Innovation Roadmap of the Mission Integrated Biorefineries: The Government of India (GoI) recently announced the launch of the “Innovation Roadmap of the Mission Integrated Biorefineries” at the Global Clean Energy Action Forum -2022 in Pittsburgh in the United States.

• Global Clean Energy Action Forum is an international clean energy event organized jointly from 21st to 23rd September by the 13th Clean Energy Ministerial and the 7th Mission Innovation ministerial in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
• The high-level Joint Indian Ministerial Delegation of the Ministry of Power, New & Renewable Energy and the Ministry of Science & Technology at the Global Clean Energy Action Forum in the United States is being led under the leadership of Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh.

Key Points:

• The Mission aims at greater international collaboration and the need for increased financing for energy research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) during the next five years to kickstart this objective and unleash a virtuous cycle of public and private investment.
• It will focus on the development of bio-based sustainable fuels, chemicals and materials, which are vital to reduce GHG emissions, strengthen and diversify supply chain and help the world to achieve the net-zero targets and 2030 sustainable development goals.
• In order to support the mission goals, the roadmap will identify gaps and challenges in current biorefining value chains and take required actions.

What is Integrated Biorefineries Mission?

• Integrated Biorefineries Mission is a joint initiative of India and the Netherlands.
• The other countries involved are Canada and Brazil as core members and the European Commission and the United Kingdom as supporting members.
• It is a futuristic initiative to accelerate clean energy solutions through Public -Private Partnerships (PPP) that unites countries, international organizations, the corporate sector, academic institutions and civil society to accelerate innovation for renewable fuels, chemicals, and materials for a low-carbon future.
• It is the sixth mission launched by the Mission Innovation.
• It aims to develop and demonstrate innovative solutions to accelerate the commercialization of integrated biorefineries.
• It also aims to replace 10% of fossil fuel-based, chemicals and materials with bio-based alternatives by the end of this decade.

What is the need for Mission Integrated Bio-refineries?

• Greenhouse gas emissions from the transport and chemicals sectors account for nearly one-third of global emissions.
• The transport responsible for already one-fourth of them, and are projected to increase by 2050, in particular from transport.
• Therefore, there is a need for low-carbon and renewable alternatives to fossil-based fuels, chemicals, and materials, particularly in hard-to-abate sectors such as, long-haul transportation, and industry.

About Mission Innovation:

• Mission Innovation (MI) is an intergovernmental platform that supports RD&D to make clean energy affordable, competitive and accessible for all in the present decade.
• It was launched alongside the Paris Agreement in 2015.
• The Mission will accelerate progress towards the Paris Agreement goals and pathways to net zero.
• Its goal is to promote clean energy innovation through action-oriented cooperation.
• It has 23 members. They are Austria, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Morocco, the Netherlands, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, the UK, the USA, and the European Commission (on behalf of the European Union).
• These countries together provide about 90 per cent of global public investment in clean energy innovation.
• They have boosted their annual investments by 5.8 billion since 2015.