Applications
Advanced biofuels are poised to support hard-to-abate sectors across Europe
Road transport
Across Europe, over 250 million passenger cars are on the road, with 16.4 million medium and heavy-duty vehicles joining them. Despite growing uptake, electric vehicles only make up 1.5% of the total EU car fleet, leaving the remainder to only run on petrol and diesel. Available on the market today and in growing quantities, advanced biofuels are already displacing emissions from the road transport sector at the fuel pump. With more policy recognition and support the sector can be scaled up to deliver further.
Aviation
After road transport, the aviation sector is the second biggest emitter in the EU. Aviation emissions in Europe increased an average of 5% each year between 2013 and 1928, despite dropping significantly in the pandemic, aviation emissions projected to grow further. While there may be hopes for hydrogen fuelled or electric for short-haul flights, long distances and weight restrictions require a high energy density replacement fuel. Advanced biofuels in the form of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) are able to be dropped-in to existing aviation engines as a replacement, without the need for changes.
Maritime
The shipping and maritime sector is a critical enabler of trade for Europe, yet is one of the fastest growing sources of emissions. Ships carry half the value of goods imports to the EU and over 40% of goods exports from the EU relying on heavy fuel oil. Maritime is difficult to abate due to the long international shipping routes and high density energy required, however increasing advanced biofuels into the fuel mix provides a practical route to reducing emissions.
Heating
