Negative emission technologies (NETs) remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and transition it from the fast carbon cycle to the slow carbon cycle, also known as the “rock cycle”, indefinitely. Bioenergy lends itself exceptionally well to integration with NETs, for instance, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), and pyrogenic carbon capture and storage (PyCCS). These open a myriad of opportunities for both for existing- and new biomass heat- and/or power plants across almost the entire range of plant sizes.Black is the new green, bioenergy is back in black.

Much has and can be said about the exceptionally dramatic, even traumatic (European) 2022/2023 pellet heating season that at the time of print is pretty much over.

The recent political agreement reached on the third revision of the Renewable Energy Directive (REDIII), arguably one of the most important piece of EU legislation when it comes to bioenergy, rejected the non-sensical and detrimental “primary woody biomass” notion. It is an important step in the right direction and while providing some respite, the battle of public perception is far from over.

This issue goes to print as flooding in Ukraine subsides while news of Putin’s infamous Wagner paramilitary proxy had, albeit briefly, set its sights on Moscow after eighteen bloody months of failing “special operations” in Ukraine. How all this plays out remains to be seen but it is an unprecedented challenge, perceived or otherwise, to Putin’s megalomanic dictatorship – his rabid dog of war returning to bark at (or possibly bite) the now weary hand that feeds.

Every year some 100,000 vessels powered by 300 million tonnes of fuel move 11 billion tonnes of goods around the world. 93.5 percent of the global fleet (by gross tonnage) operates on fossil fuels, and the balance (6.5 percent) sails on alternative marine fuels.

为航空、全球SAF产量增加了remarkedly, from around 10 million litres in 2018 to a projected 1 billion litres plus by the end of 2023. Albeit a 100-fold increase, it still is just 0.1 percent of the 254 million tonnes of jet fuel burn in 2022 – military, emergency- and private aviation excluded as this issue takes a look into.

“World of Pellets” wall poster
The 9th edition includes site reports, a review of 2022 and outlook for 2023, pellet production technology features. In 2022, there were 1191 operational biomass pellet plants in 64 countries.

This is the fourth edition of the Bioenergy International’s Advanced Renewable Transportation Fuels (ARTF) wall poster, included as a supplement to issue 4/2023 of Bioenergy International magazine. It serves as a graphic illustration of 973 advanced renewable transportation fuel production facilities in 49 countries around the world.

2022 is really getting off on the wrong foot. just as a post-covid-19 world, complete with in real life face-to-face meetings
and handshakes begins to emerge, human-induced calamities strike with eerie synchronisation. The first bombshell is an increasingly despotic President, seemingly stuck in a paranoid megalomanic cold war time warp, invading Ukraine (after defacto occupying Belarus, though the incumbent majorette is no doubt only happy to oblige).

This issue went to print on the same day
as the movers, shakers, and market makers of the industrial pellet world convened in London, the UK for the annual Argus Biomass Conference. It was the first post-corona edition complete with a dubious welcome party of watchdogs barking up a whole tree. Perhaps somewhat unconventional,
the first day of Argus also saw the offi cial commercial launch of some clever revolutionary thinking from CPM.

This issue goes to print as one of the western world’s most publicized “independence day” celebrations takes place – the fourth of July in the United States. Meanwhile, other countries are still entrenched in military combat defending their recently gained independence from imperialistic overlords that seek to turn the political clock and East-West demarcation lines back thirty or so years.

This issue goes to print under seemingly dramatic geopolitical circumstances.
Russia’s or rather Putin’s war of attrition in Ukraine has escalated in so far as military service orders for Russian citizens have been issued leading to an exodus of Russian males fleeing the country. Further, bogus elections have just been held in the occupied regions of Ukraine in a lead to declare them as Russian Federation territory, as was previously, and illegally, done with Crimea.

This issue has a thematic focus on district energy – heat, power, and cooling – an efficient production and distribution system widely found throughout the Nordic-Baltic region. Bioenergy Europe’s annual “European Bioenergy Day” campaign provides a vivid graphic illustration – the top six countries in 2022 are all in the Nordic-Baltic region
(closely followed by Austria) where bioenergy accounts for double or more the EU average.

The inauguration of the ArcelorMittal Ghent Steelanol project, an EU Horizon 2020
co-funded joint venture to convert blast furnace gases into ethanol using a microbial biocatalytic conversion technology, is a big deal. It is a big deal for any carbon-intensive hard-to-abate industry and another showcase example of technology being a surmountable challenge if given the right framework conditions.