Hello energy managers and friends of my newsletter,
The energy transition is gaining momentum—and staying up to date has never been more important. We provide expert insights, industry studies, case studies, and strategic analyses specifically tailored to professionals in the commercial and industrial sectors who need to navigate the changing energy landscape.
Europe’s long-term competitiveness is not determined solely by large corporations or their laboratories; it is also shaped by many small businesses. Innovation is just as much about entrepreneurship and the application of new technologies as it is about groundbreaking discoveries.
None of this happens automatically. It depends on whether European regions possess the prerequisites to remain competitive, adapt to the green transition, and reduce disparities among themselves. Strategic autonomy is also playing an increasingly important role: Europe’s ability to develop and deploy necessary technologies itself, rather than relying on others to provide them first. European cohesion policy supports regions in building the ecosystems and skills needed to participate in this process, viewing innovation as an investment for every region.
Innovation requires more than just clever ideas. It demands the right research facilities and skills, as well as strong links between business and policymakers, to enable an idea to be developed, tested, and put into practice.
Under EU programs for the 2021–2027 period, Member States have allocated around €75 billion from the ERDF, plus another €36 billion in national co-financing, to achieve the policy objective of a “smarter Europe.” These regional priorities are now being incorporated into one of the EU’s latest strategic initiatives: the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP). Europe cannot afford to fall behind in the technologies that will shape the coming decade. STEP therefore supports the development and manufacturing of critical technologies—such as clean and resource-efficient technologies and biotechnology—while simultaneously addressing the skills shortages that could hold these technologies back. The stated goal is to strengthen the EU’s economic resilience and strategic autonomy.
STEP is not about every region focusing on the same technology. Instead, the initiative enables cohesion policy investments to foster strategic technologies in a way that is tailored to the specific strengths and opportunities of each location.
Europeans want more renewable energy but are concerned about the associated costs. Fortunately, the EU has a home-grown solution: renewable ethanol. A new EuroPulse survey of 26,000 people across 24 EU member states and the United Kingdom shows that Europeans support an energy transition away from imported fossil oil and towards locally produced renewable fuels. https://www.epure.org/press-release/poll-shows-europeans-want-more-renewable-energy-but-worry-about-cost-ethanol-offers-a-ready-made-homegrown-solution/
In August, activists from around the world delivered more than 2 million signatures to the UN General Assembly in New York. The message was clear: fossil fuel companies driving the climate crisis must be made to pay—and those funds must benefit the people bearing the greatest burdens. The supply chain for used cooking oil (UCO) does not begin at a collection company’s storage depot. It starts at the back door of a cafeteria, a chip shop, or a stadium concession stand—at millions of such locations, each generating a few liters of oil per week in a container behind the building.
According to data published by the Energy Information Administration, the average ethanol content of gasoline sold in the U.S. rose to a record high of 11.29%. This increase was driven by economically attractive conditions for ethanol blending. Based on futures contracts, the average price of ethanol in May was nearly $1.50 per gallon lower than the price of the gasoline blending component. https://ethanolrfa.org/media-and-news/category/blog/article/2026/08/ethanol-blend-rate-shatters-record-as-cost-advantage-soars-during-iran-war
The Supreme Court of India has permitted state-owned oil marketing companies to conclude contracts for an additional 1.49 billion liters of ethanol for the 2025/26 ethanol supply year. The interim order also ensures that suppliers without long-term off-take agreements are treated equally in this additional procurement process. https://www.business-standard.com/industry/news/supreme-court-allows-omcs-additional-ethanol-procurement-esy-2025-26-126080500241_1.html
In Japan, Zeon Corporation has completed the construction of a laboratory-scale facility to demonstrate a technology for the highly efficient production of butadiene from ethanol. Construction of the facility began in July 2025. This technology aims to contribute to the realization of a climate-neutral society by utilizing non-fossil resources and to strengthen corporate sustainability by establishing a new raw material sourcing process independent of naphtha. The facility is scheduled to begin full-scale operation in January 2027, with the goal of commercialization by 2034. https://rubberworld.com/zeon-opens-new-research-facility-for-plant%E2%80%90based-production-of-synthetic-rubber/
European ethanol producers are striving to secure corn supplies for the fourth quarter as heatwaves affect harvests and the Russia-Ukraine war disrupts traditional import routes. EU corn production for the 2026/27 period is forecast at 52.5 million tonnes—a decline of 4.3 million tonnes from the previous year—with France, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania seeing a reduction in cultivated areas. Supplies of non-GMO corn are particularly tight, while Polish farmers are holding out for higher prices. Imports from Ukraine are constrained by security and infrastructure issues, while high natural gas and transport costs are placing additional pressure on ethanol producers’ margins. https://energynews.pro/en/european-corn-ethanol-distillers-face-rising-costs-and-supply-chain-strain
