Argus Biomass Conference

• Where we are in the global energy transition and the expansion of renewables, and where do we go from here?  
• What can we expect in terms of future disruptions, the pace of change, and the impact and other emerging ‘clean ‘energy sources, for instance the renaissance of nuclear and how this impacts the role of biomass. 

• As the cutbacks in subsidies hit, how will the biomass power markets be transformed?  
• What are the strategies and business models to ensure business continuity and resilience post 2027, and in the transition from ‘subsidy cliff ‘to the commercialisation and launch of BECCS
• How are biomass power players managing feedstock availability, regulation, cost competitiveness and environmental impact?
• How will the move to capacity markets impact global feedstock supply chains? 

• What is the opportunity for biomass as power demand from data centres and servers that are powering the worldwide AI boom increases exponentially?  
• How are biomass power providers harnessing the opportunity through innovative collaborations with centre providers, with the promise of safe, reliable 24/7 or negative emissions power? 
• Demand is high, but are we in and AI bubble, and will the opportunity be short lived as the power efficiency of AI chips increases? 

• How are the markets for torrified pellets, biocoal, biocarbon, biochar developing. both in terms of the products’ carbon removal and credit potential as well as the wide variety of end use cases for the physical product -including as a substitute for coal and traditional fossil-based fuels across a wide range of applications? 
• How are issues including standardisation, shipping safety, and a lack of scale to meet demand being addressed, and what are the pathways to scale?  
• To what extent will these products ‘replace fossil fuels in all industries and in all applications’? 
• How do we avoid double accounting of carbon credits by both producers and end users- who captures the value, and what is the likely demand from end users?

• Exploring the latest biomass innovations with potential to commercialise and scale, including conversion, pre-treatment, processing technologies, emerging feedstocks and novel use cases.

• What role can biomass and biocarbons play in hard-to-abate heavy industries like metals, cement and chemicals?  
• Can biomass-based alternatives meet evolving demand for processing heat? 
• How cost effective is biomass as part of industrial decarbonisation efforts?

• Will the biomass industry’s hopes for BECCS be realised? 
• Will government support be forthcoming?  
• How might concerns regarding permanence of removals and expected constraints on carbon storage limit the market’s potential?  
• What are the insights from first movers in this market?

• How are the global carbon markets developing to support green projects, and will carbon market support revenue certainty for biomass carbon removal markets including BECCS and biochar? 
• What are the key market developments including the interaction of the VCM and compliance markets, the alignment of UK ETS and EU ETS, the transition to a global carbon price?  
• How will the offtake market develop - how do how leading buyers view biomass derived carbon credits, and how might this evolve in the future as the market or carbon removals develops? 

• What are the emerging innovations in novel agricultural feedstocks, as well advances in processing and production technologies with the potential to advance the market?  
• Who are the offtakers, and what challenges ae they experiencing in procuring these products?  
• How are barriers to market growth being addressed?

Exploring the  supply and demand  dynamics of the fast-growing Asia Biomass markets.

• How is consumer demand for green products increasing demand for bioproducts, and what is the opportunity for the biomass industry?  
• Biobased products are already available across plastics, cosmetics, fabrics and a growing range of consumer products, but how are challenges such as scalability being addressed?  
• What are the fundamentals of the market- the economics of production, the challenges of meeting specific end user needs, addressing cost competitiveness and building consumer markets?

• The airline industry is placing large bets on SAF to meet net zero targets, but what role can biomass- based aviation fuels play in this market?  
• What role will EU SAF mandates play in growing the market, and will biomass based SAF be eclipsed by e-fuels?
• How do airlines view the market?