Liana Gouta, Director General of the European Fuel Manufacturers Association, is an accomplished executive with over 30 years of experience in the energy sector. With a background in chemical engineering, she has expertise in energy policy, governmental affairs, advocacy, communications, business strategy, change management, project management, and engineering. Liana has held various leadership positions within corporate entities and professional associations, demonstrating strong leadership skills and a commitment to social and political engagement. Passionate about the energy transition, climate, environment, entrepreneurship, leadership, and women’s empowerment, she is known for her extensive networks in professional, entrepreneurial, governmental, and diplomatic circles.

“In your leadership role within FuelsEurope, you will be working on the policy front helping to decarbonize one of the hardest sectors to abate, the fuels industry together with industries mostly dependent on the fuels, such as refineries, petrochemical, maritime and aviation. This is a sector that faces increasing backlash, as civil society and many stakeholders among the public and private sector refuse to include oil &gas companies in the energy transition dialogue.

As mentioned, this sector is hard to abate and impossible to remove from the energy transition equation, as it is a vital part of other sectors, such as industry, transportation etc. Considering that, constructive dialogue between the stakeholders, especially civil society, is an eminent need to raise awareness, increase social acceptance and make the public an active participant of the transition of the fuels industry.
Taking this into account, what do you think can be done additionally by the companies themselves to achieve those goals (e.g outreach activities)? How can FuelsEurope facilitate this process? Can you think of any best practices taking place so far that could be propagated?”

I could not agree more with your remark that it is impossible to remove the fuels sector from the energy transition equation. Europe has to solve the complex and multi-parameter puzzle of climate neutrality by 2050.
The fuels manufacturing industry has been the missing piece of this puzzle in the EU policy making so far, often portrayed as the problem, and, unless we face a crisis situation, rarely as part of the solution. Excluding our sector from the policy debate is definitely not the way to address the climate crisis. Let’s be clear. It is not the industry that has to be excluded, it is crude oil, one of the feedstocks. On the contrary, our industry should be acknowledged as an integral key part of this dialogue. We have to produce the renewable fuels Europe needs in the coming years, as well as to ensure a secure, smooth, uninterrupted and just transition from fossil to renewable fuels. FuelsEurope represents European refiners and renewable fuels producers, a sector which has already started its transition. As an association we started working on our “Vision 2050” in 2016, soon after the Paris agreement, which we presented in 2018, even before the EU Green Deal, and in 2020 we published our comprehensive “CleanFuelsForAll” pathway. Last, but not least, innovative alternative technologies are being tested and developed for a much longer period in our research and development centres. We have a robust offer towards climate neutrality and it is essential to maintain a constructive dialogue with all parties that are all engaged in this long-term transition, as collectively we can enable this monumental transformation and meet the 2050 objectives.

It is important to inform all stakeholders and EU citizens about our alternative technologies and about our comprehensive offer, addressing climate neutrality, energy security and affordability, circular economy, EU industrial robustness. Therefore, at FuelsEurope and our member companies, we pursue an open dialogue with all stakeholders, institutions, policy makers, industries and investors, as well as civil society and the media. Our aim is to show that our transformation has started, new alternative technologies exist, and we are already producing some quantities of renewable fuels and products of unparalleled advantages for our economies and EU citizens. The role of the media and civil society is always crucial in spreading the messages and the good news.
In this context partnerships with important stakeholders, consumers of these renewable fuels and products, such as aviation, motorsports or sport cars industry, can play a pivotal role in sharing the message, presenting the fuels in action and informing the public. As an example, our partnership with the World Rally Championship, a competition using 100% sustainable fuels for the cars running in the rally is an important multiplier and amplifier for our messages. We believe that the best way to convince consumers about the existence and benefits of our fuels and products is to show them “in action”. Biorefineries producing exclusively renewable fuels, sustainable aviation fuels production, 100% renewable diesel plants and fuel stations, are already in place while many big projects of renewable fuels and green hydrogen from our sector, have been announced and are already on their way.

Last but not least, addressing young people, who can more easily see “out of the box”, without mindsets and biases, can be critical in spreading and multiplying the messages. Our industry’s offer is an offer for the coming years and decades and young people are the interested parties that will benefit from it.

“An important aspect that you are focusing on within FuelsEurope is the competitiveness of the fuels industry and you have welcomed the Net Zero Industry Act, pointing out that it should not compromise the European industry’s competitiveness.

