1. Your early love for nature led you to study petroleum and mining engineering before shifting to sustainability. How did that transition shape your approach to the biofuels market today?

As I walked the halls of the Faculty of Applied Earth Sciences at the TU Delft, I was struck by posters of the Grand Canyon and other magical landscapes – amazed that my bachelor’s degree would let me study them in depth.

My bachelor’s allowed me to do a minor program at the NTNU in Trondheim (Norway), where I focused on sustainability in mining operations and other renewable energy topics. I realized the potential for innovation and sustainability in this field, which led me to shift to a chemical degree purely focused on sustainable energy technologies.

I don’t think you can fully understand the energy transition without understanding the fundamentals of the energy sector in the past. There are many linkages between the biofuels and the fossil fuel markets today, as the energy transition represents the uptake of more renewables in this historically mainly fossil fuel energy market, therefore my background in petroleum and mining still serves me well.

3. Your work at Vopak introduced you to renewable fuel trading and infrastructure. What lessons did you take with you that are useful now in your work at STX?

I completed my graduation internship at Vopak, focusing on renewable hydrogen/ammonia supply chains. It introduced me to commodity trading markets since I needed to map the current trade flows for this fossil commodity and map how these could change once ammonia were produced with green hydrogen instead of fossil hydrogen.

Later in my time at Vopak, I worked at a biofuel terminal, where I learned how storage facilities are used by the market to either take positions or facilitate trading. It was a good introduction to the biofuels market and what frameworks are needed to physically move these fuels from A to B. Besides that, it allowed me to understand the mechanisms of the market, seeing shipping routes, which modalities are favored and which might have certain challenges.

5. Decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors comes with significant challenges. What are some you’ve encountered and how do you see the industry shaping change?

One of my key learnings working in this field is that, historically, the chemical industry is designed in a way that we rely on a stable constant energy source – oil and gas. All technologies are designed so that they can operate almost 24/7 But in processes that rely entirely on renewable electricity, we need to redesign these systems to cope with the volatility of the energy supply – as the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow). With current technologies, this is still one of the main challenges in producing renewable fuels (derived from green hydrogen) and chemicals.

In addition, hard-to-abate sectors rely on expensive devices like reactors, ships and airplanes, which are currently only partially fit to run on renewable fuels as the specifications are different from regular oil and gas. These assets have a lifespan of 10 years or more, which makes change in these industries slower. As a result, we need to work with the current infrastructure to implement the first steps, which brings its own limitations.

Besides, most policies so far have focused on developing and supporting the production of renewable fuels, with less emphasis on developing a market or demand for renewable fuels in hard-to-abate sectors. However, creating that demand is essential for further uptake of these fuels in these sectors. Luckily, recent policy developments such as the introduction of FuelEU Maritime and ReFuelEU Aviation aim to help stimulate demand.

7. What motivates you about working with both biofuels and emerging commodities like hydrogen, methanol and ammonia?

I always say that biofuels are currently the only commercially available renewable fuel. Policy schemes were successful in creating a market for biofuels and the technologies in this supply chain were more mature compared to those for hydrogen-derived fuels.
Many of the fundamentals introduced in the biofuel market now form the foundation for the emerging market of hydrogen-derived fuels. My work in biofuels helps me understand how a mature renewable fuel market behaves – one where hydrogen, methanol and ammonia will play an increasing role. That’s why I believe it’s essential to understand both biofuels and hydrogen-derived fuels.