Bold Actions to Accelerate the Bioeconomy – results from the Delhi Meet-up of the Bold Goals Action Group

In India,  a coalition of the willing called the Bold Goals Action Group refined and amended a series of 47 Bold Actions that must be taken by industry and government in order to achieve the global timelines for Net Zero economies that address climate change and the need for resilient national economies.

The group was formed shortly after the March 22nd announcement of President Biden’s “Bold Goals for the Bioeconomy” at ABLC 2023 in Washington DC. The founders recognized that the advanced bioeconomy has transitioned from development to deployment stage, but could not be expected to realize the ambitious timelines and scales of the Bold Goals — including but not limited to 3 billion gallons of US SAF capacity by 2030 — without significant acceleration, and without Bold Actions to ensure that acceleration occurs.

As background, the Complete Biden Administration Bold Goals can be reviewed here.

Worth noting that the Bold Actions are aimed to support achievements of the Bold Goals, they are not in themselves aimed at solving all the challenges of climate change, income inequity and the challenges of a world in some disarray.

The Bold Goals Action Group had its initial meet-up in Sydney in September and formulated a draft of 25 Bold Actions, which have now been revised and expanded during a similar meet-ups in San Francisco, Ottawa and Delhi. The next meet-ups will be conducted for Brazil, Latin America, the EU, the Middle East, Africa, East Asia and Southeast Asian partners of the coalition that will further revise and extend the Bold Actions, commencing Wednesday January 10th.

The Bold Actions will be finalized and ready for ratification by organizations and individuals at ABLC 2024 in Washington DC on March 13th, 2024.

Roughly one-third of the Bold Actions related to actions required of government and policymakers, the remaining Actions are for industry, financiers and supply-chain partners.

The Bold Goals Action Group meets under the Chatham House Rule so that none of the statements or participation of individuals or companies is revealed — however, it is worth noting that more than 80 individuals representing more than 90 organizations — from start-ups to Fortune 20 corporations representing all phases of the bioeconomy supply-chain and end-use customers and located on six continents — have been a part of the coalition of the willing.

BOLD GOALS FOR ACCELERATING THE BIOECONOMY

BOLD ACTIONS FOR BIOMASS RESOURCE OWNERS

Adding sustainable, affordable, and reliable, biomass production capacity is essential for price stability, and social license.

1. We will work to expand the availability of biomass by increasing yields with sustainable and restorative agricultural practices, while expanding arable land and water, and improving soil health to bring degraded land back to production, and improve harvesting and aggregation to collect otherwise uncollectible biomass.

2. We will expand capacity by the development and deployment of sustainable cash cover crops that improve soil productivity and work to remove non-price barriers that constrain cover crops that offer sustainable rotation alternatives to fallow seasons.

3. We will drive down the cost, and work to remove non-price barriers, in the aggregation of forest, agricultural, municipal and animal residues, especially currently available but untapped biogenic resources.

4. We will engage with indigenous landowners and stewards and small landowners as underutilized partners and as a model for land stewardship.

5. We support a worldwide intellectual property system to advance the development and deployment of higher-yielding crops, covers, aggregation and pre-treatment systems and supply chain management, while focused on a goal of equitably distributing the due benefits of the bioeconomy across the supply- and value chain.

BOLD ACTIONS FOR SUPPLY-CHAIN DEVELOPERS & OWNERS

Long distance transport of biomass feedstocks is inefficient. We will work to improve biomass supply chain management by increasing the pre-processing of feedstock near to where they are grown and harvested.

1. Feedstock pre-processing facilities will be deployed widely to simplify delivery of bio-crudes and condensed biomass to bio-refineries.

2. We will develop more reliable feedstock pre-processing and work towards a Uniform Transportable Feedstock Standard.

3. We will develop more effective and affordable use of infrastructure to transport solid, liquid and gaseous feedstocks and by-products.

4. We will work to extend the energy grid to support a more diversified bio-refinery system and to support the development of purchase agreements that support independently-owned energy generation facilities to distribute energy to refineries on a direct basis.

5. We will work to establish longer-term safe storage and warehousing for biomass at scales that reduce cost, manage hazard, offer diversified market options to biomass resource owners and offer more transparency and predictability on biomass availability and carbon intensity to financiers and refiners.

BOLD ACTIONS FOR PROJECT & PROCESS DEVELOPERS

We will work to re-structure molecular industries by improving the processes by which biomass is converted into the fuels, chemicals, and materials needed by society.

1. Bio-based products will be valued not only for their utility but also for their carbon intensity and societal benefits

2. We will focus in the near-term on those markets and products that offer the greatest opportunities to reduce carbon intensity, with a long-term goal of replacing all products for all markets that are made from fossil resources today.

3. We will utilize all existing programs that support development in disadvantaged communities to diversify and spread the growth of bio-based production and jobs.

4. We will support permitting reform that permits what will protect, instead of the current approach which protects that is already permitted, and we will engage those communities, counties, provinces, states and countries that harmonize, speed, and create a reliable, predictable, one-stop permitting process.

5. We will create and manage an integrated demonstration of an advanced bioeconomy hub.

6. We will work to ensure that manufacturers will improve the speed and transparency of carbon intensity and emission-related data as well as work to ensure that products and intermediates are infrastructure-compatible.

