Research and innovation perspective of the mid-and long-term potential for advanced biofuels in Europe : D2.4 SWOT analysis of interests of member states and major relevant nations on advanced biofuels

This deliverable is part of the study on "Research and Innovation perspective of the mid- and long-term Potential for Advanced Biofuels in Europe". The overall goal of the study is to contribute to future policy developments in the area of advanced biofuels. It is supposed to feed into the discussion by the DG Research and Innovation on the role of research and innovation for advanced biofuels. The study has three specific objectives: - Provide an assessment of the potential for research and innovation for biomass feedstock for energy for the time horizons of 2030 and 2050; - Assess the potential contribution of advanced biofuels for achieving the EU 2020 targets; - Compare different fuel options for transport. A SWOT analysis of the advanced biofuels sector and each biofuel technology in particular enables us to obtain a picture of the implementation potential of advanced biofuels in specific (groups of) Member States and in other relevant countries worldwide, such as the US, China, Brazil and Canada. Strength and weaknesses, creating favourable or adverse conditions for the development of an advanced biofuels sector, in the countries and country groups can be identified. It also focuses on the opportunities and threats vital for the future success of the sector. A comparison between (groups of) countries is a way to disclose weak points and room for improvement regarding investment, innovation policy and R&D efforts. According to our understanding, it is not the objective of the SWOT analysis to summarize all findings of different sub-tasks of this study. We hence restrain from including elements from task 2.3, i.e., the evaluation of the contribution of advanced biofuels to Europe's societal challenges and Energy Union vision and action points, as well as elements from task 3, which covers the demand side of the advanced biofuels market. The SWOT is related primarily to the implementation potential of advanced biofuels and this focus should be maintained in order to identify strong points and challenges within the EU clusters and in the selected non-EU countries.