Agri-Feedstocks, the Emerging Backbone of Europe’s Biofuel Ambitions

December 03, 2025

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(EurActiv) Europe’s energy giants are seeking to harness the potential of agricultural residues to increase the use of biofuel -- As Europe races to decarbonise transport, biofuels are taking on renewed strategic importance. The European Commission has just published a bioeconomy strategy which recommends increasing the use of advanced biofuels for heavy transport. Europe’s energy companies are busy looking at ways to do that, and they have one major element in their sights – agri-feedstocks.

Biofuels derived from agricultural residues and non-food crops are emerging as a critical pillar of Europe’s clean-energy strategy. They are able to provide immediate emissions reductions in sectors where alternatives remain costly or technically challenging. They’re also compatible with existing transport infrastructure, particularly for Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) and marine fuels.

The International Energy Agency expects a surge in demand for these fuels: by 2030, advanced biofuels from waste, residues, and non-food crops could represent more than 40% of global consumption, up from just 9% in 2021.

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Energy companies in Europe are examining how agri-feedstock chains can be carefully designed to be utilised for biofuels without disrupting food production or driving deforestation. This can be achieved, for instance, by utilising feedstocks derived from degraded land, rotational crops, or residues. But this will require changes to how agriculture is conducted in Europe, says Nicolò Aggogeri, head of Agribusiness at the Italian energy giant Eni, which is growing its biofuels business.

“To fully unlock the potential of biofuels in decarbonising transport, agriculture needs to undergo a strategic transformation at scale,” he says. “The key lies in integrating new cropping systems – particularly intermediate crops – into existing production cycles and enhancing the productivity of underutilised [degraded] land, enabling feedstock expansion without triggering additional land use or compromising food security.”

Aggogeri says there is now a clear regulatory path forward for this approach, thanks to the inclusion of intermediate crops and crops cultivated on severely degraded lands in Annex IX of the revised RED. “Achieving this shift demands innovation on several fronts,” he says.

“Agronomic practices need to be reoriented toward soil regeneration, precision agriculture and water-efficient cultivation, supported by advanced seed genetics developed specifically for resilience and oil yield performance.”

The vegetable oil path

ENI is positioning itself to supply its growing biorefining network with sustainable vegetable oils for hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) production. Their strategy focuses on oil-bearing plants grown on degraded or underutilised land, especially castor crops resilient to arid conditions. Rotational crops such as rapeseed and sunflower that fit into existing agricultural cycles without competing with food production are also being pursued, as well as waste and residue streams such as used cooking oils, agro-industrial residues, and forestry by-products.

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The RED’s emissions calculation criteria say HVO enables an emissions reduction of between 60% and 90% compared to fossil fuels, he says.

Such biorefineries, called Enilive, can be found in Venice and Sicily. They process waste feedstocks such as used cooking oil and animal fat, and agro-food industry residues integrated by vegetable oil volumes.

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TotalEnergies in France is converting several French refineries into biorefineries using rapeseed, animal fats and agricultural residues. Repsol in Spain is building an advanced biofuels plant in Cartagena that will rely on agricultural residues, and BP in the UK is expanding its European biofuel capacities through joint ventures with agricultural processors using advanced ethanol-to-jet technologies.

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ENI now has these partnerships outside Italy in eight countries: Kenya, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, Congo, Angola, Kazakhstan, Vietnam and Indonesia, with further assessments underway in Europe, Brazil, Africa and Asia.

Since 2021, ENI has built a robust agri-feedstock chain in Kenya with two agri-hubs in Makueni and Bonje, with a combined capacity of 70,000 tonnes of vegetable oil annually. In the Congo, ENI has cultivated 15,000 hectares in 2025, supported by 200 new agricultural vehicles. They’ve also launched training programmes to build mechanisation skills and create a specialised labour force, with around 400 local technicians and tractor operators involved

All of this activity needs robust certification to demonstrate its contribution to sustainability.

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A recent report by the consultancy Studio Gear Up, commissioned by an ad-hoc industry consortium including BP, Chevron, Neste, Eni and Repsol, provided recommendations for certification of these intermediate crops in the RED.

