From investors to growers, producers, blenders and consumers, the below50 initiative, launched today, expects to attract every industry sector involved in the pipeline of sustainable fuels. Any company who produces, uses and/or invests in fuels that are at least 50 percent less carbon intensive than conventional fossil fuels can join below50.
The initial 20 organizations to join the coalition 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 global initiative is designed to increase the number of companies using fuels that reduce carbon dioxide emissions by at least 50 percent relative to conventional fossil fuels, as well as demonstrate that these fuels make both good business and environmental sense.
Participating companies must publicly commit to the campaign, show evidence that supports their claim, and disclose their progress towards creating fuels that align with below50’s criteria and/or bringing them to market. Participants can be involved in any step of the supply chain; the campaign is intended to 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,” said Rob van Leen, Chief Innovation Officer of Royal DSM. “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.”
Led by the WBCSD (World Business Council for Sustainable Development), the below50 collaboration is an outcome of the Low Carbon Technology Partnerships initiative (LCTPi).
“We’re on the cusp of a clean energy future,” WBCSD President and CEO Peter Bakker said. “Below50 is accelerating that shift by scaling up the global market for sustainable fuels – it’s a huge growth opportunity that is expected to reach $185 billion over the next five years. Below50 brings together companies and organizations from around the world to help realize the ambition set in Paris at COP21, and in doing so, to unlock the economic benefits of the new low-carbon economy.”
According to the IEA, only 3 percent of transportation fuels in 2015 were considered to be low-carbon. Below50 asserts that the 2°C target set at COP21 will require deploying all the available technologies that substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and that the coalition offers an untapped market opportunity for companies seeking to thrive in the emerging low-carbon economy by adapting and working to mitigate climate change.
“With the critical need to decarbonize the transport sector immediately to meet global climate change mitigation goals, we need initiatives like below50 that engage breakthrough sustainable mobility technology companies and large public and private sector institutions to accelerate scale up and impact,” said Brian Baynes, CEO of Joule Unlimited.
Below50 is in the process of integrating a variety of sustainability parameters into its admission criteria, such as to ensure water, land use and food security are considered.
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Published Jun 1, 2016 5am EDT / 2am PDT / 10am BST / 11am CEST