Trucks and planes will soon run on renewable fuels made from a variety of different feedstocks

Demand for renewable fuels is growing fast in industries such as aviation and cargo. Fuel producers are increasingly turning to technologies such as liquor Refined Jet Fuel (ATJ) and power to liquid (PTL) to get more feedstock to boost supply.

Because of its similarity to oil refining, hydrogenation has long been the technology of choice for renewable fuel production. As a result, hydrogenation accounts for 47 of the 51 projects currently in transit and represents 99% of commercial-scale production.

Hydrogenation will continue to dominate in terms of yield for the foreseeable future, but producers are increasingly looking to other technologies. While refined jet fuel can use products such as ethanol, power-to-liquid processes do not rely on bio-based feedstocks and can have very low carbon emissions.

By 2025, more new projects are expected to use these alternative technologies than hydrogenation. Bloomberg New Energy Finance projects they will account for 6 per cent of renewable fuel production by 2027.