Bioenergy

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We’re increasing our supply of biogas

We’re increasing our biofuels production

Bioenergy is a vital part of the energy mix

How much biofuels does the world need?

bp is growing its bioenergy business

Can we produce more bioenergy sustainably?

Isn’t bioenergy a distraction from other low carbon energy solutions?

Bioenergy news and stories

Demand from our customers for bioenergy is growing. That’s why bp is investing billions of dollars in the sector, building on two decades of experience.

Bioenergy is a lower carbon fuel and power option, and it’s renewable – coming from sources such as used cooking oil, sugarcane and gas captured from landfill sites. It’s already in use today, fuelling transport, heating homes and powering businesses. Sometimes, bioenergy can be used interchangeably with fossil fuels, working as a ‘drop-in’ fuel, as with renewable natural gas. And sometimes, it works alongside fossil fuels to create a lower carbon blend, as with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

When used at at scale, lower carbon energy can help to cut lifecycle carbon emissions, so we’re investing and teaming up with exceptional customers and suppliers to rapidly scale up our bioenergy business in the next decade. Already, DHL is flying planes using traditional fuel blended with our sustainable aviation fuel. And in the US, we’re the number one biogas supplier for vehicles. We’re expanding this key area of our business today to meet growing demands for bioenergy.

We’re increasing our supply of biogas

bp plans to increase biogas supply volumes by around six times by 2030, to around 70,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Our purchase of Archaea Energy in December 2022 is a real game changer for us – rapidly advancing our access to feedstock and scaling our upstream participation in the biogas value chain.

Renewable natural gas (or RNG) is produced from organic waste, such as the waste from our towns and cities that is put into landfill. What’s great about it is that it can be transported through existing natural gas pipelines, which means we can use existing infrastructure to power vehicles and heat our homes and businesses, with fewer lifecycle emissions.

“[The purchase of Archaea Energy] accelerates our key bioenergy growth engine, creating a real leader in the biogas sector, and supports our net zero ambition… Investing with discipline in the energy transition, creating further value through integration – this is exactly what bp’s transformation into an integrated energy company is all about.” Bernard Looney, bp chief executive

Find out how RNG is made

We’re increasing our biofuels production

In biofuels, we aim to materially grow production volumes to around 100,000 barrels per day by 2030, focused on sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, where we aim to be a sector leader. We already co-process biofuels at three refineries and we’re planning a multi-billion-dollar investment across our Kwinana, Rotterdam, Castellón, Lingen and Cherry Point facilities to increase our biofuels production in line with growing demand.

Biofuels have an important role to play in decarbonizing hard-to-electrify sectors such as aviation, shipping and heavy road transport. And the good thing is, they can go in the pipes and engines we already have today, either as a straight ‘drop-in’, or blended with fossil fuels.

Biofuels can be made from a range of different feedstocks – from organic waste to sustainably grown energy crops. These vary in availability and cost, as well as in the maturity of the technology needed to produce them at scale.

Examples of biomass used for the production of biofuels

Soybean oil (SBO) is an edible/vegetable first-generation biomass that originated in East Asia and is grown for human consumption.

Used cooking oil (UCO) is a waste and residue second-generation biomass. These animal or vegetable oils have fulfilled their purpose and are no longer fit for human consumption.

Tallow – an animal waste fat byproduct from the meat chain – is a second-gen biomass that is made into an oil using a rendering process.

Technical corn oil (second-gen biomass) is a byproduct of ethanol production extracted from distillers’ dried grains and solubles (DDGS).

Empty fruit bunches (EFBs) – a second-gen biomass – are the remains of fresh fruit bunches after the fruit has been stripped for oil procesing.

Brassica carinata – known as novel feedstock – is a cover crop that flowers in between planting seasons.

Soybean oil (SBO) is an edible/vegetable first-generation biomass that originated in East Asia and is grown for human consumption.

Used cooking oil (UCO) is a waste and residue second-generation biomass. These animal or vegetable oils have fulfilled their purpose and are no longer fit for human consumption.

Tallow – an animal waste fat byproduct from the meat chain – is a second-gen biomass that is made into an oil using a rendering process.

Technical corn oil (second-gen biomass) is a byproduct of ethanol production extracted from distillers’ dried grains and solubles (DDGS).

