GBEP-YUNGA Bioenergy Youth Day
17/06/2024
Background
Since 2013, The Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP) has been organizing a Bioenergy Week every year, on a rotating basis, in a different region of the world. In 2024, for its 11th edition, the Bioenergy Week was be held in Rome, Italy, from 17 to 21 June 2024. The event was organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in the context of the GBEP Programme of Work. This event, unlike previous GBEP Bioenergy Weeks focusing on regional priorities, took a global perspective.
Objectives and target audience
In this context, GBEP and the Youth and United Nations Global Alliance (YUNGA) organized the first edition of the “GBEP-YUNGA Bioenergy Youth Day” which aimed to give space for youth engagement and capacity building, and to present the 2024 GBEP Youth Award. Held on 17 June 2024 at FAO Headquarters in Rome, the Youth Day featured educative and training activities on sustainable bioenergy, focusing on innovation and technology. Activities targeted students of various age groups, including a bioenergy discovery circuit for youth aged 14-19 and bioenergy lectures for master's and PhD students.
Agenda
| 08.30 – 9.00 | Registration of participants |
| 09.00 – 10.00 | Welcome Session |
| Welcome remarks | |
| Tiziana Pirelli, GBEP/FAO | |
| Reuben Sessa, YUNGA/FAO | |
| Energy Challenge Badge and Bioenergy Supplement | |
| Constance Miller, FAO/GBEP | |
| Sara D’Aniello, FAO/GBEP | |
| Sophia Demekas, FAO/GBEP | |
| 10.00 – 10.15 | Break and photo session |
| Track 1 (Youth aged 14-19) |
| 10.15 – 12.45 | Bioenergy Discovery Circuit |
| (Participants will be invited to discover bioenergy through interactive activities and demonstrations by associations, universities, private sector, and NGOs.) | |
| Energy Future Supplement | |
| (Aston University, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) | |
| Iran room | |
| Recycling of agrifood residues for biogas, biomethane and soil amendment | |
| (Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Italy; and Research Centre for Livestock Production, Italy) | |
| Atrium | |
| Ethanol for clean cooking | |
| (PIVOT, the United States of America; and KOKO Networks, Kenya) | |
| Atrium | |
| Innovative processes to enhance the environmental and economic sustainability of advanced liquid biofuels | |
| (University of Perugia, Italy) | |
| Flag hall | |
| Microgasification of solid biomass for clean cooking | |
| (World Bioenergy Association) | |
| Atrium | |
| Biochar for carbon dioxide sequestration and the broader bioeconomy | |
| (Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Italy; National Research Council, Institute for Bioeconomy, Italy) | |
| Atrium | |
| Used cooking oil: From waste to sustainable biofuels | |
| (Eni S.p.A., Italy) | |
| Flag hall | |
| 12.45 – 13.30 | Packed lunch |
| Track 2 (Master's and PhD students) |
| 10.15 – 14.15 | Bioenergy Lectures |
| (Selected academic experts will share the latest scientific and research findings on bioenergy. The event will include contributions from various universities and research centres.) | |
| Moderator: Maria Michela Morese, FAO | |
| Plenary hall | |
| 10.15 – 11.00 | Sustainable bioenergy in the 21st century: Why youth must take up the baton |
| Maria R. Murmis Cucullu, Expert on Sustainability and Int. Cooperation Projects and Advisor to the Directorate of Bioenergy of the Government of Argentina | |
| 11.00 – 11.45 | Science and policy integration: The case of sustainable forest management and bioenergy in Canada |
| Bruno Gagnon, Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service | |
| 11.45 – 12.30 | Policies and technologies towards a carbon negative bioeconomy |
| Prof. David Chiaramonti, Polytechnic of Turin, Italy | |
| 12.45 – 13.30 | Packed lunch |
| 13.30 - 14.15 | Biogas and biomethane: opportunities and benefits in a circular economy approach |
| Giulia Ceccarelli, World Biogas Association | |
| 14.15 - 15.15 | Parallel session 1: Poster session |
| (Presentation of selected posters from the 2024 GBEP Youth Award) | |
| Moderator: Estelle Nunez, FAO/YUNGA | |
| Plenary hall | |
| Harnessing rice straw to empower rice farming communities in the Philippines | |
| Czaneil Gomez, University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), The Philippines | |
| Driving the adoption of low-carbon technologies in bioenergy systems | |
| Danilo Perecin, University of São Paulo, Brazil | |
| Efficient production and intelligent control system of biological natural gas based on power-to-gas | |
| Yali Zhu, China Agricultural University, China | |
| Mathematical approach to rank biomass resource types for power generation | |
| Lala Rukh, Mehran University of Engineering & Technology, Pakistan | |
| Insights into microbial community dynamics in palm oil mill effluent (POME) anaerobic sludge via next generation sequencing | |
| Ng Hui Jing, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia | |
| Lignin as a sustainable game-changer to replace fossil fuels in the energy industry | |
| Matúš Majerčiak, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Slovakia | |
| Investigation of electrochemical decomposition of organic waste for enhanced biogas production: “Development of an Electro-digester’’ | |
| N'Dédji Rodolphe Sodokin, Africa Center of Excellence for Sustainable Power and Energy Development (ACE-SPED), University of Nigeria, Nigeria | |
| Catalytic upgradation of pyrolytic bio-oil from thermal and catalytic pyrolysis of sawdust using a synthesized NiO/Al2O3 composite catalyst | |
| Munmi Bhattacharyya, Indian Institute of Technology, India | |
| Technology Innovation assessment of low ILUC risk systems in the EU biofuels sector | |
| Lorenzo Testa et al., Polytechnic of Turin, Italy | |
| Bioethanol as a clean cooking fuel in African and Asian countries | |
| Sophia Demekas et al., FAO/GBEP Secretariat | |
| 15.15 - 15.30 | Presentation of GBEP Youth Award 2024 |
| Plenary hall | |
| 15.30 - 15.45 | Closing remarks |
| 14.15 - 17.00 | Parallel session 2 |
| Training on “Bio-CO2 from biogas: status, opportunities and challenges of CO2 capture and Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage under the CooCE project” | |
| Iran room | |
| Rocio Diaz-Chavez, Imperial College London | |
| Sara Giarola, Imperial College of London | |
| Pablo Basterrechea, Imperial College of London | |
| Laura Treu, University of Padova, Italy | |
| Bettina Müeller, BTS Biogas | |
| Isabella Porqueddu, BTS Biogas | |
| 14.15 - 14.30 | Introduction to Training and to CooCE |
| 14.30 - 14.45 | Biopolymers |
| 14.45 - 15.15 | Biogas, biomethanation and industrial applications |
| 15.15 - 15.30 | Coffee break |
| 15.30 - 16.30 | Sustainability training |
| Creating a database | |
| Indicators and units | |
| Models approach | |
| Hands on Exercise | |
| 16.30 - 17.00 | Discussion and closure |
Over 90 young participants and 13 organizations attended the GBEP-YUNGA Bioenergy Youth Day. The event featured a bioenergy discovery circuit for students aged 14-19 and specialized lectures for master's and PhD students. Eight finalists for the 2024 GBEP Youth Award presented their research, with Czaneil Gomez from the Philippines winning for her work on rice straw biogas systems. The day emphasized youth involvement in sustainable bioenergy and included training on biogenic CO2 capture, utilization, and storage. The event highlighted the importance of youth in driving change towards a sustainable future.
Download presentations and other event materials here.