Navigating the emerging energy landscape for the future

Which low-carbon technologies look closest to delivering reliable, large-scale results?

In the power sector, utility-scale renewables like solar and wind power are already being deployed rapidly worldwide, and are among the cheapest sources of new electricity in many regions. Paired with grid-scale battery storage and smart management systems, they deliver reliable output at scale today and represent the backbone for decarbonising grids, provided stability of the entire system is ensured. 
In the transport sector, conventional, or first-generation, biofuels - such as ethanol from corn or sugarcane and biodiesel from soy or palm oil - are already widely deployed today, particularly as blended fuels for road transport. These fuels offer significant emission reductions, typically around 20-50%, but they often compete with food production and can generate negative climate impacts through land-use change. 
Second-generation or advanced biofuels, produced from agricultural residues, forestry waste, or municipal waste, avoid many of the drawbacks of first-generation fuels. These fuels, including cellulosic ethanol, hydrotreated esters of fatty acids (HEFA) and biomass-to-liquid (BtL) fuels, can reduce lifecycle emissions by 70- 90% - and do not rely on dedicated food crops, but are limited at present by their higher production cost and questions on availability. 
In the downstream sector as well, low-carbon technologies are increasingly deployed.

What’s still slowing the rollout of advanced biofuels and e-fuels? 

Both advanced biofuels and e-fuels face barriers that slow their rollout, but the nature of these barriers is different. 
Economics is the current central challenge for both, yet for distinct reasons. Advanced biofuels require processing technologies like cellulosic conversion or Fischer- Tropsch synthesis at a throughput that is an order of magnitude lower than fossil-based units, and current production volumes are too small to benefit from economies of scale. This keeps production costs above market prices of fossil equivalents, even with existing policy support. 
E-fuels, on the other hand, are constrained by the high cost of low-carbon electricity and green hydrogen. Unlike biofuels, the energy conversion efficiency of e-fuels is low, meaning that a lot of renewable electricity is required to produce a relatively small amount of fuel. 
Feedstock availability may also be a limitation in the mid-to-long term, while regulatory and policy uncertainty still exist for both.

How are you helping clients manage investment choices amid policy uncertainty? 

Axens Group provides a complete range of solutions for the conversion of oil and biomass to cleaner fuels, the production and purification of major petrochemical intermediates, the chemical recycling of plastics, all natural gas treatment and conversion options, water treatment as well as carbon capture & storage solutions. 
Our solutions are designed to make a real impact, with a broad and continuously expanding portfolio tailored to each client’s specific needs, acknowledging differences in expectations across customers and geographies. Collaboration is central to our approach, as are research and innovation.