Australia’s largest grain exporter, CBH Group, has completed a pilot programme using waste-based biofuels to ship Western Australian grain to Europe, in a move to cut supply chain emissions while safeguarding market access under new EU climate regulations.
In partnership with Danish operator Norden and German shipowner Oldendorff Carriers, CBH conducted eight voyages under an insetting model, whereby emissions reductions are claimed within the company’s own supply chain rather than through external offsets.
The biofuels, verified as waste-derived and sustainable, were used alongside a book-and-claim accounting system, allowing CBH to allocate carbon reductions across its operations even when low-carbon fuel was not physically used on every leg. The pilot was delivered without additional cost to Western Australian growers.
The initiative is the first of its kind in Australia’s maritime sector and is intended to respond to the EU’s ‘Fit for 55’ package, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030. Two key measures now apply to shipping, the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) and FuelEU Maritime.
The EU ETS was extended to cover maritime transport from January 2024, requiring ships over 5,000 GT calling at EU ports to monitor, report and pay for their carbon emissions. The system is being phased in, with operators required to surrender allowances for 40% of 2024 emissions, rising to 100% by 2027, and eventually covering methane and nitrous oxide.
FuelEU Maritime, which came into force in January 2025, targets the greenhouse gas intensity of marine fuels, requiring an annual reduction starting at 2% in 2025 and reaching 80% by 2050 on a well-to-wake basis. It also mandates the use of onshore power supply or equivalent zero-emission technology at berth from 2030 in ports where infrastructure is available.
Pia Van Wyngaard, CBH’s Head of Shipping, said: ‘We’re proud to be involved with projects that reduce our environmental impact while maintaining operational efficiencies and maximising value for WA growers. Customers, governments and communities are expecting stronger sustainability efforts, and we are working to ensure WA growers remain competitive and can readily meet our customers’ needs.’
CBH has previously trialled biofuels in regional trade, including on a 2022 voyage with Oldendorff from Australia to Vietnam using BP-supplied fuel. The latest transcontinental programme extends that experience to long-haul gran exports into Europe, where emissions performance and reporting are increasingly embedded in trade access requirements.
