Multi-modal transportation strategies: Why & how

Mitigating the planetary and human health impacts of transportation, now the 2nd greatest source of global emissions, requires a large-scale market transformation toward lower-carbon fuel alternatives. Despite pockets of regional momentum in the US, such as the rapid uptake of renewable diesel in California, Washington, and other Clean Fuel Standard (CFS) markets, overall progress remains stubbornly slow.

For the transportation sector, shifting from fossil fuels to renewable fuels means deploying systems-level interventions – in public policy, feedstocks and energy, infrastructure, financing, and research and development – across the entire value chain. In an unprecedented era of geopolitical uncertainty and regulatory rollbacks, overcoming these systemic barriers demands a bold, unified approach.

Traditionally, transportation sub-sectors have gone at it alone, each targeting different low-carbon fuels for their own industries or regions – sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for aviation, renewable diesel for long-haul trucking, ammonia and methanol for maritime, and more. Furthermore, these industries often hold a competitive mindset over the allocation of feedstocks, energy, and other resources.

Aviation, maritime, and long-haul trucking will struggle to decarbonize transportation without transformative collaboration and co-investment. To catalyze the market transition toward renewable fuels, these sectors must work together to accelerate progress across the entire industry. Read on to learn why this “multi-modal” approach is so critical and several ideas for implementation. 

Multi-modal transport strategies in action

The maritime, long-haul trucking, and aviation sectors all need new infrastructure, reliable offtake conditions, durable policy, and large volumes of clean energy and bio-based feedstocks to advance the renewable fuels transition. Below are a few ways these sectors can work together to unlock progress for all. 

1) Coordinated multi-lateral offtake agreements

Securing mutually beneficial offtake agreements is one of the largest barriers to scaling the production of renewable fuels. Without them, fuel producers often cannot secure the necessary capital to stand up new biorefineries.

Under a multi-modal strategy, maritime, trucking, and aviation fuel users could synchronize their efforts to sign coordinated offtake agreements with a common fuel producer. This enables the fuel producer to secure large-scale investment and operate at maximum efficiency, selling all types of fuel it refines (i.e., SAF and renewable diesel), while ensuring end-users have a reliable source of renewable fuel to meet increasing demand.

Note that coordinated offtakes make most sense in regions with a strong presence of all transportation industries, such as Southern California, the Pacific Northwest, certain parts of Europe, and Southeast Asia. 

2) Transparent carbon accounting and certification 

A multi-modal strategy works best when all players agree on how to measure and verify impact and the value of carbon abatement. Establishing common lifecycle carbon intensity standards, certification schemes, and traceability systems helps avoid disputes, strengthens credibility, and builds trust with regulators and financiers. For example, a cross-sector registry of renewable fuel credits could harmonize incentives across regions and prevent double-counting. 

3) Aligning policy and market incentives 

In the early stages of scaling, renewable fuel producers need robust, supportive policies to help lower the green premium of fuels and spur mass market transformation. The lack of durable federal policy and misalignment of incentives across sectors and borders creates uncertainty, making it challenging for producers to secure long-term commitments.

Using a multi-modal strategy, industry stakeholders from maritime, trucking, and aviation could come together to advocate for a unified standard – linked to carbon intensity, not a specific fuel or technology – serving multiple major markets.

For instance, these stakeholders could build a cross-sector coalition to align regional and federal policies with those of other nations, or work toward expanding the Clean Fuel Standard framework that has taken hold in the West Coast of the United States.