compression fuses the lignin in the biomass, naturally binding the biomass together in a new, enhanced shape. Thanks to densification, the homogenous biomass fuel is easier to transport and can be used in automated biomass installations, such as pellet stoves and boilers.

Thermo-chemical conversions are now used to produce fuel with even higher calorific value, utilising torrefaction or steam explosion technologies. During the torrefaction process, wood is subjected to temperatures of 230°C-300°C at atmospheric pressure without oxygen. Comparable to some extent to coffee torrefaction, this method creates a fuel with unique characteristics. As compared to conventional wood, torrefied wood has very low (>5%) moisture content, is easily grindable and is relatively hydrophobic.

Thanks to advanced technologies, woody biomass can also produce liquid and gaseous fuels. Pyrolysis, for instance, is a thermal-chemical conversion that requires a high temperature (>400°C) and little oxygen to convert solid biomass into gas, liquid fuels (pyrolysis oil) and/or biochar. Gasification is another thermo-chemical conversion that takes place at high temperatures (>800°C), with limited oxygen and/or steam, and converts solid biomass into synthesis gas, known as syngas – which contains carbon and hydrogen and can be used to produce liquid fuels such as biodiesel.

Wet Biomass Conversion Processes

Wet biomass is present in high volume across Europe (manure, agricultural waste and by-products). As it contains too much moisture to be converted efficiently into energy via a direct combustion process, other conversion pathways and energy outputs have been developed by the biogas (eg. anaerobic digestion) and biofuel sectors (eg. fermentation). Anaerobic digestion and fermentation are the two main conversion pathways used for converting wet biomass feedstock into advanced fuel.

Anaerobic digestion is the microbiological process of decomposition of organic matter, in the absence of oxygen, and is common to many natural environments; it is largely applied today in order to produce biogas in airproof reactor tanks, commonly referred to as digesters. A wide range of micro-organisms are involved in the anaerobic process which has two main end products: biogas and digestate. Biogas is a combustible gas consisting of methane, carbon dioxide and small amounts of other gases and trace elements. Biogas can be used in direct combustion to produce heat, but also power if converted within a cogeneration plant or in adapted gas motors. Biogas can also be upgraded via purification processes to a biomethane that can be injected into the existing natural gas networks, used as a chemical product and/or vehicle fuel. Digestate is the decomposed substrate, rich in macro- and micro-nutrients and therefore suitable for use as plant fertiliser.

Fermentation is a biochemical conversion whereby microorganisms, including yeast and bacteria, convert matter into products such as ethanol and liquid transport fuel (biodiesel). This process is done in several stages. First, sugary and starchy feedstock such as corn must be crushed and combined with water, allowing enzymes to convert this starch into sugar. This ferments along with the addition of yeast and is distilled into bioethanol. Bioethanol can also be produced from cellulosic biomass, such as grass, wood and stalks, via fermentation; however, this process is more complex and involves a mechanical pre-treatment and the addition of enzymes, or the breakdown of the lignocellulose into sugar through hydrolysis, followed by the same procedure.

Solid bioenergy feedstock

Renewables represent 8,0% of EU-27 total energy consumption (22.473 kilotonnes of oil equivalent) in transportation, of which 68% is provided by biofuels in 2018. It is rather challenging to foresee how biofuels (in particular first-generation biofuels) will continue to develop, since recent EU legislation established a quota for these biofuels. EU statistics on renewables in transportation can also be misleading regarding the actual level of production, because multiple counting rules are applied in accordance with the EU renewable energy directive. Looking at it in more detail, the biofuel market is driven by biodiesel and bioethanol. Biodiesel was the first biofuel developed and used in the EU in the transport sector in the 1990s. EU-27 remains the world’s largest biodiesel producer and it consumed 13,303 Ktoe in 2018. By comparison, bioethanol consumption in 2018 reached 2,620 Ktoe for an actual production of 2,365 Ktoe (Biofuels Report, 2020).

Bioenergy comes in all shapes and sizes

Within our close environment, a great source of organic materials such as plants, algae, or organic wastes, can be valuable fuels as soon as a technology makes it possible to efficiently extract all of its energy potential. Bioenergy players traditionally refer to biomass to describe those usable feedstocks. Biomass currently used in Europe includes wood from forests, agricultural crops and residues, by-products from the wood and agricultural industry, herbaceous and woody energy crops, municipal organic wastes and manure, and could potentially integrate algae and marine biomass in the future.

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