Global companies form below50 to scale up low-carbon sustainable fuels; Audi in from automotive sector
06 June 2016
Global companies are partnering with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), Roundtable for Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) and Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) in a new global initiative called below50, to promote the best-of-breed of sustainable fuels that can achieve significant carbon reductions, and to scale-up their development and use.
A key outcome of the Low Carbon Technology Partnerships initiative (LCTPi), below50 is intended to grow a global corporate market for sustainable low-carbon transport fuels (LCTFs). Any company which produces, uses and/or invests in fuels that are at least 50% less carbon intensive than conventional fossil fuels can join below50.
Companies must publicly commit to the campaign, show evidence that supports their claim, and disclose their progress towards achieving this goal.
The initiative was launched last week at the LCTPi5 global roundtable in San Francisco. The companies and organizations driving the initiative include ABBI, Arizona State University, Audi, CGEE, Copersucar, DSM, DuPont, GranBio, the International Energy Agency (IEA), SkyNRG, Joule Unlimited, LanzaTech, LCFC, Novozymes, Pannonia, Poet, Red Rock Biofuels, RSB, SE4ALL and Yale University.
The collaboration is designed to increase the number of companies using below50 fuels and demonstrate that these fuels make both good business and environmental sense.
The campaign will centralize resources and dialogue; produce a go-to resource for regulators and policymakers; create a marketplace for companies across the supply chain; and host regional road shows to engage financers, policymakers and companies, as well as explore how to regionally scale sustainable fuel technology.
The below50 campaign is a great example of a cross-sectoral business platform to drive growth and commercialization of sustainable technologies for low carbon transportation fuels, together with investors and policy-makers. DSM recognizes that the complexity of the issues is too big for any one party to tackle alone. These types of partnerships are a necessity to drive societal change.
—Rob van Leen, Chief Innovation Officer of Royal DSM
The companies that adapt and work to mitigate climate change will be the ones to thrive in the emerging low-carbon economy. A 2 °C world requires deploying all the available technologies that substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions. With only 3% of current transportation fuels considered to be low-carbon (International Energy Agency, 2015. “Energy Technology Perspectives 2015), below50 offers an untapped market opportunity for businesses seeking to flourish in a low-carbon economy.
A 2-degree rise in temperature is closer than we think. We have to be smarter than the problem. below50 is a way we can aggressively move towards a low carbon future. Together, we must act now and ignore all calls to inaction,
—Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of Lanzatech
Below50 is working closely with world renowned sustainability standards to ensure that key sustainability parameters (for example related to water, land use and food security) are integrated into the below50 admission criteria.
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