EUBCE 2026 - André PAULA SANTOS - Industrial Perspectives of the Intermediate Crops

Industrial Perspectives of the Intermediate Crops

Short Introductive summary

Intermediate crops are emerging as a scalable solution to improve agricultural productivity while aligning it with climate and energy goals. This presentation will examine the industrial perspective on integrating non-food intermediate oilseed crops – such as Carinata – into existing crop rotations, which can deliver sustainable biomass without competing with food production. Grown between main crops on otherwise fallow or underutilized land, intermediate crops offer multiple benefits, including additional income for farmers, improved soil health, enhanced biodiversity, and significant greenhouse gas emissions reductions. From an industrial perspective, intermediate crops provide a reliable and traceable feedstock for advanced biofuels in hard-to-abate sectors such as aviation or heavy-duty transport, as well as potentially for bio-based products. Their compatibility with current agricultural practices and commercially available processing pathways, such as Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) and Hydro-processed Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA), supports rapid and cost-effective scalability. This presentation will also discuss key EU policy and market enablers necessary to unlock intermediate crops’ full potential, including the need for better alignment between the EU Common Agriculture Policy (CAP), the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED) and other EU policies, as well as practical and workable sustainability criteria to ensure these feedstocks deliver on what they promise.