Vale and Petrobras to partner on the development of low-carbon solutions, including sustainable fuels

Mining giant Vale signed a protocol of intent with Petrobras to develop low carbon solutions, taking advantage of the technical expertise of both companies and their synergies. The partnership is for a two-year period and will assess joint decarbonization opportunities, including the development of sustainable fuels—such as hydrogen, green methanol,... Read more →


DOE awarding $16.7M to 5 projects to advance production of affordable biofuels and biochemicals

The US Department of Energy (DOE) is awarding $16.7 million in funding to five projects to advance the production of affordable biofuels and biochemicals that will significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Located in four states, these selected projects support the development of high-impact technologies that convert domestic biomass and... Read more →


ADM and Syngenta sign MoU on low-carbon next-generation oilseeds and improved varieties to meet growing demand for biofuels and other products

ADM and Syngenta Group, one of the world’s biggest agricultural technology companies, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate in scaling research and commercialization of low carbon-intensity next-generation oilseeds and improved varieties to help meet skyrocketing demand for biofuels and other sustainably-sourced products. The MoU envisions a collaboration in... Read more →


Neste has expanded its capability to supply renewable fuels to customers on the West Coast of the United States in cooperation with Vopak, a leading energy industry infrastructure provider. Neste commissioned terminal capacity at Vopak’s Los Angeles terminal in California for storing Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and Neste... Read more →


Porsche to use eFuels at Rennsport Reunion 7

Porsche Cars North America (PCNA) will use eFuels in both road and race cars at Rennsport Reunion 7 when it kicks off 28 September at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. This marks the first time synthetic fuel is used in Porsche vehicles at a large-scale event in the United States, as... Read more →


DOE to award $30M to advance concentrating solar-thermal technologies; supporting Clean Fuels and Products Shot

The US Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) announced the Solar-thermal Fuels and Thermal Energy Storage Via Concentrated Solar-thermal Energy funding opportunity, which will award $30 million for projects to produce fuels via renewable energy resources and improve thermal energy storage technologies. This announcement focuses on concentrating... Read more →


Airbus has become a strategic partner with DG Fuels (DGF), an emerging producer of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). DGF’s fuel production system is based entirely on cellulosic waste products, such as wood waste from the logging industry, and renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power. The partnership with... Read more →


United to buy up to 1B gallons of sustainable aviation fuel from syn-bio company Cemvita

Cemvita Corporation announced an offtake arrangement with United Airlines for up to 1 billion gallons of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from Cemvita’s first full-scale SAF plant. Under the agreement, signed by Cemvita and United Airlines, Cemvita will supply United Airlines up to 50 million gallons annually for 20 years of... Read more →


Eni and LG Chem assessing potential for biorefinery in South Korea

South Korea’s leading chemicals producer LG Chem and Italian energy group Eni Sustainable Mobility are exploring the possibility of developing and operating a new biorefinery at LG Chem’s Daesan chemical complex, 80 kilometers southwest of Seoul, South Korea. Together, the companies are examining the technical and economic feasibilities for the... Read more →


CF Industries and POSCO evaluating joint US blue ammonia project and long-term offtake agreement into South Korea

CF Industries Holdings, the world’s largest producer of ammonia, and POSCO Holdings, South Korea’s largest steelmaker as well as a leader in energy trading and power generation, are evaluating a joint venture to construct a low-carbon clean ammonia plant at CF Industries’ Blue Point Complex in Ascension Parish, Louisiana, United... Read more →


European Parliament approves law to increase uptake of green jet fuels; 70% by 2050

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) approved a new law to increase the uptake of sustainable fuels, such as advanced biofuels or hydrogen, in the aviation sector. The RefuelEU aviation rules are part of the “Fit for 55 package”, the EU’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least... Read more →


OCI Global to double its green methanol capacity in the US to about 400,000 tonnes per year

OCI Global, the world’s largest producer of green methanol, plans to double its green methanol production capacity to approximately 400,000 metric tons per year in response to the growing demand for green methanol from numerous high emissions industries, including road transport, shipping and industrial. The scale-up plans include entering into... Read more →


