Argus Biofuels Europe Conference

Key industry questions:

• What has the acceleration towards net zero meant for the aviation industry and the development of global SAF demand?
• What challenges have global market conditions, the Covid-19 pandemic and first-mover regulatory frameworks in Europe posed for SAF?
• What are the key takeaways and developments of the past year and what are the main opportunities looking ahead?

Moderator: Neil Fleming, Senior vice-president, Editorial, Argus 

Speakers: 

Sarah Ellerby, CEO, Nova Pangaea Technologies

Jonathan Wood, VP Renewable Aviation, Neste

Daniel Chereau, Assistant Director Fuel, IATA

Thomas Reynaert, Managing Director, Airlines for Europe (A4E)

• What are the main regulatory frameworks that have been proposed at a global (CORSIA) and regional level (US incentives, RED II, UK and other national mandates in Europe) for the decarbonisation of the aviation industry?
• What are the key regional and country-by-country differences in regulations and incentivisation? What are the most bankable frameworks?
• What are the challenges and opportunities these present for key market players, namely fuel suppliers and airlines? (Harmonisation of book and claim systems and proof of sustainability)

Moderator: Giulia Squadrin, Associate Editor, Argus

Speakers: 

Henry Witt, Head of Sustainable Aviation Fuel Commercialisation, Department of Transport (UK)

Thomas Bock, System Manager, ISCC

Mishal Almutlaq, Chief Investment Officer, Alfanar

• How has SAF historically been priced, how is this changing and why is the relationship between SAF and each HVO and UCO important?
• How are regulations and mandates set to incentivise market growth and drive consumption of SAF?
• What is the outlook for production capacity for 2023-27 and then 2027-30 globally?

• Pilot view: what are the main incentives at play for the adoption of SAF by the aviation industry? Are airlines leading the charge?
• How are airlines working across the value chain to develop SAF production to meet supply needs at the right price? What projects and initiatives are already in place today?
• What further support do airlines need to be able to make commitments to SAF offtake agreements? What is missing?

Moderator: Hal Calamvokis, Director – Aviation Finance, Standard Chartered

Speakers:

Ann-Sofie Horlin, Head of Sustainability, SAS 

Stephen J. Leonard, Vice President of Global Supply, AEG Fuels

Jim Davies, Programme Director – Sustainable Flight, IAG (International Airlines Group)

• What technology pathways are in use today? How far will HEFA-SAF take the industry? What are the limitations of this production pathway?
• What alternative production pathways for SAF are being developed? What feedstocks are being used and what is the level of maturity of technology?
• First of a kind project development: Models for scale-up of alternative technology pathways for SAF production

Moderator: Rachel Solomon Williams, Associate Director, Low Carbon Fuels, KPMG

Speakers include: 

Neville Hargreaves, VP Waste to Fuels, Velocys

Freya Burton, Chief Sustainability Officer, LanzaTech

John Repasky, Manager of Technology Development, 1PointFive

Tim Cesarek, Chief Commercial Officer, Gevo 

Sarah Ellerby, CEO, Nova Pangaea Technologies

Roundtables

1. SAF pricing: why decouple SAF pricing from jet towards the biofuels and HVO complex? Roundtable leader: Alfonso Berrocal, Business Development Manager – SAF, Argus
2. Financing SAF - how to finance technologies to accelerate delivery of SAF? Roundtable leader: Sarah Ellerby, CEO, Nova Pangaea Technologies
3. Feedstock barriers and hurdles in SAF? Roundtable leader: Giulia Squadrin, Associate Editor, Argus 
4. Verifying sustainability – Book and Claim How is blockchain being used to verify sustainability of SAF?

