The Bioenergy Two-Step: Learning from the Petroleum Playbook

By Jim Spaeth
Special to The Digest

Before there were supermajors, there were scattered oil wells. Tiny, stubborn things—dug into dusty corners of Texas, each with barely enough output to fill a rail car. But early refiners didn’t try to process that oil in the field. They built a network. They moved intermediates—crude oil—across distance and time to centralized refineries designed for scale, efficiency, and optionality. It wasn’t elegant. But it worked.

Today, a new generation of innovators is doing the same dance—only this time, it’s with biomass. Call it the Bioenergy Two-Step.

Step one: convert locally available biomass into a flexible intermediate—something like syngas, pyrolysis oil, or even ethanol.
Step two: move that intermediate to a larger-scale facility—a dedicated biorefinery, or even a co-processing stream in an existing fossil refinery.

Why? Because distributed biomass is messy. But intermediates are movable. And scale still matters.

Europe is quickly recognizing this. And the smartest thinkers aren’t just copying the oil playbook—they’re rewriting it. With new chemistry, regional flexibility, and carbon-aware logistics, they’re finding ways to turn scattered feedstocks into scalable climate solutions.

Who’s Tackling the Challenges in Intermediate Bioenergy Carriers and Sustainable Biofuels?

If you’re working in this field, you already know the pitfalls: too many pathway choices, technology scale-up traps, uncertain offtakes, policy whiplash, and capital that gets spooked at the first sign of complexity. This is a hard road. So who’s getting it right?

That’s where the 33rd European Biomass Conference & Exhibition (EUBCE) comes in. The lineup isn’t just broad—it’s deep. Across four days in Valencia, you’ll find real-world insight from scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs who are bridging those valleys of death. From distributed pyrolysis to electro-fermentation, from gasification-derived fuels to advanced integration with fossil infrastructure—EUBCE isn’t just a conference. It’s a roadmap.

Key Areas of Opportunity

1. Molecules: The Building Blocks of Sustainable Fuels

The transition to biofuels hinges on the ability to produce versatile and high-quality bio-based molecules. The current regulatory frameworks in Europe and the UK favor the adoption of sustainable fuels, making this an opportune time to invest in R&D for efficient biomass conversion technologies. At EUBCE, Marzouk Benali, from Natural Resources Canada, will reveal integrating E-SAF and Bio-SAF Pathways to Maximize Carbon Efficiency for Hybrid Sustainable Aviation Fuel Production. Berend Vreugdenhil, from TNO, in The Netherlands, will present recent developments in SAF production using Syngas as the primary pathway.

2. Technologies: Diversifying Conversion Pathways

Technological advancements are critical to the success of biomass conversion. Innovations in processing technologies, such as pyrolysis and gasification, are making it possible to convert a wider range of biomass feedstocks into valuable bioenergy carriers. Giannis Penloglou with CERTH in Greece will discuss Harnessing Microalgae for On-site Industrial CO2 Capture and Biofuel Production: a Novel Path to Sustainable Transportation Fuels. And Sara Restrepo-Valencia, with the University of Campinas in BRAZIL, will discuss Renewable Hydrogen from Sugarcane Residues: Advancing Biofuels and Synthetic Fuel Production Through Biomass Gasification.

3. The opportunities of Biochar

There is a great interest in biochar production as a means to decarbonization and as an aid in achieving Europe’s net-zero emissions targets. At the EUBCE, Alessio Riorda, from Politecnico di Torino will present the BIORECAST project which assesses the application of residual organic waste as alternative sources to produce biocoal and alternative gasses for the steel making process, fostering the whole sector defossilization. A research project led by Marco Colombi, with the Politecnico di Milano will discuss a unique approach to pyrolysis using a solar receiver as the heat carrier to produce bio-oil with biochar as a byproduct. The particles heated in the solar receiver are directly used as heat carrier in the pyrolyzer to provide the required thermal power for the endothermic pyrolysis process.

The Bottom Line

The efficient conversion of biomass to intermediate bioenergy carriers and sustainable biofuels presents both significant challenges and remarkable opportunities. Success in this field requires a deep understanding of the technological, market, and feedstock dynamics. By leveraging the expertise of leading researchers and industry professionals, businesses can navigate these complexities and unlock the full potential of bioenergy.

What is so unique about EUBCE

• It is a place where the state of the art and latest achievements can be discussed, presented, and debated.
• There is a broad topical coverage from science and technology to industry, products, applications, operations, economics, business models, markets, policy, and so on!
• The whole sector is genuinely covered.
• It is an excellent place to get an overview on everything that matters in biomass.
• A meeting point for biomass specialists from around the world.
• Presentations here allow science to be openly accessible to all.
• It is a perfect place to find opportunities for new ideas and collaborations.

The 32nd EUBCE held in Marseille, France between 24-28 June 2024 attracted over 1300 participants, and 661 speakers from 55 countries including in 18 industry sessions and 84 scientific sessions. To find out more about what you will experience at the EUBCE 2025, go to https://www.eubce.com/.