Bioenergy retrofitting in Europe's industry-biofit results

Bioenergy retrofitting – which is defined as the replacement of a part of a factory or installation with state-of-the-art bioenergy conversion equipment – is a good solution to replace fossil fuels, upgrade outdated technology, or to use synergies from biomass processing. The BIOFIT project (www.biofit-h2020.eu) is a Horizon 2020 project that had the aim to facilitate the market uptake of bioenergy retrofitting concepts in five specific industrial sectors in Europe, namely first-generation biofuels, pulp and paper, fossil refineries, fossil firing power and Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plants. The BIOFIT approach included mapping of success cases, involvement of stakeholders, development of ten concrete case studies, providing advice to policy makers and evaluation of framework conditions. Results show the widespread interest in bioenergy retrofitting as the dominant mode of implementation, the wide spectrum of sector-specific retrofitting options, the clear reductions in CAPEX and market benefits that can be achieved, the high level of stakeholder interest, and the importance of public acceptance in bioenergy retrofit implementation.