Low Carbon Fuels

Two major Bay Area refineries, owned and operated by Phillips 66 and Marathon Petroleum, announced in 2020 that they were planning to convert from producing petroleum to biofuels – specifically, the renewable diesel (RD) and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

New research shows a promising method for tackling worldwide plastic pollution through fuel production. Researchers have found a new approach to convert a common plastic, polyethylene, into jet fuel in about an hour. Plastic pollution is a major environmental and public health concern, and technological innovation will be critical to solving this seemingly intractable problem.

The Clean Hydrogen Future Coalition (CHFC) is a recently formed advocacy group made up of various oil, gas, and utility companies. The CHFC’s stated goal is to lower the costs of hydrogen production while utilizing existing fossil fuels. Many environmental advocacy groups disagree with the CHFC, stating that its proposed hydrogen techniques would not alleviate — and would in some cases exacerbate — environmental and social harms.