Conference Subjects

SUBJECT 1:
BIOMASS RESOURCES

• 1.1 Biomass potentials and biomass mobilisation
  Assessments of biomass potentials and land availability at regional / national / international levels; Biomass mobilisation; Biomass logistics; Spatial modelling and remote sensing.
• 1.2 Biomass feedstock, residues and by-products
  Supply of bio-wastes, residues and by-products from agriculture and forestry: mobilisation, characterisation, harvest technologies, logistics and storage.
• 1.3 Energy crops and energy grasses
  Agricultural production of non-woody plant biomass: plant breeding, cultivation, characterisation, harvest technologies, logistics and storage; Novel crops and alternative cropping systems.
• 1.4 Short rotation forestry and short rotation coppice
  Agricultural production of woody biomass: plant breeding, cultivation, characterisation, harvest technologies, logistics and storage.
• 1.5 Algae production systems
  Identification, assessment and optimisation of algae strains; Technologies and systems for algae cultivation, nutrition and harvesting; Oil and chemical extraction.

SUBJECT 2:
R&D ON BIOMASS CONVERSION TECHNOLOGIES FOR HEATING, ELECTRICITY AND CHEMICALS

• 2.1 Solid biofuel combustion for small and medium scale applications
  Innovative concepts for stoves, boilers, micro-CHP, steam and stirling engines, organic rankine cycles, etc; Abatement of corrosion and sintering; Emission control; Auxiliary equipment; Tri-generation (power, heat and cooling).
• 2.2 Solid biofuel combustion for large utility
  Co-firing plants; Process monitoring; Control systems; Abatement of corrosion and sintering; Emission control.
• 2.3 Gasification for power, CHP and polygeneration
  Fundamentals and studies; Technology development; Gas cleaning and upgrading; Gas utilisation and engine innovations; By-product utilisation.
• 2.4 Gasification for synthesis gas production
  Fundamentals and studies; Technology development; Gas cleaning and upgrading; By-product utilisation.
• 2.5 Pyrolysis and other biomass liquefaction technologies
  Production of liquid bioenergy carriers from solid biomass: Fundamentals and studies; Technology development; Process characterisation and modelling; Bio-crude-oil upgrading and utilisation (combustion tests, chemical extraction, gasification, etc.); By-product utilisation.
• 2.6 Anaerobic digestion for biogas production
  Characterisation and optimisation of anaerobic digestion; Plant and fermenter concepts; Anaerobic fermentation of innovative feedstocks; Biogas utilisation for power, CHP and poly-generation.
• 2.7 Biorefineries
  Integrated multi-product approaches; (Combined) production of fuels, chemicals and materials from biomass; Sugar fermentation to other chemicals than ethanol; Drop in fuels, bioplastics, hydrogen, etc.

SUBJECT 3:
R&D ON PROCESSES FOR SOLID, LIQUID AND GASEOUS FUELS FROM BIOMASS

• 3.1 Production and supply of solid biofuels
  Technologies for solid biofuel production: chipping, pelletising, briquetting, etc.; Production, characterisation, and combustion properties of solid biofuels from innovative feedstocks; Solid biofuel logistics and storage.
• 3.2 Advanced solid biofuels
  Thermal upgrading of solid biofuels: torrefaction, (hydrothermal) carbonisation, charcoal production, etc.
• 3.3 Oil-based biofuels
  Innovative processes for the production of oil-based fuels (biodiesel, jet fuel, etc.) from oilseeds, algae, wastes, etc.
• 3.4 Production and supply of biomethane
  Upgrading of methane rich gases (biologically and thermochemically produced) and biomethane grid injection.
• 3.5 Bioethanol production and sugar release from lignocellulosic biomass
  Lignocellulosic ethanol: Pre-treatment of lignocellulosic biomass, cellulose hydrolysis, C6 and C5 fermentation; Innovations in bioethanol production from starch / sugar plants.
• 3.6 Biofuel production from synthesis gas
  Production of fuels (FT-diesel, aviation fuels, etc.) and chemicals from syngas.

SUBJECT 4:
INDUSTRIAL DEMONSTRATION AND BUSINESS CONCEPTS

• 4.1 Biofuels utilisation for heating and cooling
  Bio-heat integration into household heating; District heating; Heat and cool supply to industry; Recovery of process heat and waste heat.
• 4.2 Biofuels utilisation for power generation
  Biomass use by utilities; CHP projects; Innovative business concepts such as virtual power plants pooling decentralised micro-CHP plants and stationary engines.
• 4.3 Biofuels for transport
  Liquid and gaseous biofuel utilisation in cars, heavy transport, aviation; Transportation fuel markets; Biofuel blending, distribution and logistics.
• 4.4 Industrial biorefineries and bio-products
  Industrial initiatives on biorefineries and utilisation of lignocellulosic biomass; Integration into existing industrial processes; (Combined) production of fuels, chemicals, materials, bioplastics, fertilizers, etc.

SUBJECT 5:
BIOMASS POLICIES, MARKETS AND SUSTAINABILITY

• 5.1 International bioenergy trade
  Global bioenergy markets; Bioenergy commodities trading, contracting and long distance transports; Externalities assessment; Impacts on markets.
• 5.2 Sustainability assessment and criteria
  Life cycle analyses, sustainability certification, standardisation, and labelling for bioenergy and bio-products; Support programmes; Scientific monitoring; Sustainable resource management.
• 5.3 Standardisation
  National and international standards.
• 5.4 Assessment of bioenergy effects
  Indirect land use change (ILUC); Agricultural intensification; Assessment of GHG reduction and carbon capture; Estimated contribution to the mitigation of climate change; Agro-environmental assessments in temperate and tropical regions.
• 5.5 Investments and financing of bioenergy projects
  Economic viability of bioenergy projects; Availability of funding and financing instruments (Venture capital, Clean Development and Joint Implementation Mechanisms; etc); Financial support schemes.
• 5.6 International cooperation
  Cooperation for supply security, knowledge and technology transfer; Bioenergy for poverty reduction, rural development and energy security.
• 5.7 Competition between various types of biomass use
  Use of biomass for food, feed, fiber, fuel, biomaterials and green chemistry.
• 5.8 Biomass strategies and policies
  National, regional, local bioenergy strategies; Biomass utilisation concepts for bioenergy and biobased products; National Renewable Energy Action Plans; Integration of bioenergy with other renewable energies; Support policies; Public perception and acceptance.

Papers will be presented in plenary, oral and poster sessions and all presented papers will be published in the Proceedings, online and coded by a digital identifier (DOI code) provided by the German National Library of Science and Technology. Futhermore all submitted final papers will be sent to the Scopus and Thomson Reuters - Conference Proceedings Citation Index (ISI Proceedings) for review and index.

The deadline for the submission of abstracts was 30th January 2012.

If you are interested to submit a Late Abstract, please send by email a copy of your abstract preferably as *.pdf file to: papers@etaflorence.it

Detailed guidelines for the abstract submission can be found in the Call for Papers.

All authors will be notified of the decision of the Programme Scientific Committee. Authors of accepted abstracts will receive special guidelines for the preparation of the final papers for the Proceedings.