On May 21, the Green Fuel Future Forum of the 2026 4th China Energy Week took place in Beijing Yizhuang. Academician Nie Hong of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Chief Expert of Sinopec Group delivered a keynote report. She stated that green fuels are a crucial pillar for developing new quality productive forces and achieving the "dual carbon" goals. While China's green fuel technology and industry are progressing steadily, with Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) having established multiple technological pathways and entered the industrial demonstration phase, the sector still faces three systemic bottlenecks: raw material supply, core technology, and standards certification. Concerted industry-wide efforts are urgently needed to promote the sector's healthy, orderly, and high-quality development.
Guided by the "dual carbon" targets, green fuels, with their advantages in reducing carbon emissions across the entire lifecycle, have become a key direction for deep decarbonization in transportation and ensuring energy security. Multiple pathways, including green methanol, ethanol, synthetic ammonia, and SAF, are developing in synergy, initially forming a multi-category, full-chain industrial ecosystem. Among these, SAF has become the core focus with the highest policy attention and fastest commercialization progress due to its alignment with the aviation industry's rigid emission reduction needs. Globally, 11 SAF technological pathways have received ASTM certification. In China, product standards for the FT and HEFA pathways have been established. Global SAF production is projected to reach approximately 1.9 million tons by 2025. Five Chinese enterprises have obtained civil aviation airworthiness certification, indicating rapid scaling of the industry.
Regarding SAF core technologies, Nie Hong outlined the progress in R&D and industrialization across four mainstream pathways in China. The first is the Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA) route, which uses waste oils and fats as feedstock to produce qualified aviation fuel through molecular reconstruction. Sinopec's developed HEFA production technology has overcome challenges such as catalyst deactivation, strong exothermic reactions, and low yield, increasing the aviation fuel yield to 72%. Sinopec's first-generation technology achieved industrialization in 2011, completed the C919 test flight in 2024, and obtained ISCC certification, establishing the full industry chain.
The second is the biomass gasification-Fischer-Tropsch synthesis route, targeting the conversion of solid biomass waste. A 150-ton/day gasification platform has been built, with trials scheduled for 2026. The synthetic oil produced via subsequent Fischer-Tropsch technology, after hydro-upgrading, can achieve an aviation fuel yield of 70%. Efforts are currently accelerating to tackle integrated industrial technology.
The third is the Alcohol-to-Jet (ATJ) route. Leveraging mature ethanol storage and transportation systems, and by optimizing heat and mass transfer while improving catalyst stability, qualified bio-aviation fuel products can be produced. The conditions for developing the process package are now in place.
The fourth is the carbon dioxide hydrogenation to aviation fuel route. Aviation fuel can be produced via reverse conversion, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, or direct conversion pathways. The target yield for future industrialization is 80%, making it a significant long-term strategic direction.
While acknowledging these technological breakthroughs, Nie Hong pointed out that China's green fuel industry still faces three major bottlenecks. First, the raw material collection, storage, and transportation system is inadequate, characterized by diverse collection entities, significant cost fluctuations, difficulties in monitoring and controlling the flow of feedstocks like waste oils, and a spatial mismatch between hydrogen and carbon sources. Second, there are shortcomings in core technologies. The conversion efficiency of key materials and high-efficiency catalysts, as well as the level of system integration, need improvement. The scaling process from thousand-ton pilot projects to hundred-thousand-ton commercial production needs acceleration. Third, the standards, certification, and regulatory systems are incomplete. Inconsistent product standards and carbon footprint accounting methods hinder cross-regional mutual recognition, while weak full-chain traceability can lead to a "bad money driving out good" phenomenon.
To address these bottlenecks, Nie Hong proposed systematic solutions. For raw materials, establish efficient and sustainable collection, storage, and transportation models, cultivate specialized entities, build digital platforms, and expand international supply chains. For technology, intensify efforts in core technology breakthroughs, formulate roadmaps, promote industry-academia-research collaboration, develop biomass co-refining based on existing petrochemical facilities, and accelerate the scaling of mature technologies. For standards, have the government take the lead in establishing an authoritative and sustainable certification system, foster local third-party institutions, build carbon footprint accounting rules that are both autonomous and internationally aligned, and strengthen full-chain traceability and market supervision.
Nie Hong emphasized that the timing is opportune for green fuel development, with key technologies like SAF entering the fast lane of industrialization. However, breaking through bottlenecks and achieving high-quality development cannot be accomplished by any single entity. She called for close collaboration among government, industry, academia, research, and end-users, focusing on building the three major systems for raw materials, technology, and standards. This involves driving industrial upgrading through technological innovation and ensuring market order through standard specifications, collectively propelling China's green fuel industry towards stable and long-term development, and contributing Chinese strength to global energy transition and carbon neutrality goals.