Aemetis, a renewable natural gas and renewable fuels company focused on negative carbon intensity products, received a Use Permit from the City of Riverbank to build a 90 million gallon per year sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel plant at the 125-acre Riverbank Industrial Complex in Riverbank, California. The Riverbank... Read more →


ANGI Energy Systems, a Vontier company announced a strategic collaboration with Nikola Corporation to support Nikola’s plan to create the largest North American open-network of commercial hydrogen refueling stations by providing technically advanced hydrogen fueling dispensers, under Nikola’s HYLA brand. The dispensers are expected to be the industry’s first HD-ready... Read more →


DOE announces $18.6M to support production of low-carbon biofuels and bioproducts

The US Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) awarded $18.6 million in funding to eight university and industry projects to develop biomass feedstocks to produce affordable biofuels and bioproducts that reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The selected projects support DOE’s investment in the development and production of biofuels... Read more →


A.P. Moller - Maersk (Maersk) and Equinor signed an agreement securing supply of green methanol for Maersk’s new methanol-enabled feeder vessel (earlier post) during its initial months of operation from September 2023 and into the first half of 2024. The naming ceremony for the Danish-flagged 172-meter-long ship will be held... Read more →


Aramco and Stellantis collaboration indicates eFuel compatibility with 24 European engine families produced since 2014 (Euro 6)

Stellantis has concluded that 24 engine families in European vehicles sold since 2014, representing 28 million vehicles on the road, are ready to use advanced drop-in eFuel without any powertrain modification, following months of testing at its technical centers across Europe. The tests were conducted using surrogate eFuels provided by... Read more →


At the IAA Summit in Munich, HIF Global, together with Porsche AG, Volkswagen Group Innovation and MAN Energy Solutions, announced the development and installation of a Direct Air Capture (DAC) unit at the HIF Haru Oni Demonstration facility in southern Chile in 2024. (Earlier post.) HIF’s Haru Oni is the... Read more →


German minister Wissing starts international e-fuels dialogue

The German Federal Minister for Digital Affairs and Transport Dr Volker Wissing launched an international e-fuels dialogue in Munich at the conference “E-Fuels – Paving the Way for Clean Mobility”. The conference is focused on the potential of e-fuels and strategies for a successful market ramp-up. The aim is to... Read more →


DOE awards $875k Early Career Research Award to UMD professor; advancing alternative fuels research

University of Maryland Chemistry and Biochemistry Assistant Professor Leah Dodson received a 2023 Early Career Research Award from the US Department of Energy (DOE). The highly competitive five-year grant, awarded through the DOE’s Gas Phase Chemical Physics program, recognizes rising stars in science. The grant supports researchers who show great... Read more →


A team from Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ (Leipzig, Germany) has shown the scale-up of the production of aviation drop-in fuel-like mixtures (mainly n-decane) that are obtained by Kolbe electrolysis of medium-chain carboxylic acids (n-hexanoic acid), which can be derived from biomass. A paper on their work appears in... Read more →


Cologne Bonn Airport has switched to Neste MY Renewable Diesel in its diesel-powered ground fleet. Neste’s renewable diesel (also known as HVO100) is made from 100% renewable raw materials, and it is in particular used for powering large and heavy vehicles such as the airport’s fire trucks, which are not... Read more →


Cummins approves unblended renewable diesel use in all industrial high-horsepower engines

Cummins announced approval of its entire line of diesel high horsepower engines across all ratings for use with unblended paraffinic fuels (EN15940), often referred to as renewable diesel, including hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO). Utilizing renewable diesels such as HVO are shown to reduce net greenhouse gas (GHG) emission by up... Read more →


Clean fuels replaced more than 50% of the diesel used in the state in the first quarter of 2023, according to the California Air Resources Board (CARB). California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), which requires fuel producers to reduce the carbon intensity of fuel sold in the state, is largely... Read more →


Marathon Petroleum implements Topsoe technology at Martinez Renewables facility in California

Marathon Petroleum Corporation selected Topsoe as the technology provider for renewable fuels production at the Martinez Renewable Fuels Facility in California. The facility, part of Marathon’s 50/50 joint venture with Neste, utilizes Topsoe’s HydroFlex technology to convert bio-feedstock into renewable diesel. The continued partnership between Topsoe and Marathon builds upon... Read more →


