Biofuels and e-fuels in trucks will make it harder for aviation and shipping to go green

The EU climate targets will slash demand for oil and gas. As a result, fuel suppliers are investing in e-fuels and biofuels to replace them. It is in their interest to maximise the number of sales markets for those fuels, despite hard-to-abate sectors such as aviation and shipping needing to prioritise fuels based on green hydrogen (and advanced biofuels in the case of aviation) for their own use.

However, as part of its market maximisation strategy, the fuels industry tries to convince aviation and shipping actors that they would benefit if road transport also used biofuels and e-fuels. They claim that “using e-fuels in trucks and buses will help scale up production, reduce their costs, and make them more available for planes and ships”. They also claim that “Road hauliers will bear most of the high cost, making e-kerosene almost free for airlines.” This is incorrect, as this simple explainer will make clear.

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