Argus Biomass Asia Conference

• What are key exporting countries’ bioenergy potentials and strategy’s? Is biomass the key renewable energy source?
• With Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines’ biomass co-firing prospects increasing, what will this mean for domestic use vs exports and its impact on exports to Japan and South Korea? 
• What is the production capacity outlook in South East Asia? Where are Japanese companies investing in the region? Do they have concession land for their feedstock, or will just rent from forest owners and manage it over the years?

Speakers:
Dato’ Leong Kin Mun, President, Malaysia Biomass Industries Confederation
Robert Hardin, Chief Executive, SEDC Energy 
Avila Ananda, Executive Advisor, PT PRIMA
Akarin Vongapirat, Managing Director, BNS Wood Industry

• What types of agri biomass can be sourced? Which markets would be able to supply the fuel? 
• What agri residues are suitable for pellets? What is the main Agri waste that powerplants are targeting? 
• What are the challenges in uptake, supply chains, and pelletising agri biomass, suitability and cofiring with coal? How can we improve the efficiency of the supply chains and make it more tradable? 

Confirmed speakers:
Thareq Ariffin, Manager - Market Transformation, Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)
Phil Jarratt, Managing Director, Jarratt Group
Moderator: Simon Yim, Chief Executive, Sky Renewables

• What certification programmes are available? 
• How do certification claims work? What is required from different supply chain actors? 
• How can producers ensure they are meeting standards? 
• Within the Japanese regulatory landscape, what issues are present for suppliers and how can they meet the Japanese regulations?
 

Speakers:
Carsten Huljus, Chief Executive, SBP
Shawn Goh, APAC Value Chain Manager, PEFC

Further speakers to be announced 

• The Vietnamese pellet sector and their issues and challenges associated with sustainability and legality.
• What efforts are being made on the ground to ensure international requirements and market demand is met? 
• Is it possible to get all the raw material volumes necessary out of Vietnam that is certified and sustainable?  
• What are SBP’s plans for regional risk assessment in Vietnam? 

• What kind of enforcement of sustainability criteria will the Japanese government implement? 
• What are the current and future prospects for PKS producers and traders?
• How much of PKS is going to be certified by April 2024? 
• Will the industry look for alternatives over PKS if sustainable supply isn’t met? What is the feasibility and practicality of alternatives to PKS? Do power plants have the flexibility to switch?  
 

• When looking into alternative fuels, how much potential are producers and traders seeing in the market? 
• Where are traders seeing new trading routes occurring? How are traders adapting their sourcing strategies?
• How much biomass feedstock are they seeing? Is there enough for the future growing demand? How are they ramping up production?

Speakers:
Masayoshi Takezaki, Manager, Itochu
David Wong, Managing Director, Rainbow Pellets
Moderator: Andrew Jones, Solid Fuels Editor, Argus 

• An update on carbon markets in Asia. How does it differ from more developed carbon markets in Europe?
• With countries around Asia looking to ramp up their carbon taxes, will biomass be the chosen renewable energy source? 
• What voluntary carbon markets support biomass-based carbon credits? 
• How can businesses in the biomass industry gain value out of carbon credits? How can they combine their decarbonisation plans with carbon offsets?
• Looking at biochar as a resource for CO2 sequestration. Is it an efficient way to generate carbon credits compared to other mechanisms such as BECCS? 

Confirmed speakers:
Prateek Tiwari, Managing Director, Alcom
Geoffrey Seeto, Head of Emerging Markets, New Forests   

Speakers:
John Teal, VP, TSI
Dean Ormrod, National Sales Manager, Foresta New Zealand
Shribalaji Shenbagaraj, Consultant, Argus

• What would be the potential of biomass coming out of India? Will they become the go-to place for Agri residue? 
• The potential of bioresources, what are the drawbacks and gaps in the supply chain? What are the opportunities within the market?
• How does India efficiently trade biomass briquettes? 
• What technologies are India planning to explore for biomass to green hydrogen production for their hydrogen strategy?

Speakers:
Hishmi Hussain, Head Biodiversity, Tata Steel
Moderator: Shribalaji Shenbagaraj, Consultant, Argus