Researchers from University of Girona (Spain) successfully used electrically efficient microbial electrosynthesis cells (MES) to convert CO2 to butyric acid. In an open-access paper published in the journal Environmental Science and Ecotechnology, they reported operating the low ohmic resistance (15.7 mΩ m2) cells in a batch-fed mode, alternating high CO2... Read more →


Researchers at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), with colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Illinois at Chicago have developed an electrolyzer capable of converting carbon dioxide into propane in a manner that is both scalable and economically viable. A paper on the work is published in... Read more →


MAN Energy Solutions wins pre-engineering contract for methanation reactor in Power-to-X Plant

Koppö Energia has commissioned MAN Energy Solutions to deliver the front-end engineering design (FEED) for the methanation reactor of an industrial-scale power-to-X plant. The plant, with a total input capacity of 200 MW, will be built in Kristinestad, Finland for the production of green hydrogen and synthetic natural gas (SNG).... Read more →


The production of renewable diesel at Neste’s Singapore refinery expansion has been restarted in early August, according to the company’s plans. The production line at the expanded part of the refinery was shut down in June for unexpected equipment repairs. The ramp-up of the production at the expanded part of... Read more →


ClassNK issues AiP for ammonia fuel supply system for oil tanker and container ship developed by Samsung Heavy

ClassNK has issued an Approval in Principle (AiP) for an ammonia fuel supply system for oil tanker and container ship developed by Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI). Ammonia is expected to be used as a ship fuel for decarbonization since it does not emit CO2 when combusted. Meanwhile, adequate safety measures... Read more →


Cummins and Chevron advance strategic collaboration; focus on lower carbon-intensity fuels

Cummins and Chevron USA, a subsidiary of Chevron Corporation announced a memorandum of understanding to leverage complementary positioning in hydrogen, natural gas, and other lower carbon fuel value chains. The announcement expands the two companies’ previous strategic collaboration on hydrogen and renewable natural gas and is expected to encompass other... Read more →


thyssenkrupp Uhde to deliver feasibility study for major power-to-ammonia project

thyssenkrupp Uhde has been engaged by Ark Energy Corporation Pty Ltd on behalf of the Han-Ho H2 Consortium to deliver a Feasibility Study to support the development of the Han-Ho H2 Hub Project. The project seeks to build a green energy supply chain exporting up to 1.8 million tonnes of... Read more →


Fairbanks Morse Defense, ORNL collaborate on developing low-lifecycle carbon fuel (LLCF) technology for marine engines

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Fairbanks Morse Defense (FMD), a portfolio company of Arcline Investment Management, have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate on the development and integration of alternative fuel technologies aimed at reducing the marine engine’s reliance on fossil fuels. FMD will incorporate the... Read more →


Montauk Renewables—a renewable energy company specializing in the management, recovery and conversion of biogas into RNG—and its subsidiary Montauk Energy Holdings signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with EE North America, a North American subsidiary of Denmark–based European Energy, to deliver all biogenic CO2 volumes from all its Texas facilities... Read more →


Gevo’s Net-Zero 1 ethanol-to-jet advances in $950M DOE loan guarantee process

Gevo announced that its Net-Zero 1 ethanol-to-jet project has been invited by the US Department of Energy to the due diligence and term sheet negotiation phase for a $950-million loan guarantee under the Title 17 Clean Energy Financing Program. The invitation was based on the DOE’s determination that Gevo’s Net-Zero... Read more →


A team of researchers from the Chemistry Division of the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division in China Lake has demonstrated that fuels with both high energy densities and excellent low temperature properties can be generated from bio-based substrates through cyclopropanation (a chemical process which generates cyclopropane rings) reactions. A... Read more →


Government of Canada releases framework for ending fossil fuel subsidies

Steven Guilbeault, Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, released the Inefficient Fossil Fuel Subsidies Government of Canada Self‑Review Assessment Framework and the Inefficient Fossil Fuel Subsidies Government of Canada Guidelines, which were jointly developed by Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Department of Finance Canada. The Government of... Read more →


