This map provides a comprehensive overview of European low-carbon liquid fuel projects and of their status. The data is regularly updated, as existing projects are progressing, and as new ones are set in motion.
Potential quantity of low-carbon liquid fuels produced per year in 2030
Potential quantity of low-carbon liquid fuels produced per year in 2030
Projects in Europe
CO2 captured/year
Projects in Europe
Lukoil is planning an investment project worth between 600 and 800 million on its Isab Refinery’s Sicilia. The dossier is being studied and is about to be finalized. The idea is to enter the eco-fuel market thanks to investments in technology that would lead to a transformation of the Priolo industrial complex.
Overall, according to forecasts, this project would lead to a further decrease in emissions by 30 percent.
Today, ExxonMobil and SGI are carrying out a basic research programme to develop advanced biofuels from algae. This joint effort is working towards the technical ability to produce 10,000 barrels of algae biofuels a day by 2025. The objective is to develop advanced algae biofuels options and identify the best pathways to make these groundbreaking technologies available to consumers. The programme builds off of the many insights we have obtained and the progress we have made since we announced our initial alliance with SGI in 2009.
Scientists from Synthetic Genomics, Inc. (SGI) and ExxonMobil have developed a strain of algae that can convert carbon into a record amount of energy-rich fat, which can then be processed into biodiesel.
ExxonMobil recently announced an agreement with alternative fuels developer Global Clean Energy to purchase renewable diesel. The engine-ready fuel will be partially derived from camelina, a plant that does not displace food crops and could have the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on the road– a win-win. This agreement was expanded in April 2021 to increase ExxonMobil’s purchase of renewable diesel up to 5 million bbl/yr.
HELPE is exploring the viability of co-processing Used Cooking Oil in one of its refineries in Thessaloniki, Northern Greece. To that end is currently engaged in a screening study with the unit licensor. The aim is to process UCO up to the 1.7% energy cap target for transport fuels set forth in RED II for 2030, which translates to co-processing of ~10 vol.% biofeed in one diesel HDS unit.
Neste and Air bp have signed an agreement to offer an increased volume of sustainable aviation fuel to airport customers in 2020 and 2021. The volume is five times larger than that supplied by the businesses in 2019. Air bp will make the Neste-produced SAF available at selected airports in Europe, with deliveries to airports including Stockholm (ARN) and Oslo (OSL) expected to begin in the coming weeks.
Finnish biofuel producer and oil refiner Neste signed an agreement with Shell Aviation to significantly increase the supply and availability of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
This agreement significantly increases the supply and availability of sustainable aviation fuel for the aviation industry with effect from October 2020. It brings together Neste’s expertise in the production and supply of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel with Shell Aviation’s world-class credentials in supplying and managing fuel around the world.
Phillips 66 Humber Refinery is investing heavily to expand its low-carbon fuel production capacity. The South Bank industrial giant has just taken delivery of a huge new processing unit that will play a huge part in turning waste cooking oil into road fuels.
Shell Aviation plans to support SkyNRG in its development of Europe’s first plant dedicated to the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The facility is expected to begin commissioning in 2022, with an annual production of 100,000 tonnes of SAF. This equates to a reduction in lifecycle carbon dioxide emissions of around 270,000 tonnes. In addition to SAF, the plant will also produce naphtha, as well as 15,000 tonnes of bio-liquefied petroleum gas annually as a by-product.
Shell has joined Air Liquide, Enerkem and Nouryon as an equity partner in the proposed waste-to-chemicals project in Rotterdam, Netherlands, which will make valuable chemicals and bio-fuels out of non-recyclable waste materials. The planned facility will convert up to 360,000 tons of waste into 220,000 tonsof bio- methanol – a chemical building block that is used to manufacture a broad range of everyday products, as well as being a renewable fuel. This represents the total annual waste of more than 700,000 households and represents a CO2 emission savings estimated at about 300,000 tonnes when compared to the production of methanol from fossil fuels.
Essar UK has teamed up with Fulcrum BioEnergy Limited and subsidiary-company Stanlow Terminals to create a new facility which will convert non-recyclable household waste into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for use by airlines operating at UK airports.
This innovative bio-refinery will convert several hundred thousand tonnes of pre-processed waste, which would have otherwise been destined for incineration or landfill, into approximately 100 million litres of low-carbon SAF annually.
The project, involving an investment of approximately £600m, will use Fulcrum’s proven waste-to-fuel process, which is already being deployed at its pioneering facility outside of Reno, Nevada in the US, where operations are due to begin this year.
The development will see Fulcrum construct, own and operate the plant within the Stanlow Manufacturing Complex – their first plant outside the United States. Essar will assist with the blending and supply the new SAF to airlines, with Stanlow Terminals providing product storage and logistics solutions for the project under a long-term agreement.
How do you get one of bp’s oldest refineries to contribute to net-zero? The answer is green hydrogen.
bp has partnered with Danish energy giant Orsted to develop a green hydrogen development in Lingen refinery in North West Germany. The two have signed a letter of intent to work together on the development of an industrial-scale green hydrogen production project.
