Sustainable and Low Carbon Fuels and Chemicals: Time for Take Off

📢 On 13th of April, the Maison Irène et Frédéric Joliot Curie in Brussels hosted an in-person event organized by CEA titled “Sustainable and low carbon fuels and chemicals – Time for take-off”.

🌱⛽ Sustainable and low carbon fuels will play an essential role in achieving the European Union’s ambitious energy transition objectives and reaching net zero by 2050. In particular, they will allow the defossilisation of industry sectors where electrification alone will not be sufficient.

🏛️ Speakers and representatives from the European Commission and European organizations, from more than 10 Member States, from industry and from the research community joined the event to discuss around the currently hot topic of sustainable low carbon fuels and chemicals and the challenges ahead.

👥 There was a great interest in attending the event, with more than 110 registrations. Approximately 60 individuals were invited to attend the event in person.

🎤 After an introductory speech by Mr. Cyril Piquemal, Deputy Permanent Representative of France to the European Union, the event was organized in three sessions covering the following aspects:

➡ 𝗦𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝟭: 
The role of sustainable fuels and chemicals in the climate and energy transition, with talks by Bernd Kuepker (EC-DG ENER) and Tudy Bernier (CO2 Value Europe);

➡ 𝗦𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝟮: 
Technology options and perspectives, with talks by Maria Georgiadou (EC-DG RTD), Thibault Cantat (CEA), Jack Legrand (CNRS), Jurriaan Boon (TNO) and Fleischer Maximilian (Siemens Energy);

➡ 𝗦𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝟯:
Towards a synthetic fuels and chemicals value chain with talks by Nicolas JEULAND (Safran), Caterina Cobino (FINCANTIERI S.p.A.), Ivan Souček (Svaz chemického průmyslu ČR, z. s. – Association of the Chemical Industry in Czech Republic), Horzenberger Franz (ArcelorMittal) and Heidi Bergman (Renewable hydrogen, Neste Corporation).

⭐ Several speakers and attendees are directly involved or related to SUNERGY and SUNER-C, including Tudy Bernier (CO2 Value Europe), Fleischer Maximilian (Siemens Energy), Ivan Souček (Association of the Chemical Industry in Czech Republic) and Frederic Chandezon as co-organizer of the event and chair of session 2.

𝗔𝘀 𝗮 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲-𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁:
📝 Sustainable fuels and chemicals will be necessary to reach the EU’s energy and climate objectives;

📝 Considering the huge electricity amounts required to produce them, there is a need for prioritization of the use of such fuels and chemicals in hard-to-abate sectors, like the chemical industry, the aviation and maritime transport sectors;

📝 Technology alone will not allow the Union to reach its energy and climate objectives and it needs to be complemented by energy efficiency and sustainability as core objectives.