Advanced biofuel-related announcements certainly seem to have dominated newsfeeds over the last month or so, not least on this media platform. Strategic feedstock, storage, and logistical partnerships announced new builds and calls for higher blending mandates, all provide the perfect contextual backdrop for the Swedish Bioenergy Association’s (Svebio) 7th Advanced Biofuels Conference (ABC 2021) that kicks off - onsite and online – on September 21.

With the Biden Administration eager to get the United States back into poll position viz a viz energy transition and climate change mitigation, the White House hosted a Sustainable Aviation Roundtable and presented the Sustainable Aviation Grand Challenge (SAGC) earlier this month.
Gearing up capacity, widening feedstocks, and reducing costs
This interagency collaboration, between the US Department of Energy (DOE), the US Department of Transportation (DOT), and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), seeks to reduce the cost, enhance sustainability, and expand the production and use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) as part of the effort to scale up SAF production to at least 3 billion (US) gallons (≈ 11.4 billion litres) per year by 2030, and meet 100 percent of domestic aviation fuel demand by 2050.
The DOE unveiled 22 SAF-related research and deployment projects that will share in US$64 million in funding as part of this “Grand Challenge”. Other significant North American SAF moves include Honeywell’s and United Airlines’ stake in Alder Fuels, Chevron and Gevo’s proposed SAF partnership, completion of Fulcrum BioEnergy’s Sierra Biofuels, and SAF+ Consortium’s first drops of electro-SAF in Canada.
Elsewhere, three different NEDO co-funded SAF pilot and demo projects were announced in Japan, and one off-setting project in South Korea. In the UK, LanzaTech scored a hattrick on the Department for Transport (DfT) shortlist of eight projects to receive a share of GBP15 million (≈ EUR 17.6 million) in the “Green Fuels, Green Skies” (GFGS) competition.
Spain’s Repsol has produced its first batch of waste-derived SAF, Italy’s Eni and Aeroporti di Roma (ADR) are to roll out renewable diesel and SAF at Rome’s airports while in Sweden, Braathens Regional Airlines (BRA) is partnering with turboprop aircraft maker Avion des Transport Regional (ATR) and Neste to get certified for neat SAF utilization.
Finally, as if not to be outflown by the US, the Nordic Council Committee for Growth and Development in the Nordic Region has proposed a five-percent SAF blend target as a start towards fossil-free aviation in the entire Nordic Region market by 2040.
(Bio)methanol a preferred alternative marine fuel
While several spectacular power-to-x, CCU/CCS blue/green hydrogen, and/or ammonia project announcements in Europe and the Middle East have made the headlines, for marine and inland waterways it seems that for the moment, (bio)methanol is fast becoming a frontrunner as an alternative fuel of choice.
Perhaps in part due to its competitive advantages when it comes to availability and existing infrastructure both onboard and at the quayside. Certainly shipping majors like Maersk and Proman are betting big. While the latter is already the world’s second-largest methanol producer, the former is the world’s largest container vessel operator and it too is investing in green methanol production.
On the policy side, the international maritime sector may soon be able to pull off something that international aviation hasn’t (yet) been able to do. Calling for an internationally accepted market-based measure (MBM) to accelerate the uptake and deployment of zero-carbon fuels, the International Chamber of Shipping, (ICS) has put forward a comprehensive proposal to the UN International Maritime Organization (IMO) for a global levy on carbon emissions from ships.
The money raised by the levy would go into an ‘IMO Climate Fund’ which, as well as closing the price gap between zero-carbon and conventional fuels, would be used to deploy the bunkering infrastructure required in ports throughout the world to supply fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia.
If adopted by the IMO meeting in conjunction with the upcoming COP26 in November in Glasgow, it would be a first for any industrial sector.
The rise of renewable diesel, RNG, and racing fuels
For road transportation, renewable diesel (aka HVO) and biomethane (aka renewable natural gas – RNG) are without doubt the rising stars in terms of capacity investment, on both sides of the Atlantic.
For the former, most of the recently announced projects or updates consist of revamping and/or retrofitting existing refinery assets to meet regulatory and market requirements such as blending mandates, carbon intensity reduction, or renewable component specifications such as the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and Low Carbon Fuel Standard in the US. Companies like Marathon Petroleum Corp (MPC) and Imperial Oil but also Shell, and Preem in Europe.
Biogas is clearly the new gold in the US judging from investments in both RNG production capacity – especially from capturing and upgrading landfill gas (LFG), and biogas from dairy digesters – as well as distribution access. In principle, all Nm3 are destined for transportation fuel markets with California’s LCFS a clear economic driver.
Notable here is partnering and joint ventures amongst oil and gas (O&G) majors to secure supply – bp, Chevron, UGI Corporation, and Kinder Morgan. In Europe, St1 in Sweden has made a strategic move into biogas.
That said there have been movements in the renewable gasoline and cellulosic ethanol spaces too – Gevo’s Luverne facility in Minnesota (MN) is back online while compatriot Arbor Gas secured its underlying capital commitments and selected technology partners for what it says will be the world’s first commercial-scale renewable gasoline plant.
In Romania, Clariant’s sunliquid plant is nearing commissioning while Neste, via its Swedish fuel retailer partner OKQ8, has just rolled out the first renewable gasoline motorist trials at a handful of filling stations in the Mälardalen region.
Even Saudi Arabia’s Aramco is, quite literally, getting into the biofuels race partnering with P1 Racing Fuels and WRC Promoter. France’s TotalEnergies is already in the race as are ExxonMobil and Porsche.
Partnering in feedstock and logistics
Production and distribution are one part of the equation, access to feedstocks and associated logistics is the other, as seen with RNG in the US. Given the size and scale of some of these renewable liquid fuel projects, feedstock supply could become a potential Achilles Heel if unaddressed.
Thus, it becomes a question of finding and securing suitable dance partners through acquisition or JV. Notable pairings and deals of late include MPC and ADM, Chevron and Bunge, Neste’s planned acquisition of Agri Trade, SCA and St1 while CHS is still out on the dance floor.
Gate closing for ABC 2021
It is this contextual backdrop that makes this year’s edition of Svebio’s Advanced Biofuels Conference (ABC 2021) such a timely event, even more so if the numerous hydrogen, ammonia, and technology announcements are also factored in.
While onsite space for physical in-real-life participation at the eminent Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA) Conference venue in central Stockholm is strictly limited (on account of current pandemic restrictions), participation online has of course no such restrictions.