When operational in 2024, the industrial-scale 50MW electrolyser could generate one tonne of renewable hydrogen per hour. The energy produced by the green hydrogen project could be sufficient to replace more than 20% of Lingen’s current grey hydrogen consumption.
In H-vision sixteen parties, predominantly from the port of Rotterdam industrial area, collaborate in a detailed study to explore the large-scale production and application of blue hydrogen in the Rotterdam industrial area. The objective is supply decarbonized energy by replacing natural gas and coal with blue hydrogen. It is also studying how residual gases from the refining and chemical industry can be utilized to further enhance sustainability.
H-vision also anticipates the arrival of green hydrogen, which is produced via electrolysis using power sourced from renewable sources like offshore wind farms.
bp, Evonik, Nowega, OGE, RWE Generation, Salzgitter Flachstahl and Thyssengas have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop the GET H2 Nukleus project in Germany. The goal is to make the H2 Nukleus Germany’s first publicly accessible hydrogen network and to supply increasing quantities of green hydrogen (H2) to industrial companies in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia from late 2022 onwards. The overall project should be able to avoid CO2 emissions of up to 16 million tonnes by 2030
A Swedish-Norwegian research project with Preem and Equinor signature is looking into the possibilities and costs of transporting CO2 captured in Sweden for storage on the Norwegian shelf. The objective is to investigate the possibilities of establishing a full-scale facility for the capture and transport of CO2 from the Preem refinery and wet gas plant at Lysekil, which would help reduce CO2 emissions by up to 500,000 tons per year.
Shell and Dutch gas company Gasunie plan to build a massive green hydrogen plant in the northern Netherlands in the next decade to cut emissions. Fuelled by a large new wind farm off the coast of Groningen province, the plant would be able to produce 800,000 tonnes of hydrogen by 2040, cutting the Netherlands’ CO2 emissions by about 7 megaton per year. The project is NortH2.
Shell and Eneco has revealed their intention to create a green hydrogen hub in the port of Rotterdam, using green electricity generated by wind power. Expected to go into operation by 2023, the green hydrogen plant will produce about 50,000-60,000kg of hydrogen per day and have a capacity of around 200MW.
Shell has announced plans to manufacture sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) in the Wesseling section of its Rhineland Refinery in Germany. To this end, the company wants to set up its first commercial Bio-PTL (Power-to-Liquid) plant. The synthetically produced fuel is intended to help reduce airlines’ CO2 footprint.
Construction of the PTL system could start in 2023, and commissioning at the end of 2025. The capacity would initially be around 100,000 tons per year.
Northern Lights – involving Equinor, Shell and Total – is developing the world’s first open-source CO2 transport and storage infrastructure. They deliver carbon storage as a service with the aim to help industrial emitters stop emissions that cannot be avoided in other ways from reaching the atmosphere and to provide a safe and permanent storage option for CO2 that is removed from the air. The full-scale project is a result of The Norwegian government’s ambition to develop a full-scale CCS value chain in Norway by 2024.
The French major energy company, Total, combined forces with Sunfire, a leading global cleantech company, by signing a cooperation agreement, the first step for the industrial-scale production of synthetic methanol from renewables and industrial concentrated CO2 from the Total Raffinerie Mitteldeutschland GmbH.
Total, ExxonMobil and INEOS have partnered with four companies and the Port of Antwerp and have signed a collaboration agreement as a first move towards the possible development of Carbon Capture, Utilisation & Storage (CCUS) infrastructure in the Belgian port. Together, the eight partners will carry out a joint study into the economic and technical feasibility of such facilities, in an important step for the transition to a lower emissions port.
In the end of 2020, the project received from the EU two subsidies amount to circa EUR 9 million ($10.6 million).
Bp announced in February its ambition to be a net zero company by 2050 or sooner. To deliver that ambition, the company has launched its new strategy that will reshape its business within a decade as it changes from an international oil company focused on producing resources to an integrated energy company focused on delivering solutions for customers. By 2030 bp expects to scale up annual low-carbon investment to around $5b a year (10 times bp’s current investment level) and reduce oil and gas production by 40%.
In February 2020, The Italian company Eni pledged to shrink its net GHG emissions of their energy products by 2050 in one of the industry’s most ambitious clean-up drives. Some of the objectives were: 1) Upstream production growth at an annual rate of 3.5% up to 2025, subsequent flexible decline mainly for oil. Gas production by 2050 will make up about 85% of total production; 2) Refining: gradual conversion of Italian sites by focusing on new technologies for the production of decarbonised products from the recycling of waste materials. Increase in bio-refining capacity to 5 million tonnes per year, palm-oil free from 2023, 7 years ahead of the EU ban; 3) Carbon footprint: developed methodology, reviewed and verified by third parties, for the comprehensive measurement of emissions. On this basis, fixed 2050 reduction targets of 80% of absolute emissions and of 55% on emission intensity.