Empty fruit bunches (EFBs) – a second-gen biomass – are the remains of fresh fruit bunches after the fruit has been stripped for oil procesing.

Brassica carinata – known as novel feedstock – is a cover crop that flowers in between planting seasons.

Bioenergy is a vital part of the energy mix

We don’t believe there is a single pathway to decarbonize the world’s energy systems. We see demand growing for bioenergy, for EV charging, for wind and solar energy, and for hydrogen. These energies have different applications and we see a critical and complementary role for each of them.

That’s why we’re investing in all of these areas to accelerate the energy transition, as well as making continued investment in hydrocarbons to keep energy flowing, with energy security and affordability at a premium. Our integrated, global infrastructure makes us a turnkey player to produce, sell and deliver bioenergy to our customers, with plans to leverage power from wind, solar or hydrogen to further reduce its carbon intensity and support.

Nigel Dunn, senior vice president, biofuels growth

“Our biofuels strategy reflects our approach to the transition – we’re looking to make quick, cost-effective wins where we can, without losing sight of what’s needed to meet future demand.” Nigel Dunn, senior vice president, biofuels growth

Find out more about bp’s biofuels growth strategy in our interview with Nigel Dunn

How much bioenergy does the world need?

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), demand for bioenergy is on the rise – and if the world wants to be on track with net-zero-by-2050 ambitions, there needs to be an industry-wide increase in production¹. Our own bp Energy Outlook supports this view (see chart below).

In fact, this view is widely supported, including by the US Department of Energy and the UN, whose own net zero plans highlight the role bioenergy has to play in the energy transition. That’s why bp is playing our part to meet this demand, with plans to both increase biofuels production threefold and biogas supply sixfold by 2030.

¹International Energy Agency

Refuelling an aircraft with Air bp sustainable aviation fuel

Modern bioenergy increases sharply, supporting the transition to a low-carbon energy system

bp is growing its bioenergy business to meet increasing demand

100K by 2030

We’re aiming to produce 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) of biofuels by 2030. That’s up from 27,000bpd in 2022

Investing in five projects

Expecting to produce ~50,000bpd of biofuels from projects at our Kwinana, Rotterdam, Castellón, Lingen and Cherry Point facilities by 2030

Boosting biogas

We plan to increase our biogas supply six-fold by 2030. Our acquisition of US-based waste-to-gas giant Archaea is a game changer for bp

A sugarcane field at bp Bunge biofuels in Brazil

bp Bunge Bioenergia

Project spotlight

JV bp Bunge aims to produce around 30,000 barrels per day of bioethanol by 2030, net to bp

Sustainable aviation fuel

Product spotlight

bp aims to be a market leader in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production by 2030

bp & Maersk Tankers

Customer spotlight

With Maersk, we’ve piloted the use of bio-blended marine fuel in product tankers, helping to decarbonize shipping

Can we produce more bioenergy sustainably?

We’re confident that biofuels can be sustainable, but not all are made equal – for instance, sustainable biofuel production must consider impacts on land use, food production and sensitive environments. We work with governments, NGOs, certification schemes and other businesses to help improve the sustainability of the biofuel supply chain. We support policies that incentivize and support investment in sustainable bioenergy.

We believe bioenergy production can be increased globally to meet rising demand using only non-food feedstocks, such as agricultural residues and cover crops like Carinata.

In our Energy Outlook, we model that up to about 70EJ of bioenergy – more than double its current level and around 10% of global primary energy by 2050 – will come from non-food feedstocks. We encourage regulations that support the deployment of bioenergy made from the widest available range of sustainable feedstocks, and timely inclusion of novel feedstocks, such as sustainable cover crops.

Isn’t bioenergy a distraction from other low carbon energy solutions?

We believe growing bioenergy supply and production can – and should – work in tandem with growing other low carbon energy solutions – including wind, solar, hydrogen and EV charging infrastructure. And we also believe continued investment in hydrocarbons is needed to keep energy flowing, with energy security and affordability at a premium. That’s why we plan to invest $8 billion in our transition growth engines over the course of this decade, which represents 50% of bp’s overall capital investment.

Find out more about bp’s policy priorities.

Sugarcane harvesting at bp’s biofuels operations in Brazil