Local Bioenergy for Production Units: an international conference in Montpellier

Event 16 January 2025
From 28 to 30 January 2025, CIRAD and its partners are organizing an international conference in Montpellier on small-scale local bioenergy use for production, under the umbrella of two major projects (BioStar and Bio4Africa) and under the auspices of the UNESCO IDBio Chair. Almost 150 participants from more than 30 countries are expected to attend.
Employees at the ABASAF/E SME, a BioStar project pilot in Burkina Faso specializing in shea butter production © A. Cissé, Imageo
Employees at the ABASAF/E SME, a BioStar project pilot in Burkina Faso specializing in shea butter production © A. Cissé, Imageo

20 years after it was set up, the ABASAF/E SME, a BioStar project pilot in Burkina Faso specializing in shea butter production, has 45 permanent and 80 temporary employees, most of them women © A. Cissé, Imageo

The essentials

  • Bioenergy, generated from agricultural and agrifood waste on a local scale, is now one of the possible sources of local, sustainable energy for production, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). 
  • Its small-scale development for local use is fully in line with a circular economy approach, not only in Africa and Europe, but also in other regions of the world, underlining its universal character.

The aim of the BLP 2025 – Local Bioenergy for Production Units conference, to be held in Montpellier from 28 to  30 January is to combine and compare technical, social and economic feedback, as well as the opinions of development players, private-sector players, decision-makers and researchers working on bioenergy, to foster its development for the benefit of SMEs.

With the aim of fostering sustainability and resilience in the light of climate change, and as part of a virtuous circular economy, recycling agricultural waste to generate bioenergy gives SMEs sovereignty in terms of energy supply and thus serves to create both added value and jobs. The BLP 2025 conference, based on projects in partnership with Africa, is an ideal opportunity to share the progress made with 35 countries across every continent and identify the preconditions for helping bioenergy to take off worldwide.

Joël Blin
bioenergy process researcher with CIRAD, member of the Organizing Committee

During the three days of discussions, the conference will allow its 150 participants from some 30 countries to look at the following topics: 

  • Technical developments dedicated to local use of biomass energy by enterprises: problems and issues, methodologies, technological development
  • Strategies for scaling up technologies developed locally: innovation trajectories, co-design of bioenergy technologies, scaling up from an experimental to a local, regional or national level, support systems and measures
  • Bioenergy as part of a circular economy: technical, environmental and social impacts, assessment methods, prospects, public policy support
  • Bio-based solutions for sustainable agrifood systems in rural Africa.

The conference is co-funded by the European Union and the Agence Française de Développement, under the umbrella of the DeSIRA and Horizon 2020 programmes.

More about the organizing projects Bio4Africa et Biostar