BOLD ACTIONS FOR FINANCE Accelerating deployments requires more and better financial tools deployed by motivated public and private finance. For example, it is necessary to harmonize, accelerate and reduce the cost of due diligence. To enable better and faster project preparation we will

1. Develop a project risk rating system to facilitate due diligence by those offering debt and equity.

2. Grow of a Development Capital Industry to address the financing of technologies between pilot scale and commercial deployment.

3, We will develop a system of financial agreements that are harmonized, transparent and repeatable and straightforward to act upon.

4. We will prioritize regionally strategic investment in infrastructure to ensure that biomass-replete zones are also project-ready zones.

5. We will propose structures and incentives to accelerate investment in products and projects with negative carbon intensity.

6. We will work to develop a Bioeconomy Infrastructure investment industry to address financing of technologies and methodologies that improve the transit and affordability of bioeconomy products.

7. We will develop affordable credit products — including ratings, guarantees, and incentives — to assist small biomass resource owners to participate fully in the trade of biomass.

BOLD ACTIONS FOR GOVERNMENT Strong collaboration between government and industry is needed to enable de-fossilization of fuels, chemicals, and materials. In the spirit of collaboration, we recommend that national and sub-national governments:

1. Create and sustain investment tax credits that are harmonized across all regions, to create a level playing field with fossil carbon, that lasts as long as it takes to pay off the cost of a given facility, begin at the commencement of production, and are payable directly to project developer.

2. Work with international agencies to develop and deploy transparent, aggressive, science-based, harmonized low-carbon fuels and materials standards.

3. Encourage fossil alternatives that support and meet domestic demand for food and energy, and in cases where there is sustainable capacity beyond domestic needs, to develop export markets to support de-fossilization goals for those areas who lack domestic capacity.

4. Adopt a harmonized all-of-government approach when supporting the development of fossil alternatives — including but not limited to departments of energy, agriculture, defense, science, finance, and environment, with a focus on developing transparent, speedy, technology-neutral and efficient programs, and reliable, speedy, and consistent regulatory support.

5. Create and expand programs that support the capital costs of converting fossil refineries, or mothballed biobased refineries, to 100% sustainable bio-based feedstocks.

6. Reform permitting to reduce the time and cost of project development and fossil-alternative deployment.

7. Develop less prescriptive crop insurance to speed the development of bio-capacity.

8. Harmonize regulations that protect land access and resources and ensure that they be feedstock-neutral, science-based, harmonized, predictable, and reliable.

9. Support the growth of a Development Capital Industry to address the financing of technologies between pilot scale and commercial deployment.

10. Expand, simplify and speed the availability of Loan Guarantees to support deployment of commercial-scale projects that offer the highest carbon reduction values and account for carbon intensity in the design of loan program support.

11. Recognize across all branches, ministries, and departments that carbon credits are an asset class that can be utilized to collateralize project and company debt.

12. With public investment we will prioritize commercial-scale demonstrations of technologies and systems, and prioritize investments subject to techno-economic feasibility to ensure investment flows to the best projects for deployment at scale.

13. We will map feedstock availability down to the actual growers and volumes — a census of biomass that reflects availability and intent, and will measure sustainability from soil to end use, and characterize feedstock condition.

14. We will recommend the development of an international agency to coordinate the sharing of information on byproducts valorization, prices, feedstock aggregation, pretreatment, biomass capacity and technologies for license.

BOLD ACTIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES AND GLOBAL LEADERSHIP Recognizing the catalytic role that international bodies and processes can play accelerating the Energy Transition, we recommend that:

1. International agencies enable standards, regulations and development programs that are transparent, consistent, harmonized, reliable, and science-based.

2. International agencies encourage countries to prepare and enforce of transparent, harmonized, and science-based carbon intensity, water use efficiency, and land-use standards.

3. We will work to to hire, train and retain a highly skilled workforce to achieve all of the Bold Actions with a focus on capacity building and competence expansion.

BOLD ACTIONS FOR TRADE & INDUSTRY GROUPS

1. We recommend that trade & industry group develop data standards and databases that support the development and deployment of biomass resources, including but not limited to biomass-ready regions and aggregators, risk ratings, technology providers, project developers, financial resources, government programs and relevant regulations.

2. We recommend that trade & industry groups prioritize speed of development and deployment, the communication of success stories, in addition to their work on new market development and regulatory relief.

3. We recommend that trade, industry and economic development groups collect and advise on economic development programs that support conversion of existing refining assets those that can use use increasing amounts of sustainable biobased feedstocks.

4. We will design an effective and repeatable program of education that would bring non-industry stakeholders from a point of limited of bioeconomy to a fluency that would lead to more effective and swifter decision-making and support a portfolio approach to energy investment and deployment, including the certification of bioeconomy educators in the public and private sectors.

BOLD ACTIONS FOR RESEARCHERS & ACADEMIA

1. We recommend a focus on developing new feedstocks and cover crops, uniform feedstock conditioning, improvement in yields from water electrolysis, and supporting partnerships for the improvement of processing technologies and for new product development.

2. We will develop instruction and certification coursework in bioeconomy techno-economic feasibility, lifecycle analysis, and bioeconomy project due diligence, to build an expertise base that can be contracted by the financial industry to accelerate their review of bioeconomy projects.

BOLD ACTIONS FOR THE BOLD GOALS ACTION GROUP

1. We will create and support, for the long-term, a working group to oversee the implementation of these Bold Actions and to continue to serve for all organizations that seek independent, science-based, technology-neutral feedback and guidance from our “coalition of the willing” of project developers, scientists, financiers, end-users, and economic development officials.