Platts, a division of S&P Global Energy, introduced daily assessments for barge-delivered ethanol (FOB ARA) effective August 3, 2026. This reflects growing market interest in ethanol suitable for meeting Dutch renewable energy requirements in the transport sector. Platts assesses the ethanol at a premium to the T2 ethanol FOB Rotterdam paper price as well as at an absolute value. Both figures are published in euros per cubic meter and can be converted into US dollars and euros per tonne. The ratings for advanced ethanol are based on a value of at least 9.4 g CO2 equivalent per megajoule; this corresponds to a greenhouse gas saving of at least 90% compared to the fossil fuel reference value of 94 g CO2 equivalent/MJ under the European Commission’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED II/III) framework. https://www.spglobal.com/energy/en/pricing-benchmarks/our-methodology/subscriber-notes/080326-platts-launches-dutch-advanced-ethanol-fob-ara-assessments-aug-3
India has effectively ruled out the widespread use of ethanol-blended diesel. This decision is based on government tests showing that ethanol drastically lowers the flash point of diesel, causing the fuel to fall short of mandatory safety standards. State-owned oil companies conducted these studies at their research centers, as well as in collaboration with accredited laboratories and automotive manufacturers. Suresh Gopi, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, stated that this technical issue must be resolved before ethanol-diesel blends can be considered for broader use. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/ethanol-blending-in-diesel-fails-flash-point-test-government/article71329022.ece
A new analysis by the Climate Ethanol Alliance, comparing marine fuel prices during the first half of 2026, shows that ethanol became increasingly competitive against conventional marine fuels on an energy-equivalent basis—particularly during the oil market turbulence caused by the Iran conflict. Although low-sulfur fuel oil remained the cheapest option, ethanol achieved or neared price parity with marine gas oil in Houston, Santos, and Rotterdam. According to the report, ethanol’s sulfur-free profile, lower lifecycle emissions, and the growing number of marine bunkering demonstration projects position it as a promising marine fuel. Upcoming CO₂ pricing measures by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) are expected to further enhance its competitiveness.
Universal Biofuels has secured supply contracts for over 18 million liters of biodiesel with India’s three state-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) for a three-month period; this is expected to generate revenue of approximately US$17 million. In addition to OMC clients, Universal also supplies distilled biodiesel to private commercial customers. Further supply contracts with OMCs are anticipated before the end of the 2026 calendar year to support the Indian government’s goal of increasing the biodiesel blend rate—under the current national biofuels policy—from the current 1% to a target of 5% by 2030. https://finance.yahoo.com/energy/articles/aemetis-india-subsidiary-begins-biodiesel-120000258.html?guccounter=1
BP plans to sell its biogas business, Archaea Energy. This move is part of a broader strategy to streamline its portfolio and focus on higher-value assets. BP had acquired the Houston-based company Archaea for $4.1 billion in 2022 to expand its renewable natural gas business but now classifies the division as non-core. Despite the planned sale, BP intends to continue its partnership with Clean Energy Fuels in the renewable natural gas sector. https://www.bioenergy-news.com/news/bp-to-divest-archaea-business-due-to-poor-returns/
, marking the completion of one of the Group’s key logistics projects. The facility enables refinery products and feedstocks to be transferred directly between the refinery and tankers, eliminating the need for intermediate transport. Designed to handle more than 1.8 million tons of cargo annually, the terminal has already received its first vessels, which loaded marine gas oil (MGO) from the refinery and delivered FAME for use in biofuel production. The project also has a strong Polish component, having been delivered largely by domestic companies.
In the UK, Take Root Bio collaborated with the International Centre for Brewing and Distilling (ICBD) to successfully convert saline whey—a byproduct of cheese production—into the widely used fuel bioethanol. https://www.hw.ac.uk/news/2026/heriot-watt-scientists-turn-dairy-waste-into-fuel
Cruise operator TUI Cruises is expanding the use of liquefied biomethane (LBM) across its fleet of dual-fuel ships to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The *Mein Schiff Relax* will operate exclusively on LBM during the 2026 season in Northern Europe, while the *Mein Schiff Flow* has already been regularly bunkering the fuel in Barcelona since May. TUI Cruises estimates that the use of LBM has already reduced emissions by approximately 26,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent as of July and expects savings of around 50,000 tonnes by the end of the year. https://www.bioenergy-news.com/news/tui-cruises-scales-liquefied-biomethane-deployment-across-european-fleet/