The 2°C climate goal proposed by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change reinforces the need for the energy sector to adopt long-term development pathways to low-carbon energy supply. Efficient and sustainable use of biomass as renewable feedstock for heat, power and transportation are foreseen as key to achieving this target. The International Energy Agency estimates that 20-30 % of global energy demand could be supplied form the conversion of biomass.
In Norway, emissions from transport in 2014 accounted for 31 % of the total emissions of CO2. The Norwegian "Klimakur 2020" report concluded that 30 % of feasible greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 could be realized in the transportation sector.
The main objective for Bio4Fuels is to develop innovative technology and support industries to realize economic and sustainable conversion to lignocellulosis biomass and organic residues to transportation fuels, along with added value chemicals, heat and power.
Identifying and introducing novel feed resources to the market will improve Norway’s ability to produce more food with fewer imported resources. For example, the salmon industry is expected to expand from 1.2 million tons today to 5 million tons by 2050, and should rely less on imported feeds, and be more robust and sustainable with less impact on the environment.
These goals coincide with a worldwide need for an increase in food production by 2050, and according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization this must largely come from efficiency-enhancing technologies. Foods of Norway is concerned with developing such technologies, with knowledge transfer to the global feed and food industry.