The International Wood Biorefining (IWB) Week 2016 took place from 24 to 26 May 2016 in Stockholm. The IWB, an international event for the woodbased biorefining industries hosts three events: the International Pulp & Paper Week, the Bioeconomy Innovation Forum and World Bioenergy. The conferences and exhibition covered the entire wood-based biorefining industries from forestry to advanced biofuels, biopower- and heat, nanocellulose, smart packaging, carbon fibres, building in wood, cellulosic textiles and wood in food production.

During the session "from fossil to bioenergy in large scale industry", the JRC presented the NER 300 programme with a special focus on the bioenergy projects of the programme. The NER 300 programme is one of the world's largest programmes for the support of innovative low-carbon technologies. It covers pre-commercial projects of both renewable energy (RES) and carbon capture and storage (CCS). The NER 300 programme is an essential instrument in the EU climate and energy policy because:

• It bridges the gap between R&D and commercialisation by funding first-of-a-kind projects
• It provides 2.1 billion euros to fight climate change now
• It reinforces the EU's competitiveness by supporting low-carbon technologies, in which the EU enjoys global technological leadership
• It increases the EU's security of supply by focusing on indigenous sources of energy

Background

NER 300 is a large European funding programme for innovative low-carbon energy demonstration projects. Its name indicates that its funds do not come from the EU budget, but are generated by the sale of 300 million emission allowances of the new entrants' reserve (NER) set up for the third phase of the EU emissions trading system. The programme supports a wide range of innovative CCS and RES technologies.

NER 300 will bridge the gap between R&D and commercialisation by funding first-of-a-kind projects. In total, it provides 2.1 billion euros but it will leverage roughly 2.7 billion euros of private investments. It aims to boost the deployment of innovative low-carbon technologies, where the EU still enjoys a global technological leadership, and as a result will contribute to the creation of thousands of jobs.

Contact and further information

For further details, please contact:

Andreas Uihlein (andreas.uihlein@ec.europa.eu), JRC (IET)