Triennium 2022-2024
Hybrid meeting 12-13 March 2024 in Washington DC
The last physical meeting of Task 40 in the triennium 2022-2024 was kindly hosted by the US members, namely Chenlin Li (Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, US Department of Energy), Richard Hess, Damon Hartley and Pralhad Burli (Energy & Environment Science & Technology, INL). On the occasion of the ABLC conference, three European (Denmark, Germany and Sweden) and four American members met in Washington DC on 12-13 March. In addition, six other Task 40 members as well as the Operating Agent Birger Kerckow and the Technical Coordinator of IEA Bioenergy Luc Pelkmans joined the discussions remotely. We also warmly welcomed an additional new Danish member, Sara Shapiro-Bengtsen (EA Analysis). At the meeting, our Dutch member Mark Bouwmeester gave a brief update on the development of the RWE BECCUS project. The main focus of the meeting was to agree on the priorities for the new Task 40 work programme for the next triennium 2025-2027, as the proposal needed to be finalised.
On 12 March, all on-site members visited the DC Water’s Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant. It was a remarkable visit, well organised and of great interest. The plant uses aerobic digestion, which produces solid by-products that are sold to farmers and end users and are a remarkably stable product, unlike typical sewage. Notably, the wastewater treatment plant also operates a combined heat and power (CHP) system on site that provides 25% of its energy demand.
Following the Task 40 meeting, participants attended the ABLC conference, where Christiane Hennig (Task 40 co-lead) had the opportunity to present Task 40’s activities in the session International Partnership and Trends, presented by the US Department of Energy Bioenergy Technologies Office and received very positive feedback on the Task’s work. Link to watch the presentation: https://robin.stream/video/ablc-2024-christiane-hennig-co-task-leader-iea-bioenergy-technology-collaboration-program-task-40-dbfz-german-biomass-research-centre/
Triennium 2022-2024
Hybrid meeting 12-14 September 2023 in Utrecht
The second physical meeting of Task 40 in the triennium 2022-2024 was held in a hybrid format in Utrecht from 12 to 14 September 2023. Organised by our Dutch Task 40 National Team Leader (NTL), Ric Hoefnagels of Utrecht University, the event saw the active participation of the majority of Task 40 members. A total of 11 people attended the meeting in person, representing Austria, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, the USA and the IEA Bioenergy Technical Coordinator, with an additional 4 participants from Germany and the USA joining online. This was the first time since Covid that all NTLs were present in person, a significant milestone. The meeting facilitated key policy and technical discussions, with a particular focus on advancing the two Task projects, Bioeconomy Synergies 2.0 and Regional Transitions 2.0. In addition, initial themes and activities for the new Task 40 work programme for the triennium 2025-2027 were outlined.
On the afternoon of 13 September, Dutch Task 40 member Mark Bouwmeester (RWE) took Task 40 members and some guests from Utrecht University on a tour of the RWE Amercentrale power plant. Currently, 80% of the plant’s energy production comes from biogenic resources, with plans to move to 100% by 2024. The visit concluded with a presentation by Jens Fuhrmann (Head of Strategic Development BECCS at RWE Generation) on an ongoing RWE BECCS (Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage) project. A key highlight of the discussion was the ambition for the Amercentrale plant to generate 3-4 million tonnes of negative emissions annually, as one of two sites for this purpose. This BECCS project, coordinated by RWE as a member of Task 40, is currently in the approval phase and is expected to be completed by 2030. Positioned as one of Europe’s pioneering large-scale BECCS initiatives, this project represents a significant contribution to the objectives of Task 40.
Triennium 2022-2024
Hybrid meeting 7+8 September 2022 in Copenhagen
The first physical meeting of Task 40 in the triennium 2022-2024 (and indeed since November 2019) was held in Copenhagen on 7+8 September 2022. It was greatly hosted by our Danish NTL Christian Bang from EA Analysis. Several Task 40 members joined the working meetings virtually and we had a successful and long-awaited hybrid Task meeting. Particularly important in the group was and is the exchange on topics of the political situation in the individual countries. There were fruitful debates in Copenhagen on the topics of planning plants for PtX, BECCUS, bio-based value chains or furthermore on expert opinions and discussions on forests and their role for energy and materials provision. In the virtual meetings of Task 40 during the last two years, this space for exchange could rarely be given due to meeting in distance. Therefore, it was a special pleasure.
Other aspects of the meeting were the development of topics for the new projects and the coordination of internal participants for the work packages of the new ITP projects (ITP Inter-Task project ‘Synergies of green hydrogen and bio-based value chains deployment’ and ITP ‘Management of Biogenic CO2: BECCUS Inter-task Phase 2’).
Many thanks also to Morten Tony Hansen from Task 32 who arranged a guided tour for both Tasks at Copenhagen’s largest pellet plant HOFOR – Amagerværket.
Task 40 hybrid meeting
Site visit HOFOR – Amagerværket together with Task 32
Lunchtime activities
Triennium 2022-2024
Still virtual meetings, but…..
In mid–February 2022 we had our online kick–off meeting in the new triennium, in March, May and June further meetings. But we are happily
looking forward to a physical meeting later this year. Stay tuned!
Triennium 2019-2021
Virtual meetings 2020 and 2021
The period since March 2020 was a new experience for Task 40. Funny rooms (in the camper!), interesting looks and exciting interjections cheered up the atmosphere in the now virtual meetings. As we have been using this type of communication for several years, this was not entirely innovative for the group. However, we had to struggle with permanent solutions for cross-continental time slots and rare personal meetings. Nevertheless, Task 40 met a total of 8 times in 2020, including 2 two-day meetings. In 2021 we met a total of 9 times, plus some members were in additional meetings to prepare the proposal for a new Intertask project (new triennium 2022-2024). The Lead Team participated in 2 virtual ExCo meetings over several days. This was more meetings than in 2019!
Leipzig, Germany 28 / 29 November 2019
The second physical meeting of the task members was held in Leipzig at the DBFZ. It was a successful exchange, an update of the projects and further networking activities with colleagues from the DBFZ and a Japanese delegation. At the end of the meeting a visit of a waste wood biomass power plant was organized.
Task 40 members with colleagues from DBFZ and japanese guests
Stockholm, Sweden 27 February -1 March 2019
The kick-off meeting, the first meeting in the new triennium, took place in Stockholm, organised by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI). Since many projects will be worked on in the future as so-called intertask projects in joint working groups consisting of members of different tasks, Tasks 40 and the newly founded Tasks 44 and 45 met together in Stockholm.
The first steps were discussed, time and work plans were established.
And we enjoyed tasty Swedish delicacies while doing so……