This will be a very challenging task, as there are many companies across the fuel value chain operating outside the EU, who have not yet developed plans for a clean transition. This might lead to increasing costs for the European companies, thinking that it costs more to bring a new product to the market and the process to push it from the niche market to the socio-technical regime is even more costly.

What are the best examples of policies undertaken at an EU level to combat this issue? Do you think that measures such as CBAM and CSDD will be conducive? What can be done to reduce the risk for the fuel companies even more in terms of EU policies?”

Our industry’s competitiveness is critical. In fact, this is a prerequisite for our investment potential in technologies that will enable our operations to become more sustainable in the short term as well as for the transformation towards non-fossil feedstocks in the long-term. We are not asking for financial support or subsidies, but for a framework that will allow us to remain competitive and channel investments into Europe. Let’s not forget that our industry will have to supply the fuels that Europe needs now and in the coming years for the millions of our cars, airplanes and ships, gradually shifting from conventional fuels to carbon neutral fuels, ensuring energy security and affordability and leaving no one behind regarding access to mobility.

Regrettably the EU currently lacks a true industrial strategy. Initially the belief was that a climate strategy could also serve as an industrial strategy. The Commission eventually acknowledged the need for a specific industrial strategy, called the Green Deal Industrial Plan, which has not been further worked out but we expect to see some proposal published in the near future, and most likely debated with the new institutions after the elections. In this context we welcome the position of the Belgian Presidency, when prime Minister Alexander de Croo called for a “New Industrial Deal”. Furthermore, the institutions are currently holding the Trilogue for another key regulation, the Net Zero Industry Act, to support strategic technologies. It could nevertheless have a detrimental impact if some critical alternative technologies are forgotten. We call for the recognition of renewable fuels as critical technologies for all transport sectors on the way towards climate neutrality, and we believe that our sector should be included in the list of strategic industrial sectors in Europe, for its means to produce the renewable fuels that EU will need by 2050 and beyond.

Moreover, a heavy and fragmented EU policy framework, which, compared to global competitors, selects specific technologies while excluding others, being exclusive rather than inclusive, based on targets and penalties rather than on incentives, puts at risk the competitiveness of existing strategic industries and probably redirects investments in clean technologies in other areas of the world. Let’s not forget that our industry has always been a major investor, and is now ready to proceed with the huge investments that will be needed by 2050, while parts of them are already in place or have been announced. But, on the other hand, a clear, stable and investors’ friendly framework is prerequisite for our companies to deliver their Vision and investments plans, without forgetting that our sector is part of a global market that offers many investment opportunities.

“Thinking that the ultimate goal is to minimize the carbon footprint of the fuels industry and the sectors that mostly depend on it (maritime, aviation etc), which country would you consider as an example of good policymaking in order to achieve these goals? You
can think of both an EU state or an example on a global scale.”

For the big picture, if we look back at the past years, in particular following the publication of the European Green Deal, the EU has done the most in terms of policies and regulations that should enable significant GHG emissions reductions with the ultimate objective of reaching climate neutrality by 2050.

Nonetheless, the EU has favoured regulations based on penalties rather than incentives, as I already mentioned, somewhat different from what the US has put in place with its Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). If we look at more specific measures that could serve as a real trigger for the uptake of renewable fuels, we could take the example of Sweden where renewable fuels, thanks to a reduced taxation scheme, can compete with conventional fuels. It is no surprise to see that most of the fueling stations in Sweden offer dedicated pumps for the renewable fuels. Taxation could be a very strong lever but given that the change in fuel taxation (for example based on the carbon content) in the EU requires unanimity, no progress has taken place since a very long time.

It is important to mention that for specific sectors such as aviation and maritime, which enjoyed untaxed fuels up to now, the policy framework has to be carefully defined, while a lead market such as road transport could be crucial for the ramp up of renewable fuels production at scale and their cost reduction. Road transport is a market where the fuel tax, generally more than half of the price at the pump, could be a strong lever for renewable fuels which could benefit from reduced taxation levels, reflecting their lower net carbon content, and enabling a competitive price versus conventional fuels. The ramp up of renewable fuels in road transport would reduce cost and support their use in hard to abate sectors, such as aviation and maritime.

“From all sectors related to the fuels industry (refineries, petrochemicals, aviation, maritime, heavy-duty transport etc) which one do you think will be the most challenging to decarbonize? What policy levers could be used additionally for that specific sector, if any?”

There are two ways to consider this question, either technically or economically.

Technically all sectors listed in your question can be decarbonised as technologies are already available. We can dramatically reduce the emissions in our refineries thanks to the use of green electricity, green hydrogen and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). The challenge is more the economic sustainability, as this will require a significant investment level which is only justified if there is a stable and predictable long-term regulatory framework.