• How are global energy and commodity markets and the macroeconomy performing in the aftermath of the situation in Ukraine?
• What have been the implications of the conflict for global fuel markets (including gasoline and diesel), trade and prices?
• Changing perceptions of energy independence and security and the role of biofuels in the energy transition

• The role of biofuels in the decarbonisation of Europe’s transport sector: what are the key challenges and opportunities for market developments?
• Looking beyond biofuels: what other products are in the pipeline for the future?
• How are oil and gas majors approaching the transition to low-carbon fuels in the short, medium and long term

Moderator: Josefine Ahlstrom, VP European Business Development, Argus 

Speakers include:

Wenyi Chen, Head of Logistics Sustainability, Tata Steel Europe 

Urszula Uszko, Global Head of Renewable Fuels Trading, A.P. Møller – Mærsk

Alexis Cazin, Managing Director Bioenergy, Cargill

• Regulatory insights: What are the key updates and changes in policies? Are there lessons for Europe to learn as one of two key consumption and production regions?
• Views on changing policies in key feedstock supplier countries and how this might impact European markets.

• What has been the impact of Russian sanctions on policy development? To what extent have mandates been adjusted and in what countries?
• What are the proposed changes to RED II? What is driving RED III mandates from the European Commission and when can implementations be expected?
• Will the e-fuels sub mandate have the desired effect to bring sufficient capacity on line to meet targets? What role will e-fuels play in the longer term in the fuel mix

Moderator: John Houghton-Brown, Europe & Asia Biofuels Lead, Argus

Speakers:

Angel Alberdi, Secretary General, EWABA

David Carpintero, Director General, ePURE

Andre Paula Santos, Public Affairs Director, EBB (online)

• What has the response been to Fit for 55 proposals including RED III, ReFuelEU Aviation and FuelEU Maritime packages?
• To what extent have major EU markets implemented policy to meet targets under RED II? What remains to be implemented?
• Do EU markets rely on biofuels to meet renewable fuel targets and how might this change?
• Can proposed targets properly account for feedstock supply given bans to certain crop-based products and limited waste and residue availability?
• Do differing penalties for non-compliance across domestic markets skew the distribution of renewable fuels and are there arbitrage opportunities?

Moderator: John Houghton-Brown, Europe & Asia Biofuels Lead, Argus

Speakers include: 

Michael Fiedler-Panajotopoulos, Director, Government Affairs, Renewable Energy Group

David Helsing, Energy Analyst, Swedish Energy Agency

• An overview of data, pricing and key markets: UK, Germany and the Netherlands
• How are tickets working alongside physical products?
• How is allocation of tickets being managed to help market participants reach GHG reduction targets?

• What is happening in the market and how is it trading?
• What are the main challenges in supply and brokerage of biodiesel?

Moderator: Josefine Ahlstrom, VP European Business Development, Argus

Speakers:

Charles Percheron, Biodiesel Broker, Blue Commodities

Oscar Greven, Sales Director Atlantic, Olyx

Dimitrios Skourtias, Broker, SCB

• What is HVO and how has the market progressed in the past year?
• What are supply and demand dynamics looking like? What new production capacity for HVO has been announced?
• What are the main market pools – SAF vs renewable diesel? What lies beyond?  

Moderator: Giulia Squadrin, Associate Editor, Argus

Speakers include: 

Timo Huhtisaari, Director, Sustainability & Future Business, st1

Bionaphtha & bio LPG

• What are bionaphtha and bio LPG, how are they made, and how are they being deployed today across petrochemicals and transport sectors? How might they develop moving forward?
• What partnerships and solutions are being developed around the greater number of HVO and SAF projects and therefore greater volume of by-products available?
• What are the main challenges and opportunities for market players in both short and long-term?

Moderator: Giulia Squadrin, Associate Editor, Argus

Speakers: 

Andrea Martelli, Head of Biofuels Trading, Supply & Sustainability, Eni

Francis Ugboma, Head of Investment and Supply - Sustainable Fuels, SHV Energy

Timo Huhtisaari, Director, Sustainability & Future Business, st1

• How have crop based vs waste feedstocks been impacted by the Russia-Ukraine conflict ? 
• How is the regulatory landscape for feedstocks changing? Annex 9a/9b lists – what feedstocks will be included/excluded?  What changes have been made to crop caps for biofuels and how will this impact market participants?  
• Feedstock availability for the future:  Where are all the waste and residuals coming from? What will be available in Europe vs rest of world? How will more competition for feedstocks between transport segments create further pressures in the market?  

