25 BOLD ACTIONS TO ACCELERATE GLOBAL BIOECONOMY DEPLOYMENT: Results from the 9/22/23 meet-up of the Bold Goals Action Group in Sydney

In Australia, at the initial meet-up of the global Bold Goals Action Group, leaders of the global bioeconomy, a “coalition of the willing”, established a draft of 25 Bold Actions that, if achieved by the various stakeholders in the industry, would realize Bold Goals for the Bioeconomy as outlined by the Biden Administration at a landmark session at ABLC 2023 in March. Among these, for an example, is the US SAF Grand Challenge which targets 3 billion gallons of sustainable aviation fuel capacity by 2030.

The Bold Goals Action Group meets under the Chatham House Rule, which states ”participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed; accordingly, summarized below are the draft Actions from the day-long meet-up at the Pullman Hotel in Sydney on September 22nd. 

Next steps

The next meet-up for the Bold Goals Action Group will be in San Francisco, October 18, 2023, as part of ABLC Next. The purpose of the next meet-up will be to amend and ratify these 25 draft Bold Actions. Learn more about the global meet-up schedule here.

Copies of the ratified Bold Actions will be shared with the new G20-sponsored Global Biofuels Alliance, the Biden Administration, the BioFutures Platform and other global groups as a consolidated view of the industrial, scientific and financial stakeholders who will be the ones who achieve the Bold Goals. Future meetings of the Bold Goals Action Group in Ottawa, New Delhi, Sao Paulo and Maastricht will further amend and develop the Bold Actions into a global agenda for bioeconomy acceleration and deployment.

For those who have the thankless task of the heavy lifting on the Bold Goals for the bioeconomy, the Bold Actions are an opportunity to outline the work ahead so that the Goals are achieved with velocity, stability and transparency.

The Bold Goals Action Group is a coalition of the willing; everyone is a volunteer, you can join up here and select the meet-up(s) that best fit your schedule. Everyone’s views are valued, and we proceed under the Chatham House Rule to preserve individual confidentiality and encourage free expression. To have a voice, just show up, we’re looking forward to hearing from you.

BOLD ACTIONS FOR GROWERS AND GLOBAL CROP COMPANIES

1. Supply is constrained, adding to biocapacity is essential for price stability, social license.
2. Existing feedstocks: free up capacity from low value uses, degraded land restoration, city & garden waste, cane residues, oil crop intensification, intensified recycling of plastic and cooking oil wastes.
3. New feedstocks to focus on include cover crops. switchgrass, and kelp.

BOLD ACTIONS FOR PROJECT & PROCESS DEVELOPERS 

1. Study a system of standard liquid biointermediates produced at small-scale by industry under contract to common authority funded by carbon credits and the cash value of the petroleum-equivalent barrels; suppliers purchase these intermediates at the global crude price, and compete to refine these intermediates at larger facilities — including repurposed petroleum refineries — into a range of  low-carbon fuels, chemicals, and materials which can be used directly by end-users or supplied to added-value manufacturers for further refining into speciality chemicals or materials. In short, re-create the structure of the petroleum industry while using ultra low-carbon feedstocks, where carbon credits cover the added cost of manufacturing intermediates from raw materials vs mining fossil resources.
2. Start with what we can do now at the product level, add complexity in the form of integrated biorefineries.

BOLD ACTIONS FOR GOVERNMENT

1. Tax credits and policy incentives for flagship plants, avoid integrated projects
2. Adopt low carbon fuels and materials standards
3. Domestic first, then export approach 
4. Discourage low-value uses; e.g., biomass burning in cogen plants
5. Encourage oilseeds vs cereal crops to reduce supply-chain complexity
6. Invest in water production to support added biocapacity
7. Shift from “SAF & H2 only” focus, add marine, heavy-duty road. Think Wet Zero, not just Jet Zero.
8. Agriculture, energy, defense, infrastructure, science working together

BOLD ACTIONS FOR TRADE & INDUSTRY GROUPS

1. Educate the public, combat “too large too hard too complex” critique of the bioeconomy; use examples such as wildfire remediation as an opportunity to bring people on the bioeconomy journey
2. Educate farmers about added-value opportunities and technology to encourage cover crops, reduced carbon intensity, capacity-building.
3. Build credibility by sharing success stories, achieving goals.
4. Build bridges, make a big shout: strategics: it will cost you more later; oilcos, you aren’t the enemy.

BOLD ACTIONS FOR SUPPLY-CHAIN DEVELOPERS & OWNERS

1. Build feedstock collection networks, use existing infrastructure & logistics 
2. More supply-chain collaboration for raw materials, intermediate plants
3. More access to renewable energy to reduce carbon intensity

BOLD ACTIONS FOR RESEARCHERS

1. Enhance: vegetative structures in plants, water usage, stress tolerance, salt tolerance
2. New: switchgrass, cover crops, soil carbon improvement, enabling technologies, less complex processes, precision fermentation yields and DSP, alternative to electrolysis for green H2

BOLD ACTIONS FOR GLOBAL GOVERNANCE

1. Decision making based on sustainability criteria not emotion
2. Globally aligned carbon intensity, water use efficiency, land-use standards. 
3. Project risk ratings for debt and equity due diligence acceleration