Advocating for Public Policies to Promote the Development & Production of Alternative Fuels, Renewable Chemicals, Biobased Products, and Sustainable Aviation Fuels
Alternative Fuels & Chemicals Coalition
Track 2 Session Details
AFCC Conference Breakout Sessions
Breakout Sessions are 90 minutes, each one has one moderator with a maximum of four speakers.
Breakout sessions will be focused on the following three subject areas:
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Track 2: Sustainable Feedstocks, Biofuels, Food and Feed Products Driving Decarbonization
Track 2 Breakout Session Details
Sustainable Feedstocks, Biofuels, Food and Feed Products Driving Decarbonization
Monday, November 15, 2021
Introductory Remarks: Kelly Speakes - Backman, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for EERE, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
Session 1: 8 AM to 9:30 AM : Reducing Bio-based Product Carbon Intensity to Amplify Value, Environmental Benefits and Consumer Adoption
Moderator: Professor Jay Golden, Syracuse University
Speakers:
The unprecedented pace of recently announced sustainability policies by industry, the financial sector and governments have important implications and opportunities for the American farmer and companies that produce low carbon biobased products, biofuels and sustainable chemicals.
Regenerative and precision agricultural production practices and advanced product processing can result in low and even negative carbon intensity bio-based products by lowering GHG emissions during production and processing, and significantly amplifying soil carbon sequestration. This result can provide a new income stream to growers and ranchers who produce the base material, as well as increase the wholesale and retail value of the products produced. This is of growing importance as ESG and investment/shareholder pressures are driving greater transparency and climate change commitments.
The current challenges lie in 1) scaling these processes and practices; 2) accurately and cost effectively assessing soil carbon sequestration and GHG emissions in line with global standards; 3) validating all steps of the supply chain; and 4) clearly communicating to both the institutional buyer and consumer. This includes product carbon intensity along with the health, environmental and economic benefits.
This moderated session will identify these opportunities and focus on the challenges and necessary steps needed to resolve them.
Session 2: 10 AM to 11:30 AM: Establish Good Policy for Use of Forest Residuals in the Production of Biofuels
Moderator: Greg Staiti, Partner, Energy Compliance Services, Weaver
Speakers:
The panel composed of leading-edge producers working in transforming wood waste into affordable, reliable, and renewable zero-emission biofuels will present opportunities and challenges associated with regulatory barriers and pathways in the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) and Low Carbon Fuels Standard (LCFS). Using innovative leading global technologies, these producers are transforming farm and forest wood waste into renewable, zero-emission, low-carbon fuels for the transportation and aviation sector. Their processes, developed with international industry leaders and partners, converts wood waste into biofuels.
Session 3: 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM: Decarbonization through Technology & Policy for Aviation Biofuels
Moderator: Chris Tindal, Assistant Director, CAAFI
Speakers:
The objective of using sustainable aviation fuels, or SAFs, is to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted during the lifetime of the fuels, from production to combustion, compared with fossil-fuel jet fuels. Producers and airlines are working in concert to significantly lower emissions through scale-up activities. Not all technologies have the same impact on the environment. The panelists will present their technologies, approaches, commitments, and will provide potential advantageous polices required for their large-scale commercialization.
Session 4: 3:30 PM to 5:00 PM: Enabling Negative Carbon Intensity Fuels with Carbon Capture in the Bioeconomy
Moderator: Matt Lucas, PhD, Managing Director, New Energy Risk
Speakers:
With the final 45Q regulations published earlier this year combined with support for CCS in California’s LCFS, the incentives for carbon capture and storage in the biofuel sector have never been stronger. This panel will address the key challenges that developers face to incorporating carbon capture in their biofuel projects, including policy, structuring, and attracting tax equity. Following introductory and explanatory remarks from the panelists, we will assess at least one project on stage.
Jena Lococo
Program Manager
ClearPath
Tuesday, November 16, 2021
Session 5: 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM: Wood Waste to Fuels: It’s an Industry
Moderator: Antoine Schellinger, SVP Corp Dev, Koch Project Solutions – Biobased Economy EPC
Speakers:
Mika LINTILÄ
Minister of Economic Affairs of Finland
Wood waste, whether sustainable wood fiber or isolated fractions of municipal and industrial waste streams, to fuels long been discussed as a concept. The process of converting wood waste to syngas is well understood and the process of converting syngas to gasoline, diesel and jet is as well. Perceived process technology integration risk and lack of compelling economics were often invoked as the reason why this industry was not … well … an industry. The members of this panel represent a combined initial investment of over $5 billlon into the wood waste and municipal solid waste space and they only represent a fraction of the planned investment. Listen to the investment participants explain why such waste to fuel is now an industry.
Session 6: 3:30 PM to 5:00 PM: Using Carbon-Negative Biogas to Decarbonize Renewable Transportation Fuels
Moderator: Patrick Serfass, Executive Director, American Biogas Council
Speakers:
As the most carbon negative renewable fuel in the US, renewable fuel producers of all kinds are turning to biogas as a feedstock to decarbonize a wide variety of drop-in ready renewable transportation fuels—ethanol, diesel, and even gasoline. Biogas, from anaerobic digesters, is always low carbon compared to gasoline and diesel, and in some cases can be so carbon negative, using biogas removes 7 times the amount of carbon emitted from fossil fuels in vehicles, 6 times more than solar or wind to battery electric vehicles. This stems from the fact that the production of biogas prevents harmful emissions from entering the atmosphere in addition to the emissions eliminated by replacing fossil fuels. The two add together, creating potentially deeply carbon negative gas. Since biogas is mostly methane, and up to 99% methane when processed into renewable natural gas, the hydrocarbons can be used a wide variety of processes to make renewable diesel and to further decarbonize other fuels like renewable ethanol and even conventional gasoline. In this session, learn from experts in developing projects in these sectors and how to use biogas to decarbonize transportation fuels.