Topsoe, BioVeritas Move to Widen the Feedstock Gate for Renewable Fuels
Topsoe and BioVeritas are moving to widen the feedstock base for renewable fuels, pairing HydroFlex® with the BioVeritas Process™ to help producers turn waste and residual biomass into second-generation SAF and renewable diesel. The agreement targets one of the sector’s hardest constraints: how to scale low-carbon fuels beyond limited supplies of conventional fats, oils and greases without forcing refiners into a wholesale rebuild of existing infrastructure.
Photo Credit: Topsoe
Bryan, Texas, The United States of America | May 19, 2026 - Topsoe and BioVeritas have signed an agreement aimed at giving fuel producers a route to make renewable fuels from second-generation feedstocks, a move that places waste and residual biomass more firmly inside the next phase of Sustainable Aviation Fuel and renewable diesel development.
The agreement, announced on 6 May 2026, allows producers to license Topsoe’s HydroFlex® technology alongside the BioVeritas Process™, linking two parts of the renewable fuels value chain: BioVeritas’ conversion of waste and sustainable biomass into intermediate chemicals, and Topsoe’s hydroprocessing platform for turning those intermediates into drop-in renewable fuels.
For an industry wrestling with the limits of first-generation feedstocks such as fats, oils and greases, the deal is less a routine technology tie-up than a bid to ease one of the central bottlenecks in renewable fuels: how to turn abundant but harder-to-process biomass into fuels that can use existing refining infrastructure and meet aviation and diesel specifications.
A Feedstock Constraint Becomes the Commercial Problem
Sustainable Aviation Fuel, or SAF, is designed as a renewable fuel that can directly replace conventional aviation fuel while reducing carbon emissions from air travel. SAF can be produced from different renewable feedstocks, but the most mature pathway has leaned heavily on limited supplies of conventional biogenic oils and fats.
That supply constraint is the backdrop to the Topsoe-BioVeritas agreement. First-generation feedstocks have helped renewable fuels move from demonstration to deployment, but their limited availability has also narrowed the universe of projects that can secure enough input material to reach commercial scale. The pressure is particularly acute in SAF, where airlines, refiners and policymakers are trying to accelerate supply into a market still far below the scale required for mid-century aviation decarbonisation.
The International Air Transport Association’s global feedstock assessment puts the challenge in sharper relief. After accounting for competing uses in other sectors, IATA estimates that around 1,580 million tonnes of biomass may be available for SAF production by 2050, enough to support just over 300 million tonnes of bio-SAF if effective conversion technology is deployed.
That is the gap Topsoe and BioVeritas are positioning themselves to address: not by replacing existing infrastructure, but by extending what that infrastructure can process.
How the Partnership Works
Under the agreement, BioVeritas brings its process for converting second-generation feedstocks such as woody biomass, corn stover, wheat straw and similar waste or residual biomass into intermediate chemicals known as KEYTones™. Those intermediates can then flow into Topsoe’s HydroFlex® technology for the production of renewable fuels.
Topsoe’s HydroFlex platform is designed to convert renewable feedstocks into on-spec renewable fuels, including renewable diesel, SAF and marine fuel. The company says the technology can be deployed in both grassroots facilities and refinery revamps, including co-processing or fully renewable applications.
According to the companies, the BioVeritas Process™ converts new biomass streams into KEYTones™, intermediate chemicals that can be processed into existing HEFA-based infrastructure for co-processing in place of, or alongside, traditional fats, oils and greases.
The commercial logic is clear. Fuel producers are not only looking for new technology; they are looking for technology that can work within assets they already own or can realistically retrofit. Alan Del Paggio, Chief Commercial Officer at BioVeritas, captured that point directly: “Fuel producers are looking for solutions that work within the infrastructure they already have. Pairing the BioVeritas Process™ with Topsoe’s HydroFlex® technology creates a practical, near-term pathway to bring second-generation feedstocks into production at scale. We’re excited to work with Topsoe to help customers unlock meaningful new volumes of renewable fuel.”
