UPM-Biofore-Magazine-1-2014-EN

There are many ways to get attention and Chris Malins possesses a few good ones. When he sits in a meeting area in Amsterdam’s RAI Convention Centre, the first thing you notice is his distinctive hair style. He has long hair dyed blue, which certainly makes him a recognisable character in the world of biofuels. But more importantly it’s the recent research that he and his teamparticipated in that really draws attention toMalins and what he has to say. At the end of February, Malins and his team at the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), published a study on the potential of advance biofuels, entitledWasted: Europe’s Untapped Resource. The paper, based on research done by Chris’s team at the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT)

together with the National Non-Food Crops Centre (NNFCC) in England, raised a few eyebrows by stating that wastes and residues could potentially supply 16% of Europe’s road transport fuel in 2030. And this could be achieved using only sustainably available wastes and residues within the European Union. Despite the big numbers illustrated by the report, Malins keeps a cautious outlook. “This 16% figure, even if it's a conservative estimate, has to be understood as a technical potential. At 16%, 10% or even 2% numbers, you’re still talking about a big indus- trial roll-out, a big deployment of new technology and a lot of economic opportunity for Europe, and some significant carbon savings, too,” he says.

TEXT ANTTI YLITALO PHOTOGRAPHY GETTY IMAGES, MIQUEL GONZALEZ

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