On July 14, 2021, the European Commission launched its largest regulatory initiative as part of the Green Deal: The Fit for 55 package. Some called it a seismic change. The proposed directives will basically affect the way Europe deal with energy, resources and transport until 2050. Since then, the RePowerEU program was also announced, and this adds another layer of complexity. The intricacy of all these initiatives is almost impossible to grasp.

In this episode, Sylvain talks to Adriana Guerenabarrena from Hydrogen Denmark and Ian Moore from Advisian about the philosophy and goals of “Fit for 55” and “RePower EU”, and share some insights.

Let’s jump right in! 

European refineries are under pressure to decrease their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to produce high amounts of renewable fuels for transport and as feed for the PetChem sector. This is not a trivial challenge. But some refineries have implemented ambitious sustainability strategies in order to answer this call. 

In this episode, Sylvain talks to Michael Kraussler and Ventsislav Mishev from energy and chemicals company OMV about their decarbonization journey – past, present and future. They look at the overall plans and targets, as well as details of key projects.

North America have recently seen the implementation of highly ambitious initiatives to support the production of renewable fuels, especially for the road and aviation sectors. The Inflation Reduction Act, the potential change of the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) in California and the Canadian Clean Fuel Regulations are game changers for renewable fuels. 

In this episode, Sylvain talks to Tammy Klein from Future Fuels Strategies and Fred Ghatala from Advanced Biofuels Canada about the new mandates, incentives and greenhouse gas (GHG) savings targets being implemented at both state, province and federal levels.

There’s a lot to cover in a short time, so let’s get started!

Welcome to season four of The Fuel for Thought Podcast.

Since the last season the global renewable fuel industry has seen a surge in projects and Mikala and Sylvain are kicking off the new season with a discussion of what changes the industry has been through, and where it is headed.

In this episode, they will share their thoughts on the current trends in the global renewable fuel market, touching on everything from legislation to hot topics – and much more.

Production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (especially HEFA-SPK) is done at industrial scale but what does it take to do so? 

In this episode, Sylvain talks to Jonathan Wood from Neste about their strategy within SAF production and they address a lot of topics ranging from feedstock to logistics, sustainability, the current legislative initiatives across the globe or even new types of SAF.  

Let us listen one of the leading companies within production of renewable fuels! 

Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) has been one of the top priorities of the aviation industry for a couple of years now - from airlines to fuel producers. But many myths are out there and may confuse some. 

In this episode, Sylvain talks to Oskar Meijerink from SkyNRG about eight popular myths about Sustainable Aviation Fuel – are they true or false? They will discuss topics such as “Is SAF sustainable and climate neutral?”, “Can airplanes fly with 100% SAF?” and “Am I emitting less CO2 when I fly and purchase SAF?”. 

Welcome to the first episode of the SAF Specials podcast series – part of our Flight Plan Green initiative to help decarbonize the aviation industry. 

Sylvain Verdier, Senior Business Strategy Manager at Topsoe will be talking to Lars W. Andersen from Scandinavian Airlines Systems and Marie Louise Hansen from Copenhagen Airport to understand what they think of SAF. They will enlighten us about infrastructure, decarbonization strategies, prices and much more from an off-takers perspective. 

Fasten your seatbelts – the take-off for cleaner skies starts now. 

The shipping industry is entering the decarbonization journey at full speed. Green fuels, blue fuels, biofuels…. where will the world take them? Several initiatives are currently in place at International Maritime Organization (IMO) and EU level, but will those be sufficient to drive the change needed? 

These are some of the questions we discuss with decarbonization experts Torben Nørgaard and Michael Maimann from the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping.

As renewable fuel demand will increase significantly in the coming decades and sustainability criteria are getting more stringent, certification is becoming an even more important factor for the whole renewable fuel supply chain.

In this episode, Sylvain welcomes Elena Schmidt from the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB), and Sascha Wüstenhöfer from International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC), for an extensive rundown on what it takes to keep renewable fuel production sustainable.

It’s no secret that when it comes to biofuel, feedstocks are worth their weight in gold - or more - and have the potential to become even more valuable as new legislation prioritizes increased renewable fuel production. 
 
In this episode, Sylvain discusses the feedstock market’s present conditions and future possibilities with Maryro Mendez from Vitol, covering everything from 1st-generation feeds such as rapeseed oil to innovative 3rd-generation opportunities for example wood-based pyrolysis oil.