Moderator: Fabricio Cardoso, Senior Manager – Consulting, Argus

Speakers include:

Dan Mackay, Senior Reporter - Biofuels, Argus

Colin Cowan, Head of HVO Feedstock Supply & Trading, st1

Leonidas Kanonis, Director for Communications and Analysis, EWABA

Bastien Le Bouhellec, Biodiesel Desk Manager, Saipol

• Why is sustainability certification important? How does it help with accountability for GHG savings?
• How does sustainability certification work within global and regional regulatory frameworks? What are some of the challenges?
• What are the main initiatives for tracing sustainability today and what is in the pipeline? What are their strengths and weaknesses?

Moderator: Josefine Ahlstrom, VP European Business Development, Argus

Speakers:

Dr Gernot Klepper, Chairman, ISCC

Patrick Lynch, Founder, Bioledger

Benjamin Hartland, Head of European Sustainability Compliance, Greenergy

Colin Cowan, Head of HVO Feedstock Supply & Trading, st1

• What is the state of technology for new solutions, and which are being considered?
• Will it be possible to scale these up in line with EU regulations? What are the limitations of EU regulation?
• How to build supply chains for alternative feedstocks? What will logistics look like and how will feedstocks be integrated into biorefineries?

Short Presentation

Matthias Schmidt, Director Business Development Europe, Enerkem

Followed by panel discussion with speakers including:

Andrew Murfin, GM, Shell Low Carbon Fuels

Juan Prados, Managing Director, Generandi

Caroline Midgely, Director of Biofuels and Oleochemicals, Global Data

• The big picture: What advanced bio-blending solutions exist? Ethanol, ETBE and, bio-MTBE, biomethanol as blending components for gasoline.
• Zoom in to renewable ethanol: What are the key benefits of these forward looking solutions? Why are they important for the liquid fuel market?
• What role are they already playing in fulfilling ambitious EU decarbonisation targets and how is this likely to play out in the longer term?

Biomethanol insight session
Short deep dive into this product

• What is biomethanol, how is it made, and can it help to meet carbon neutrality goals for advanced biofuels?
• What projects are in the pipeline for biomethanol? What are the main challenges in terms of economies of scale and costs?
• What sectors are exploring the use of biomethanol as a feedstock or fuel?

• How is the market for marine biofuels developing? What are the main challenges and opportunities in this global market?
• What are the alternatives to biofuels? To what extent are these products available today?
• What is biofuel’s role in the future matrix of fuels for the maritime industry?

Moderator: Catherine Caulfield, Business Development Manager – Oil Sectors, Argus

Speakers: 

Sven Lumber, Head of EcoTow, Svitzer

Emanuel Proença, CEO Prio Bio, CEO Prio Supply & Executive Board Member, Prio

Chris van der Zander, VP Strategy & Innovation, Gidara Energy

Leo Brons, Chief Executive, Service Terminal Rotterdam 

• What is biomethane, how is it made, and how is it being used in the transport sector today?
• How big will the market for biomethane be and what impact might this have on the biofuels markets?
• How might biomethane play a role in reducing dependence on Russian natural gas? Which countries are incentivising biomethane projects?

Moderator: Sophie Barthel, Deputy Editor, Argus

Speaker: Zoltan Elek, CEO, Landwärme

• What projects are already in the pipeline and how are they evolving?
• What type of infrastructure and investments are needed to speed up the production of these fuels and reduce risk?
• What are the main bottlenecks? Direct air capture play, waste management system development, feedstock availability and will policy have the desired effect to bring sufficient capacity on line to meet mandates?
• What are the opportunities for biofuels producers today in the efuels space?

Moderator: Fabricio Cardoso, Senior Manager – Consulting, Argus

Speakers:

Tomas Ekbom, Program Director, BioDriv and Task Leader, IEA Bioenergy TCP Task 39, Svebio – Swedish Bioenergy Association

Joey van Elswijk, Commercial Manager Renewable Fuels, Port of Amsterdam

Algara Castle, Head of EU Affairs, eFuel Alliance

Join Argus’ Biofuels team for a discussion around some of the key takeaways from the event and what they are most looking forward to in the next year for the market

Session led by:

Josefine Ahlstrom, VP Business Development, Argus

John Houghton Brown, Europe & Asia Biofuels Lead, Argus

Fabricio Cardoso, Senior Manager – Consulting, Argus