The report recommends introducing a definition of intermediate crops that focuses on the role they have in providing additional feedstock volumes compared to the existing practice at a farm, and that relates to their position in the rotation scheme. It also says the Commission should widen the optionality in RED definitions to allow for intermediate crops to count toward subtargets in all transport sectors. READ MORE

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Feedstock Supply Crunch Adds to European Biofuels Volatility (CME Group)

Excerpt from CME Group: Feedstock Tightness by 2028?

The feedstock markets appear primed for a period of structural transformation as expanding mandates and stricter sustainability criteria drive a shift toward domestically produced and waste feedstocks. At the same time, some crop-based feedstocks are being phased out, placing further emphasis on rapeseed oil, used cooking oil and other waste feedstocks to meet the expanding needs from the aviation and maritime sectors.

Renewable diesel demand is also increasing from the heavy duty vehicle (HDV) sector on the back of an ambitious biofuels blending program. It appears as if the feedstock markets could experience further periods of tightness, creating higher levels of price volatility which will need to be managed via the financial markets, analysts have suggested.

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Sustainable Aviation Demand to Boost Interest in Ethanol

Ethanol remains a key biofuel feedstock in the European markets. The blending mandates laid out by each member government have been increasing since 2009 through the introduction of the different iterations of the Renewable Energy Directive. The current blending rate of 10%, based on limits due to engine specifications, remains the benchmark for European gasoline across much of northwest Europe.

The principal production pathway for sustainable aviation fuel involves the hydroprocessing of esters and fatty acids (HEFA), which are blended with conventional jet fuel and fits well with the demand for waste oils and animal fats. This is a well-established production pathway that complements newer technologies such as alcohol-to-jet (ATJ), which is likely to involve higher volumes of ethanol in the coming years as demand for more sustainable fuels for aviation increases.

The technology to convert ethanol to jet fuel remains relatively new. This is expected to become more common in the run up to 2030 and beyond, and there are currently 15 production facilities announced as of 2025.

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Looking Ahead

A more environmentally conscious approach to bioenergy supply is likely to place further pressures on the lower carbon and higher greenhouse gas feedstock supply chains. Higher volumes of waste feedstocks, greases and animal fats from regions like Southeast Asia, the Middle East and the U.S. are already being introduced into the biofuels supply chain in greater quantities, replacing palm and soybean oil. This has seen competitive pressures placed on the domestic EU biofuels industry with alternative supplies being more readily available from outside the EU-27 member states.

The introduction of more advanced biofuels, through existing regulations, is likely to have a significant impact across the biofuels markets as blenders hunt for the feedstocks with the lowest carbon intensity to meet ever stringent mandates. Sustainable aviation fuels and alternative marine fuels are expected to be big consumers of advanced feedstocks in the coming years as the blending mandates increase from the current levels. It remains to be seen what impact this will have on prices, but a period of volatility ahead looks ever more likely, making risk management an important consideration in the years ahead.

*Biodiesel is currently limited by the B7 blendwall meaning that the overall blend includes 7% biofuels. READ MORE

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Vietnam vegetable oils used cooking oil (UCO) UK (United Kingdom) Transportation Fuels Policy training Sustainability sunflower Spain rotation crops repurpose Renewable Energy Directive (RED/RED II/RED III) Renewable Diesel/Green Diesel/HVO/Paraffinic Diesel oil refineries Mozambique markets/sales market forces Marine/Maritime Bio and Renewable/Sustainable Fuel (SMF) marginal land land use change land use Kenya Kazakhstan Jetfuel (Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)) Ivory Coast Italy International Energy Agency (IEA) Indonesia HVO (Hydrotreated vegetable oil) GHG (Greenhouse Gas Emissions) Intensity France forest residue/waste food security food processing waste food and fuel Finland European Union (EU) environmental policy defossilization deforestation Congo certification castor bean Canola/Rapeseed Brazil BioRefineries/Renewable Fuel Production Biofuel Crops Aviation Fuel/Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Asia animal fat Angola alcohol-to-jet (ATJ)/ethanol-to-jet (ETJ) Agricultural waste/residue Agricultural Policy Africa

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