The Commercialization of Green Fuels Is Accelerating.

November 05, 2026

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(Economic Daily/China National Energy Administration (Google Translation)) The green fuel industry has taken a key step towards commercialization. Recently, 1,000 tons of green ammonia from the China Energy Engineering Corporation's "Qingqing No. 1" Songyuan Hydrogen Energy Industrial Park (Green Hydrogen, Ammonia and Methanol Integrated Project) were successfully refueled on a Belgian ammonia-powered vessel at the anchorage in Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province, using the world's first dedicated liquid ammonia refueling vessel, "Shenghang Yongle". This marked the world's first ship-to-ship refueling of green ammonia fuel.

Green fuels, represented by green methanol, green synthetic ammonia, and green aviation fuel, are fuels that meet ecological and environmental protection requirements throughout their entire life cycle and have low carbon emission levels. Experts believe that developing green fuels in my country can not only support the deep decarbonization of key industries and break through the bottleneck of large-scale consumption of new energy sources, but also help cultivate new drivers of economic growth. This is of great significance for assisting the world in addressing climate change and promoting the comprehensive green transformation of my country's economic and social development.

Global market growing rapidly

Currently, the global energy structure is accelerating its transition to clean and low-carbon energy, providing long-term demand support for green fuels. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) have respectively proposed net-zero targets for the shipping and aviation sectors. Based on their local conditions, countries and regions such as the European Union, Brazil, and Singapore have mandated the use and blending ratios of green fuels such as biodiesel and green aviation fuel, spurring the continuous expansion of global green fuel production capacity.

Looking at specific sectors, each product category is showing differentiated development. Green methanol and green synthetic ammonia are still in the early stages of industrialization, while green aviation fuel is growing rapidly. Bioethanol, biodiesel, and biogas are developing steadily, with Europe, the United States, and South America being the key production areas. At the same time, the commercialization of supporting technologies such as ship engines, port refueling, storage, and transportation is accelerating, the proportion of orders for methanol-powered ships is rapidly increasing, and a global green fuel industry chain supporting system is gradually taking shape.

Li Zhijian, vice president of the Petroleum and Chemical Industry Planning Institute, believes that driven by relevant laws, plans and action plans, the global green fuel industry has entered a period of rapid development. Achieving "net zero" emissions in international shipping and aviation through green alternative fuels has become an industry consensus, and emerging green fuels such as green methanol, green synthetic ammonia and green aviation fuel have broad development prospects.

According to forecasts from relevant domestic and international institutions, global demand for green fuels will reach approximately 10 million tons of oil equivalent by 2030 and exceed 100 million tons of oil equivalent by 2050, indicating vast potential for industrial development. my country possesses abundant reserves of renewable resources such as wind, solar, and biomass, providing a solid foundation for the large-scale development of the green fuel industry. Statistics and forecasts from relevant institutions predict that by 2035, my country aims to achieve a total installed capacity of 3.6 billion kilowatts for wind and solar power, with approximately 617 million tons of usable organic waste annually. If rationally utilized for green fuel production, this could support an industry scale of 10 million tons of oil equivalent.

Zheng Zhaohui, Vice President of the China Industrial Development Promotion Association and President of the Biomass Energy Industry Branch, stated that developing green fuels has four strategic significances: safety, low carbon emissions, energy transformation, and industrial development. It can improve the domestic energy self-sufficiency rate and promote multi-energy complementarity; significantly reduce carbon emissions and contribute to global climate governance; expand the application paths of new energy in non-electric applications and improve the new energy system; and proactively plan for future industries and create new fulcrums for economic growth.

The industry scale is steadily expanding.

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Continuously promote cost reduction and efficiency improvement

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Specifically, on the production side, the volatility of renewable electricity and the dispersed nature of biomass resources mean that the production cost of green fuels will remain high in the short term. On the application side, the slowdown in green transformation in some countries and regions and the uncertainty of international market demand have constrained the large-scale development of the industry to some extent. Technologically, although my country is at the forefront of the world in the research and development of green fuel production and equipment, key technologies and equipment still need further breakthroughs, especially in key indicators such as biomass gasification efficiency, the load adjustment range of flexible hydrogen-to-ammonia-methanol systems, and the performance of high-efficiency synthesis catalysts. These areas require concentrated research efforts.

Li Zhijian suggested that in the future, the development of the green fuel industry should continue to focus on technological breakthroughs and industrialization pilot projects, continuously improve the level of technology and equipment, promote cost reduction and efficiency improvement through various means such as model innovation, and explore a high-quality development path that suits my country's realities. He also suggested coordinating domestic and international markets, paying attention to the global fuel transition process, actively participating in the construction of the international green fuel market, accelerating the cultivation of domestic green fuel application scenarios, and building a virtuous cycle for industrial development.

Zhang Jian, Vice President of the China Electric Power Planning & Engineering Institute, stated that the goal is to drive high-quality industrial development by creating regional models. On one hand, this involves establishing green fuel production, storage, and transportation bases in Northeast China. Northeast China boasts superior wind and solar resources, abundant biomass resources, and proximity to major green fuel markets such as shipping and aviation, giving it a significant locational advantage. On the other hand, it involves building green fuel refueling and trading centers at eastern coastal ports, exploring replicable and scalable business models. READ MORE

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