From Conventional Hydroprocessing to Second-Generation Fuels
Topsoe’s role in the agreement builds on its broader positioning as a Danish energy technology company supplying solutions for low-carbon and conventional fuels, chemicals and clean air applications. The company, founded in 1940 and headquartered in Denmark, says it has more than 2,800 employees serving customers globally.
HydroFlex has already become part of Topsoe’s renewable fuels platform, with the company presenting it as a route to produce drop-in renewable jet and diesel that meet globally accepted fuel specifications. In practical terms, that means producers can target fuels compatible with existing engines, distribution systems and end-use markets, rather than waiting for wholly new aviation fuel infrastructure to emerge.
BioVeritas, headquartered in Bryan, Texas, brings a different piece of the puzzle. The company is commercialising a process that converts diverse biomass feedstocks into chemical building blocks for low-carbon fuels and chemicals.
BioVeritas is a portfolio company of Ara Partners, a private markets firm focused on industrial decarbonisation investments. Ara, founded in 2017, invests across private equity, infrastructure and energy, with a focus on commercially demonstrated decarbonisation solutions and industrial-scale emissions reduction. As of 30 September 2025, Ara had approximately $6.6 billion in assets under management.
Why the Timing Matters
The agreement arrives as SAF demand is rising from a very low supply base. IATA estimated 2025 global SAF production at about 2 million tonnes, compared with roughly 500 million tonnes required in 2050 for aviation to reach net zero.
Aviation’s near-term decarbonisation options remain heavily tied to liquid fuels, with ICAO describing drop-in SAF as among the most promising near-term options because it can use existing aircraft engines and fuel infrastructure. IATA estimates SAF could deliver around 65% of the emissions reductions needed for aviation to reach net zero by 2050, making it central to the sector’s decarbonisation pathway. But the industry’s ability to scale will depend not only on mandates, offtake agreements and capital, but on whether producers can secure enough sustainable feedstock and convert it efficiently.
That makes second-generation feedstocks strategically important. Agricultural residues, forestry residues, wood waste and other residual biomass streams are more abundant than conventional oil-based feedstocks, but they are also more technically complex. The value of the Topsoe-BioVeritas arrangement is therefore its attempt to connect that resource base with existing or adaptable production systems.
Yassir Ghiyati, Chief Commercial Officer at Topsoe, framed the partnership around the need to widen project viability: “Through this agreement we see a clear opportunity for HydroFlex® and the BioVeritas Process™, to expand feedstock pathways that can help make more SAF and renewable fuel projects viable and support broader deployment globally.”
The words matter because they point to the deeper commercial test. Renewable fuel projects are not constrained by climate ambition alone. They are constrained by bankable feedstock supply, process reliability, refinery compatibility and the ability to produce fuel that meets market specifications at scale.
The Next Renewable Fuels Frontier
For Topsoe, the BioVeritas agreement strengthens its role in the renewable fuels technology chain at a moment when producers are looking beyond conventional feedstock pools. For BioVeritas, the partnership offers a route into customers already considering HEFA-linked infrastructure, refinery revamps and renewable fuels capacity.
For the wider market, the agreement is another sign that the SAF race is shifting from headline targets to the industrial mechanics of delivery. The mature HEFA pathway has shown that drop-in renewable fuels can be produced, but IATA’s assessment makes clear that the next phase will depend on accelerating other pathways and widening access to sustainable biomass feedstocks.
That is where the Topsoe-BioVeritas proposition sits: a technology pairing designed to make waste and residual biomass more usable, existing infrastructure more flexible and second-generation renewable fuels more commercially plausible. In a market where feedstock access may increasingly separate viable projects from stranded ambitions, the agreement places both companies inside one of the defining questions of the SAF build-out: not whether demand will come, but whether the supply chain can be made wide enough to meet it.
