Energy Transition, Renewables, Emissions, Carbon
April 29, 2026
ET Highlights: Conflict’s decarbonization delay, E-fuels competitive advantage, 300,000 mt/year renewable ammonia deal
Energy Transition Highlights: Our editors and analysts bring together the biggest stories in the industry this week, from renewables to storage to carbon prices.
Top story
Growing push for revisions adds uncertainty to IMO green bunker rules
A growing number of countries are seeking to revise the International Maritime Organization's Net-Zero Framework during the latest round of negotiations, but critics said changing the previously approved rules will lead to further delays or put the regulation in jeopardy.
Following technical meetings in London over April 20-24, the UN agency's member states are scheduled to hold the 84th session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee over April 27-May 1 to discuss the rules framework for decarbonizing marine energy.
The framework, designed to place a cost on lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions from marine energy use from 2028, was first hammered through in a 63-16 vote in April 2025. But opponents successfully prevented the regulation's adoption last October by winning a vote, 57-49, to delay the negotiation by a year.
US is the fiercest opponent since Donald Trump's return to the White House in January 2025. It wants the framework to be scrapped, and against financial costs in GHG, restrictions on fuel types and regional carbon rules in any future emission regulation.
Benchmark of the Week
$913.32/metric ton
Platts monthly average delivered bunker price for very low sulfur fuel oil in Singapore in March.
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SPGlobal.com
INTERVIEW: Middle East war may slow green logistics near term, but speed long-term transition: DHL
The Middle East conflict may cause some companies to delay decarbonization efforts as freight costs, war-risk surcharges and transit disruptions mount, but it could ultimately accelerate a broader shift toward less dependence on fossil fuels, Niki Frank, CEO of DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific, said in an interview with Platts, part of S&P Global Energy. Some DHL customers are reassessing sustainability spending as the latest disruption adds new costs to already strained supply chains, Frank said at the sidelines of Singapore Maritime Week 2026.
California REC prices continue to fall as data centers scale
California Renewable Energy Certificate prices have continued to soften, even as artificial intelligence and the rapid expansion of large-scale data centers drive clean energy procurement and might increase demand for renewable attributes in the state, market participants said, as occurred in other major US power markets such as the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and PJM. The intensifying pressure on California's power system is raising new questions about how the state plans for load growth, secures a reliable supply, and manages costs while staying aligned with clean energy goals, sources said during the Infocast's Clean Energy Summit in San Diego.
Indonesia to stop diesel imports as it shifts to 50% biodiesel blend: Minister
Indonesia will stop importing subsidized low-grade diesel fuel from July 1 as the government enforces its mandatory B50 biodiesel program, Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman said. "We will no longer import Solar starting July 1, when B50 takes effect. This is Indonesia's future energy because the source comes from palm oil," Amran told reporters at the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology graduation ceremony in Surabaya. Solar is the Indonesian name for subsidized automotive diesel fuel used mainly for public transport and small vehicles.
S&P Global Energy Core
INTERVIEW: ETFuels targets e-fuel cost advantage amid wider EU market hesitation
E-fuels project developer ETFuels sees a competitive advantage for its plants, even as the wider industry struggles to get projects off the ground, with strict European regulations and penalties driving demand amid high costs of production, CEO Lara Naqushbandi told Platts. ETFuels’ strategy of co-locating renewable power in prime locations can deliver e-fuel cost savings of about 30%, avoiding grid fees of $40-$50/megawatt-hour to achieve a levelized cost of electricity of around $40/MWh, compared with grid-connected renewables in optimal locations, according to Naqushbandi.
India's L&T unit signs 300,000 mt/year renewable ammonia supply deal with Japan's Itochu
L&T Energy GreenTech, a subsidiary of Larsen & Toubro, has signed a long-term agreement with Japan's Itochu Corp to supply 300,000 metric tons/year of renewable ammonia from its proposed plant at Kandla, Gujarat, L&T said. L&T Energy GreenTech will supply renewable ammonia to Itochu on a captive, take-or-pay basis, building on the Joint Development Agreement between the companies signed in July 2025. The agreement with Itochu is a significant step in translating L&T's clean energy ambitions into large-scale, bankable projects, according to Subramanian Sarma, deputy managing director and president at L&T.
Tesla to triple spending in 2026 to over $25B
Electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc. plans to invest over $25 billion in 2026 to accelerate its transformation into a more diversified supplier of EVs, battery storage systems, solar panels and humanoid robots. The planned spending spree, which would triple Tesla's 2025 capital expenditures of $8.5 billion, mainly targets six manufacturing facilities under construction or ramping up in California, Nevada and Texas. That includes a lithium refinery and factories to make battery cells, energy storage systems, heavy-duty semi trucks, autonomous Cybercab EVs and Optimus robots — the latter of which Musk touted as "not just Tesla's biggest product ever, but probably the biggest product ever."