In February 2021, the oil giant presented the new Strategy 2021-2024 that accelerates the transformation already under way by committing to reach the target of zero net emissions (Scopes 1 + 2 + 3) by 2050.
Equinor has pledged to cut its greenhouse gas emissions from Norwegian oil and gasfields by 40% in the next decade. The first phase of the plan to reduce emissions by 2030 means more than 5 million tonnes in annual reductions, representing around 10% of total annual Norwegian greenhouse gas emissions today. Total emissions for Equinor operated fields and plants in 2018 were around 13 million tonnes, approximately the same level as in 2005. The ambition will cover all greenhouse gas emissions from offshore fields and onshore plants operated by Equinor in Norway, including both Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions of CO2 and methane. Since methane emissions are very low at the Norwegian continental shelf, the CO2-emissions is the predominant part.
In June 2021, Equinor updated its strategy. The company plans to accelerate the transition and set an ambition to reach a 40% reduction in net carbon intensity by 2035, on the way towards net-zero by 2050.
Galp shared its path to decarbonisation. Committed to Europe’s carbon neutrality vision by 2050, the Portuguese energy company has set two long-term objectives: bring the portfolio into line with the vision for carbon neutrality in Europe by 2050 and reduce the carbon intensity of our activities by at least 15% by 2030.
‘’We can all play a part in the energy transition contributing to a just and inclusive journey’’, said Carlos Gomes da Silva, Galp’s CEO.
For the purpose of the carbon intensity calculation, Galp adopted a methodology considering a “well-to-wheel”, full life cycle, approach with the energy and emissions accounted for under this metric (scopes 1, 2 and 3) reflecting the production, processing and delivery of energy to Galp’s end consumers, as well as the usage of this energy.
HELPE Group set a target for reducing its carbon footprint by 50% until 2030. The announcement was made when the Greek company acquired a portfolio of photovoltaic projects at final permitting stage, which is expected to generate 300 GWh annually, sufficient to power 75,000 homes with zero-emission energy, with a CO2 emission avoidance of around 300,000 tonnes per year.
Neste announced its commitment to reaching carbon neutral production by 2035. This ambition complements Neste’s other strategic climate commitment of reducing customers’ greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20 Mt annually by 2030. The company has already identified more than 50 different measures and actions to decrease GHG emissions in production. For example, Neste: continues to focus on energy efficiency to optimize the use of fuel gas, electricity, hydrogen and steam in its production; increases the weight of greenhouse gas emissions in the investment calculations and business case evaluation; explores new, less emitting production methods, for example utilizing biogas or electrolysis for hydrogen production; has started a project for GHG emission reductions at the Porvoo production site, focusing on CCS.
OMV announced that it has set itself targets for curbing carbon emissions. The company is planning to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its operations and indirect emissions to net-zero by 2050 or sooner. On its way to net zero, OMV also announced that it is also setting the concrete intermediate goal for 2025 to reduce the carbon intensity of its operations by 30%, through an emission reduction of at least 60% for upstream activities and at least 20% for refining operations.
OMV plans to build a pilot plant at its Schwechat Refinery, which will produce second-generation biofuels from 2023 using a patented process developed in-house. A typical refining process will see the waste-based substance glycerin turned into bio-alcohol, which when added to gasoline reduces its CO2 footprint.
“After more than five years of research, we are now investing in a ‘Glycerin2Propanol’ pilot plant and thereby contribute to the further development of advanced biofuels. The new plant will be part of the existing value chain in the Schwechat Refinery and is an additional building block in OMV’s sustainable business model”, said Thomas Gangl, OMV Chief Downstream Operations Officer.
The capacity of the pilot plant will be 1.25 mn liters of propanol per year. This will lead to a CO2 reduction of around 1,800 metric tons.
PKN Orlen has pledged to achieve emission neutrality by 2050 and to invest more than zlotys 25 billion (EUR 5.6 bln) in environmental impact mitigation projects in the coming 10 years.
In order to reach its goal, by 2030 the company will reduce CO2 emissions from its current refining and petrochemical assets by 20% and emissions from power generation by 33% CO2/MWh.
The company’s emission neutrality strategy has four main elements, according to its announcement. These are: improving energy efficiency in production, zero- and low-emission power generation, the development of alternative fuels and green financing.
Repsol announced it aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. This ambition entails directing all of its activities and investments to meeting new and more stringent plans all in alignment with the Paris Agreement’s climate goals. To achieve this objective, Repsol is setting new goals for the reduction of its carbon intensity indicator from a 2016 baseline: 10% by 2025, 20% by 2030, 40% by 2040, and net zero CO2 emissions by 2050. It is possible to achieve at least 70% of this target with the technology that can currently be foreseen, and the company is committed to applying the best available technologies to increase this figure, including carbon capture, use and storage. Repsol would, if necessary, aditionally offset emissions through reforestation and other natural climate sinks to achieve zero net emissions by 2050.
