Work Programm 2022-2024

IEA Bioenergy Task 40 has been active since 2004 when it was first established with its key original focus being international bioenergy trade. Over time this task got expanded to also include market issues more  broadly and to a certain extent also policy and sustainability aspects. This largely resulted from how analysis of trade and market issues tend to require understanding of cross-cutting themes such as business  practices, regulatory frameworks, and technology. In the lead-up to the 2019-2021 triennium, this cross-cutting “horizontal” characteristic of Task 40 was made more explicit with focus on deployment as the central  Task theme, indicating the ambition to analyze and mitigate obstacles to get sustainable biobased value chains off the ground. It is worth noting that the focus has broadened from “bioenergy” to “biobased value chains”. A key characteristic of bioenergy is that it connects to and interacts with many economic sectors, including the energy market but also agriculture, forestry, waste management, and bioproducts, i.e., the bioeconomy. Consequently, the Task 40 2019-2021 work program has embraced the horizontal role with the ambition to work across many different aspects of biobased value chains. The proposed work program for the 2022-2024 triennium builds upon the work carried out in 2019-2021 as well as linking to concurring megatrends in the energy, climate, and sustainability realms.

The core objective of the Task is to support the deployment of viable, efficient, and profitable biobased value chains and their respective system services and value created in the context

  • sustainable, regional, national and international markets, including trade issues;
  • reflecting on policy developments and economic aspects, e.g., carbon markets and financing;
  • long-term climate and sustainability requirements.

In this task, technological development and implementation, market diffusion, the diversity and complexity in biomass resources and value chains, logistics and competitive applications for bioenergy, biobased chemicals and materials (bioeconomy context), and other products (carbon sequestration and use, system services) are to be recognized.

Task 40 sees its role and mission in clarifying the conditions of deploying biobased value chains –especially bioenergy – within the bioeconomy, considering the longer-term climate and sustainability requirements, and the role of bioenergy and bioderived high value co-products in carbon management as part of a future circular carbon economy. Here, the goal is to maximize the carbon feedstock value by producing bioenergy and high value co-products for circular, sustainable, regional, national, and international markets.

The Deployment Task will have three core areas of operation which all include Intertask project proposals considering the various biobased value chains, markets, and applications, and sees itself as “horizontal” among IEA Bioenergy Tasks.

WP1: Market developments

  • Regional bioenergy markets and transitions
  • Sustainable biobased value chains in the circular bioeconomy context

WP2: BECCUS & carbon markets/valorization

  • Industrial processes: technologies, markets, and deployment
  • Management of Biogenic CO2: BECCUS Inter-task Phase 2 (follow-up strategic intertask project)

WP3: Deployment Strategies  

  • Guidance on sustainable financing
  • Synergies of green hydrogen and bio-based value chains deployment (new Inter-task project)
  • Role of bioenergy in a well-below-2°C/SDG world – follow-up intertask project (tentative)