All hands on deck! FirstBio2Shipping is steering maritime and heavy-duty road transport toward a greener future by using advanced waste-to-energy technology to turn organic household waste such as vegetable, fruit, and garden waste into clean energy and supplying sustainable bio Liquefied Natural Gas (bio-LNG) for vessels and trucks - charting a course towards transport decarbonisation. 

Supported by a €4.34 million Innovation Fund grant, the project brings together Dutch partners, Attero (waste-to-energy) and Nordsol (bio-LNG technology). The duo has built one of Europe’s leading-edge bio-LNG plant at Attero’s waste-to-energy site in Wilp, the Netherlands. Attero collects organic waste from households, which is then processed into biogas through anaerobic digestion (without oxygen), producing methane-rich biogas. The biogas is upgraded and liquefied by Nordsol’s cutting-edge bio-LNG technology, producing a high purity bio-LNG which has less of a climate impact than conventional fossil fuel LNG. Each tonne of bio-LNG produced replaces fossil fuel-based LNG used by ships and trucks, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by up to 92%.

The Wilp bio-LNG plant, operational since early 2025, will gradually convert an annual 6 million normal cubic metres (Nm3) of biogas from organic household waste into 2 400 tonnes of high-purity bio-LNG. The final product is then transported to terminals for distribution in ports and gas stations.This innovative installation not only helps decarbonise fossil-fuel based vessels and heavy-duty trucks but also paves the way for additional sustainable fuel production sites across Europe, thanks to the project’s scalable technology.

During the first decade of the project’s operation, the plant will avoid emitting roughly 87 500 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent. This is equal to removing around 6 800 conventional fossil fuel cars off of Europe’s roads each year[1]. This tangible benefit not only reduces transport’s carbon footprint and contributes to Europe’s climate neutrality goals but also helps to improve air quality in urban and port areas, where heavy transport emissions are a serious concern[2].

“As a frontrunner together with Attero, we are keen to trigger a virtuous cycle of expanding bio-LNG production facilities, while accelerating the transition to more sustainable transport. Therefore, we are eager to collaborate with partners to replicate the project and to expand the utilisation of bio-LNG in transport” says Léon van Bossum, CEO of Nordsol.

Progress and future plans

The project faced complex regulatory and market uptake challenges that required thorough risk assessment and collaborative engagement with stakeholders. Lessons learned in this process are being documented and shared with governmental stakeholders to help streamline future deployments of similar technology. The project’s team is committed to working with various partners to make bio-LNG a mainstream fuel in the transport sector.

Now that the FirstBio2Shipping plant is fully operational and running smoothly, the plan is to scale its bio-LNG availability at gas stations and major European ports. Beyond 2026, the project team aims to replicate the Wilp model at other biogas sites across Europe. In line with several EU priorities set in the Renewable Energy Directive, and Sustainable Transport Fuels Directive, this project will also strengthen Europe’s energy security and support circular economy principles by valorising organic waste.

About the Innovation Fund

The Innovation Fund, financed by EU Emissions Trading System revenues, is one of the world’s largest funding programmes for the demonstration of innovative low-carbon technologies. The Fund focuses on highly innovative clean technologies and big flagship projects with European added value that can bring significant greenhouse gas emission reductions.

Article published on 21 August 2025.

[1] This estimate is based on the European Environment Agency’s 2023 average CO₂ emissions for new passenger cars of 106.4 g CO₂ per kilometre (source) and an average annual driving distance of approximately 12,000 km per car as reported by ACEA (source).

[2] Pozzoli, L., Gressent, A., Soares, J., Colette, A., Monge, S. & González Ortiz, A. (2024). Air quality around ports (Eionet Report – ETC HE 2024/12). European Topic Centre on Human Health and the Environment. The report is available from https://www.eionet.europa.eu/etcs/all-etc-reports and https://zenodo.org/communities/eea-etc/?page=1&size=20.