Shell is committed to producing and supplying low carbon fuels (LCF) such as sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), biodiesel, bioethanol and renewable compressed natural gas (R-CNG), to help lower carbon emissions from transportation.
Our low carbon fuels operations go hand in hand with our work around electric vehicle charging, hydrogen and liquefied natural gas (LNG) as fuels. Together they form part of a wider commitment to provide a range of lower-carbon transport options for customers.
LCF can be blended with existing fuels such as gasoline and aviation fuel, and don't require costly investment in new infrastructure. That means they are a practical option for reducing transport emissions for our customers today.
LCF play a vital role in trucking, aviation and shipping. This is because liquid LCF provide a lot of energy for a given amount of fuel. Electricity and hydrogen offer solutions over shorter distances today but, the longer the journey, the more important LCF are.
Biodiesel, bioethanol and SAF offer practical, cost-effective solutions for reducing CO2 emissions associated with long journeys. They do not require investment in new infrastructure, and provide the same high energy density as traditional fuels.
Shell is one of the world’s largest traders and blenders of biofuels. In 2021, we blended around 9.1 billion litres of biofuels, helping retail customers across the world decarbonise millions of journeys each year. Our renewable compressed natural gas (R-CNG) and liquified renewable natural gas (bio-LNG) fuels help decarbonise road freight journeys each and every day.
We aim to produce around 2 million tonnes of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) a year by 2025 and make it at least 10% of our global aviation fuel sales by 2030. In 2021, Shell invested in Lanzajet, a leading sustainable fuels technology company and sustainable fuels producer, and announced a memorandum of understanding with Vattenfall, SAS and LanzaTech to investigate the production of SAF. We also signed an agreement with Rolls-Royce to share our expertise to advance the use of sustainable aviation fuel in aircraft engines.
In Europe, we are offering liquefied renewable natural gas (bio-LNG) to customers with trucks powered by natural gas. We have opened the Netherlands’ first bio-liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, with our partners Nordsol and Renewi. The plant converts organic waste into low-carbon biogas for heavy-duty vehicles. This makes Shell the first fuel provider to offer a partial blend of bioLNG through the entire LNG network in the Netherlands.
In 2021, we opened our first renewable compressed natural gas (R-CNG) fuelling site in the USA at our products distribution complex in Carson, California. The R-CNG is sourced from Shell’s portfolio of anaerobic digestion projects. The fueling site at Carson allows Shell to substantially decarbonise its product movements out of the terminal by providing 100% R-CNG for its contracted hauling company.
We supply and produce products to decarbonise journeys for our customers. These products range from Sustainable Aviation Fuel, to renewable compressed natural gas and biodiesel for road transport customers, and biobunker for our marine customers.
Our Raízen non-operated joint venture is one of the world’s largest biofuel producers. In 2021, Raízen produced around 2.5 billion litres of ethanol and around four million tonnes of sugar from sugar cane. In February 2021, Raízen announced the acquisition of Biosev, a leading ethanol producer in Brazil.
In 2021, we took a final investment decision to build a new, 820,000-tonnes-a-year biofuels facility at the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rotterdam. This will be among the largest in Europe producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel made from waste and certified sustainable vegetable oils. We have also announced plans to produce SAF at our Energy and Chemicals Parks in Germany and Singapore.
With Enerkem and other investors, Shell is building an LCF plant in Quebec. Commissioning of the first phase of the facility is scheduled for 2023 and, once completed, the plant will treat more than 200,000 tonnes of non-recyclable commercial, industrial and wood waste per year, with an annual production of nearly 125 million litres of LCF.
Shell’s first US renewable natural gas (RNG) facility in Junction City, Oregon, uses locally sourced cow manure and agricultural residues to produce 2,650 scfm of biogas, upgraded to approximately 736,000 MMBtu a year of RNG.
Producing and supplying LCF for our customers will help decarbonise the transport sector by helping them meet their own decarbonisation ambitions. This means providing an affordable, consistent and robust service, using our experience of maximising our supply chains, and developing our marketing businesses so that we are able to grow the impact our lower-carbon solutions have on customers and society.