For petrochemicals, new feedstock is being developed to produce non-fossil raw materials. In addition, similarly to the refineries, green electricity and hydrogen and CCS are technologies that will also enable petrochemicals’ decarbonisation. For road transport, electrification will be a major technology for decarbonising the sector, yet we don’t believe that 100% electrification is realistic, in particular for heavy duty vehicles. In addition, thanks to the tax element in the price of the fuel as explained in the previous question, road transport is a potential lead market which will benefit aviation and maritime transport. Indeed, for these two hard to abate sectors we know that the technology options are very limited and renewable liquid fuels appear to be almost the only one. The technologies for renewable fuels exist, in various levels of readiness level, some of them are already in place, producing the first quantities of renewable fuels, but the business model of these sectors will have to be adjusted to integrate a higher cost for the fuels, so as to produce these fuels at scale and at a reduced cost.

“You have been largely engaged with the eFuels community, having been a part of the eFuels alliance. Currently there is a large discussion about the role of efuels in the energy transition and the EU is considering additional measures to ensure climate
neutrality of the aforementioned fuels used in transportation, after the intervention of Germany. What do you think will be the outcome of this for the efuels industry?”

eFuels will undoubtedly play an important role in the transport sector, as will sustainable biofuels. But, the availability of biofuels is currently by far much bigger than for e-Fuels, which are nevertheless likely to strongly increase during the next ten years. In fact the challenge to enable this industrial uptake remains the same, a favourable regulatory framework to accelerate the industrial uptake of the fuels, and drive the price down. We should always keep in mind that these carbon neutral fuels can decarbonize all transport modes, starting today, with no need for new fleets or additional infrastructure.

Whereas the biofuel production is likely to remain mainly domestic, eFuels production which will require significant investment to reach the quantities needed in the transport sector, could also benefit from very favourable conditions in third countries where the production costs are lower (higher renewable electricity production capacity, cheaper land use and excess of renewable energy production compared to domestic demand). The future will tell us how other regions develop eFuels production capacity and whether the EU will produce its own eFuels or import them.

“Having assumed leadership roles both at FuelsEurope, eFuels Alliance and HELLENiQ Energy, you have been part of a sector where women make up only 22% of the workforce, and leadership positions are even more scarce, where they take up 12% of the positions. From your experience, what are the biggest challenges/obstacles that you had to face?”

Industrial sectors traditionally have been male-dominated and most of them still haven’t addressed the problem of untapped female talent. But statistics show that in our sector this is more acute. When I started my career at the Thessaloniki Refinery and Petrochemical Complex more than 30 years ago, I was one of the first female engineers, and I have to admit I faced several challenges and was part of big changes. There were times when I felt like “I had to pave the way” towards managerial positions. But this didn’t discourage me. On the contrary, as I loved my job, that made me try harder, with persistence, commitment, hard work, passion and a lot of energy.

During the last few years, big steps have been taken in the sector, but according to numbers, there is still a long way to go. In my opinion the most difficult obstacle in advancing to the career ladder, is unconscious biases, of those who make decisions on whether to give women a chance or not, but also of women themselves, in terms of how high a goal they set, given the lack of female leaders and role models. According to studies, there are two main hurdles for women in the sector: getting the first promotion into management and then getting promoted at the senior vice-president level (c-suite levels). In order to unleash the untapped female talent at all levels, companies need to acknowledge the problem by measuring performance through baseline metrics, ensure leadership commitment, set leading performance indicators and clear policies, goals and targets.

“In your opinion what could be done further from a policy perspective to support participation of women in the energy transition sectors, both nationally and EU-wide?”

Equal opportunities appear to be a priority for the EU, as we can see in the ever-increasing number of female leaders at the top leadership positions, as well as at all levels of the EU institutions.

In 2022, 10 years after the initial proposal was tabled, the EU adopted the so-called “Women on Boards” Directive, paving the way for equal opportunities in c-suite positions across Europe, which has to be implemented by all big publicly listed companies in the EU, the latest by July 2026. There is no doubt that this is a landmark decision, that can be a game changer, showcasing the value of women’s participation at the top management of private companies. The most important benefit in my opinion, is not the legal mandate as such, but the opportunity, that this mandate will create, to change the unconscious biases I mentioned before. Given the challenges that the energy sector has to address in the coming years, on its journey towards its transition, new skills and human talent will be needed and female untapped potential should definitely be part of the solution.