A new dawn for (oil) incumbents within the bioeconomy? Trade-offs and lessons for policy

Hellsmark, Hans; Hansen, Teis

doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111763

Cited by 21 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 42 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…For instance, the Swedish carbon dioxide tax policy (with exemptions for biofuels) lacked stability and credibility before the advent of the reduction quota in 2018 as frequent exemptions from the EU were needed, were only granted for short periods, and then had to be renewed. The Sunpine investment was one of the few investments taking place despite this uncertain policy environment 10 . Venture capitalists will typically not fill such funding voids in the early stages of technological development, not least in knowledge‐based sectors in which the capital intensity and technological complexity are high.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In fact, several value chains tend to develop in parallel, not only in Sweden but also in other countries 8 . Moreover, the actors involved in the formation and development of this emerging industry are heterogeneous, and they come from a broad span of incumbent industries and sectors where the value chains have historically not been intertwined 2,9,10 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Challenges of sustainable industrial transformation: Swedish biorefinery development and incumbents in the emerging biofuels industry

Mossberg

Söderholm

Frishammar

2021

Biofuels Bioprod Bioref

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper investigates the transformation challenges related to incumbent industries caused by technology development and industry convergence in the transition to a bioeconomy in the context of Swedish biorefinery development. It involves the emergence of new value chains and several incumbent industries such as the pulp and paper industry, the oil refinery sector, the chemical process industry, and the heat and power sector. In 2019, Sweden had Europe's largest share of biofuels in the transport sector, roughly 20% on an energy basis, and this share has increased by around 300% during the last decade. At the same time, domestic production has stalled, and even though Sweden has beneficial conditions for biofuel production, the share of biofuel that is imported or based on imported feedstock has recently ranged between 85% and 90%. We discuss three transformation challenges: (i) inertia and lack of absorptive capacity creating lock‐in effects at the organizational level; (ii) weak and inefficient actor networks at the industry level; and (iii) contradictory policy instrument mixes and lack of coordination at the government level. The findings underscore the need for policy integration and alignment across various policy domains, and an increased focus on policy mixes that can stimulate the emergence of more disruptive innovations and value chains. There is also a need for industrial initiatives, such as improving absorptive capacity and strengthening actor networks, to help build the value chains needed to realize a sustainable bioeconomy. 2021 The Authors. Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining published by Society of Industrial Chemistry and John Wiley & Sons Ltd

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges of sustainable industrial transformation: Swedish biorefinery development and incumbents in the emerging biofuels industry

Mossberg

Söderholm

Frishammar

2021

Biofuels Bioprod Bioref

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…HVO can readily be utilized in mixtures of fossil diesel of up to 70–100% and in conventional diesel motors. With the EU restrictions on palm oil and food‐based feedstock, forest industries see a market opportunity in advanced HVO biodiesel, which allows for high blending levels and under EU state aid rules benefits from reduced motor fuel taxation 25 …”

Section: The Brown Value Chain: Lignocellulosic Biomass From Forestry...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With the EU restrictions on palm oil and food-based feedstock, forest industries see a market opportunity in advanced HVO biodiesel, which allows for high blending levels and under EU state aid rules benefits from reduced motor fuel taxation. 25 The key entrepreneurs have been large companies such as Neste, St1 and UPM with some production infrastructure in several Nordic regions. While UPM has established a dedicated HVO plant at their facilities in Lappeenranta in rural Finland, SunPine has opened an HVO plant in northern and rural Piteå in Sweden.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

To facilitate a fair bioeconomy transition, stronger regional‐level linkages are needed

Andersen

Christensen

Donner-Amnell

et al. 2022

Biofuels Bioprod Bioref

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The great hopes in Brussels that a circular bioeconomy will help bridge the growing divide between urban and rural areas and allow the hinterlands to prosper from 'green growth' are addressed in this article, which reflects on insights from three Nordic case studies of brown, green and blue biomass use at different levels of technology readiness. A closer examination of the forward, backward, fiscal and final demand linkages at regional level from increased biomass utilization, from eastern Finland and northern Sweden to Jutland and North Atlantic islands, suggests that linkages are and will remain relatively weak, predominantly dashing the expectations. As suppliers and exporters of natural resources, disadvantaged regions may all too easily get locked into a 'staples trap', where the value

show abstract

“…It is therefore important to concentrate on high-quality products on the one hand and to increase the spectrum of products for the solid and liquid fractions obtained on the other [9]. It has been widely discussed in the literature that a diversification strategy and the extraction of a range of products with maximum total value from biomass, combined with a good business model, significantly improves the feasibility of biorefineries in economic terms [20,34,35]. Although research on biomass torrefaction is increasing recently, there is a lack of information on the integration of the technology within an overall biorefinery concept for specific applications [15].…”

Section: Industrial Symbiosis Aspectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Superheated Steam Torrefaction of Biomass Residues with Valorisation of Platform Chemicals Part—2: Economic Assessment and Commercialisation Opportunities

2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Up to now biorefinery concepts can hardly compete with the conventional production of fossil-based chemicals. On one hand, conventional chemical production has been optimised over many decades in terms of energy, yield and costs. Biorefineries, on the other hand, do not have the benefit of long-term experience and therefore have a huge potential for optimisation. This study deals with the economic evaluation of a newly developed biorefinery concept based on superheated steam (SHS) torrefaction of biomass residues with recovery of valuable platform chemicals. Two variants of the biorefinery were economically investigated. One variant supplies various platform chemicals and torrefied biomass. The second variant supplies thermal energy for external consumers in addition to platform chemicals. The results show that both variants can be operated profitably if the focus of the platform chemicals produced is on high quality and thus on the higher-priced segment. The economic analysis gives clear indications of the most important financial influencing parameters. The economic impact of integration into existing industrial structures is positive. With the analysis, a viable business model can be developed. Based on the results of the present study, an open-innovation platform is recommended for the further development and commercialisation of the novel biorefinery.

show abstract

A new dawn for (oil) incumbents within the bioeconomy? Trade-offs and lessons for policy

Cited by 21 publications

References 42 publications

Challenges of sustainable industrial transformation: Swedish biorefinery development and incumbents in the emerging biofuels industry

Challenges of sustainable industrial transformation: Swedish biorefinery development and incumbents in the emerging biofuels industry

To facilitate a fair bioeconomy transition, stronger regional‐level linkages are needed

Superheated Steam Torrefaction of Biomass Residues with Valorisation of Platform Chemicals Part—2: Economic Assessment and Commercialisation Opportunities

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About