Are renewable fuels more sustainable 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 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.

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 avoid the detrimental impact of introducing ancient, stored carbon into the atmosphere.

The smaller carbon footprint of renewable fuels

Thanks to their renewable origin, renewable fuels have a significantly smaller carbon footprint over their life cycle compared to fossil fuels. For example, with the use of Neste MY Renewable Diesel™ produced by Neste from renewable waste and residue raw materials and sold in Europe, greenhouse gas emissions (GHG, measured as CO₂ equivalent) can be reduced by up to 95%* over the fuel’s life cycle when compared to fossil diesel. Such dramatic reductions highlight the benefits of switching to renewable fuels.

Conclusion: the source of carbon matters

The sustainability benefit of renewable fuels mostly 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-emission alternative to fossil fuels. This makes them a significant solution to combating climate change and advancing global sustainability goals.

*) The GHG emission reduction percentage is calculated according to the methodology provided by the EU Renewable Energy Directive (EU RED II 2018/2001/EU). The calculation follows the well-to-wheels principle and includes all the steps along the supply chain, from the extraction or production of raw materials, fuel refining, fuel use and emissions from all logistics of the raw materials and the end product. All GHG emissions over the full life cycle of the renewable diesel are taken into account and compared with the GHG emissions over the entire fossil diesel life cycle.

The GHG reduction percentage provided by Neste MY Renewable Diesel may vary depending on the region-specific legislation that provides the methodology for the calculations (e.g. EU RED II 2018/2001/EU for Europe) and the raw material mix used to manufacture the product for each market.