Factor renewable fuels in maritime sector

June 2021, Dutch Ministry Infrastructure and Water management wished to better understand what the effects would be of allowing only advanced biofuels to be registered for bunkers to maritime transport, and whether additional factors are needed to maintain the balance between bookings in road transport and the seagoing shipping sector. We presented an additional advice about this specific question in an Addendum to the full report that had been published September 2020. The full report is containing an analysis of using the opt-in for bunkers of renewable fuels to the maritime sector.

Multiplier factor

Specifically about determining a multiplier factor, studio Gear Up has pointed out how it is impossible to determine the correct multipier in advance. Furthermore, setting a factor is related to the policy objective on the one hand and market developments on the other. If the government wants to encourage renewable fuels in shipping, a high factor is better. If the government wants to limit the impact on available volumes for the road transport sector, a low factor is better. The government must first determine what its goal is, and when this goal will be overshot.

Market developments

There is still little supply and hardly any open trade in advanced biofuels. It is therefore not yet possible to determine the effect of a factor on the balance between the demand in the seagoing shipping sector and road transport. A multiplier factor of 1 can be applied for Annex IX A fuels that are actually only used in maritime transport, because these fuels cannot be cost-effectively brought to the fuel specification for road transport.

We do expect competition from road transport for other Annex IX A fuels, which can be used in both sectors. For these fuels, we recommend setting the multiplier factor not higher than 0.8. When setting up the opt-in, it must be clearly communicated to the market that the factor can be adjusted if the target is missed, for example if too many fuels leak from road transport to the maritime sector, or if too little volume is used in maritime shipping. We recommend doing this with agreeing on a clear communication to the sector, in small steps, according to pre-announced calculation rules.

Read the whole report, and find the addendum on p.24-26 (in Dutch). Find the report here, or click below.

High blends of renewable fuels for the heavy-duty fleet in the Netherlands

KiM Netherlands Institute for Transport Policy Analysis (Kennisinstituut voor Mobiliteit – KiM) commissioned studio Gear Up to conduct research to explore the options for high-blends of renewable fuels in the heavy-duty fleet. This research served as input for KiM’s (2025) report: Renewable fuels in high blends in road freight transport , which provides recommendations for Dutch policy makers aiming to shape climate action in the road sector. The study sets out to explore alternative fuel options available to heavy-duty vehicles given that there is “uncertainty about the pace of truck electrification”.

sGU recommendations for practical certification guidelines intermediate crops

Intermediate crops are crops planted and harvested between main crops in a crop rotation scheme. Their development, on top of existing food and feed farm output, offer additional volumes of feedstocks for the bioeconomy without requiring additional land. studio Gear Up assessed the benefits of intermediate crops, the bottlenecks for their development and deployment and provided recommendations for certification of these crops in the frame of the Renewable Energy Directive.

Consequences of ETS2 implementation on A-B-C deliveries of renewable fuels

Our research for the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management shows that the introduction of the new ETS2 emissions trading system can have important consequences for these constructions. Because these A-B-C supply constructions play a major role in the Dutch fuel market, this is expected to make the use of A-B-C supplies less attractive for fuel suppliers, with market shift and concentration likely to result.