Toyota Motor Corporation will enter the ENEOS Super Taikyu Series 2023 Supported by Bridgestone Round 4 Super Taikyu Race (5h x 1 race), to be held from 29-30 July at the Autopolis international racing course in Oita Prefecture, with the #32 ORC ROOKIE GR Corolla H2 Concept, which runs on... Read more →


DG Fuels, LLC (DGF), a developer of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) facilities (earlier post), announced the successful closing of investment transactions with two Japanese companies. With the investments in DGF made by aviner & co., inc., Chishima Real Estate Co., Ltd. and an undisclosed investor, DGF has now exceeded its... Read more →


Calumet’s Montana Renewables became the largest SAF producer in North America in Q2

Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P. reported that ramp-up of unit operations was completed during the second quarter, making its Montana Renewables subsidiary the largest producer of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in North America (approximately 30 million gallons per year). The Montana Renewables team delivered on our first mover strategy and... Read more →


SunGas Renewables to build $2B green methanol production facility in Louisiana

SunGas Renewables Inc. announced the formation of Beaver Lake Renewable Energy, LLC (BLRE), which will construct a new green methanol production facility in Central Louisiana. A wholly-owned subsidiary of SunGas Renewables, BLRE is expected to generate from the facility nearly 400,000 metric tons of green methanol per year for marine... Read more →


Dimeta and Enerkem collaborate on large scale waste-to-DME projects in Europe and US

Enerkem, a producer of bio-methanol from mixed waste at commercial scale, and Dimeta, a joint venture between the two of the largest off-grid energy suppliers, are initiating feasibility studies for the development of two large-scale projects that will convert waste into renewable and recycled carbon dimethyl ether (DME). DME is... Read more →


European Council adopts new law to decarbonize maritime sector: FuelEU Maritime

The European Council has formally adopted the FuelEU Maritime Regulation. The main objective of the FuelEU Maritime initiative, as a key part of the EU’s Fit for 55 package, is to increase the demand for and consistent use of renewable and low-carbon fuels and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from... Read more →


Continental, a subsidiary of Continental Aerospace Technologies Holding Limited, is finalizing testing of Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) as a sustainable fuel option in its CD-100 series of engines. This research and development investment signifies Continental’s commitment to fostering a more sustainable general aviation industry aimed at reducing carbon emissions and... Read more →


Gevo signs master services agreement with McDermott for sustainable aviation fuel facilities

Gevo, Inc. has entered into a Master Services Agreement (MSA) with a subsidiary of McDermott International, Ltd to provide front end engineering and early planning services for Gevo’s development of multiple sustainable aviation fuel facilities in North America. The first facility, Net-Zero 1, is expected to be located near Lake... Read more →


California accounts for nearly all renewable diesel consumption in the United States, but most of it isn’t made in the state, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). More than eight times the renewable diesel was consumed in California than was produced there in 2021. Instead, most of California’s... Read more →


Volvo Group and Westport sign LOI to form JV to advance commercialization and adoption of HPDI

Volvo Group and Westport Fuel Systems signed a non-binding letter of intent (LOI) to establish a joint venture to accelerate the commercialization and global adoption of Westport’s HPDI (High Pressure Direct Injection) fuel system technology for long-haul and off-road applications. Westport’s HPDI fuel system is a high-performance solution supporting significant... Read more →


MAN ME-GA-opti optimizes combustion through individual cylinder control

The first LNG carrier in a series currently under construction by Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) in Korea has completed gas trials. Originally ordered in Q2 2021 and scheduled for delivery in July 2023, the ship is powered by MAN B&W ME-GA dual-fuel engines capable of running on fuel oil and... Read more →


Brazil-based metals and mining multinational Vale announced a partnership with Wabtec Corporation to advance the decarbonization of Vale’s rail operations. The deal includes an order for three of Wabtec’s FLXdrive battery locomotives and a collaboration to test ammonia as a potential clean, alternative fuel to replace diesel. The three 100%... Read more →


Uniper and Sasol ecoFT continue to develop SkyFuelH2 SAF

Uniper and Sasol ecoFT (a division of Sasol) will enter the next phase of the SkyFuelH2 project for production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in Långsele, Sollefteå, Sweden. The plant is subject to a final investment decision in the future. Uniper and Sasol ecoFT have jointly applied for funding from... Read more →