Why are renewable fuels better than fossil fuels?

The climate challenge of fossil fuels

The science community widely agrees that  fossil fuels are a significant driver of climate change. When burned, fossil fuels, such as those produced from crude oil, release large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere. This carbon originates from fossil raw materials that have been locked away beneath the Earth's surface for millions of years. By reintroducing this stored carbon into the atmosphere, fossil fuels increase the overall level of CO₂, contributing to global warming.

Most vehicles, including cars, trucks, ships, and planes, still largely rely on these traditional fossil fuels. This dependency contributes to the problem by continuously adding more CO₂ to the atmosphere and intensifying the effects of climate change.

Renewable fuels and the short-term carbon cycle

Renewable fuels, such as renewable diesel (also known as HVO) and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), differ from fossil fuels by operating within the Earth's short-term carbon cycle. Renewable fuels are produced from biomass that absorbs atmospheric CO₂ during growth or are synthesized using renewable energy and captured CO₂. When they are burned they release CO₂, but this does not increase atmospheric CO₂ levels over the fuel’s full life cycle.

Thanks to their renewable origin, renewable fuels have a significantly smaller carbon footprint over their life cycle compared to fossil fuels.

This process is widely acknowledged by scientists and regulatory frameworks, such as the European Union's Renewable Energy Directive. By relying on renewable sources of carbon, these fuels help avoid the detrimental impact of introducing ancient, stored carbon into the atmosphere.

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Conclusion: the source of carbon matters

The key benefit  of renewable fuels lies in their renewable carbon origin. By avoiding the release of fossil carbon and circulating the carbon already present in the atmosphere, renewable fuels provide a lower-GHG-emission alternative to fossil fuels. This makes them one of the readily available solutions to mitigating  climate change and advancing global climate goals.