Green Fuel Momentum Builds Across Transport Sectors as Low-Carbon Frameworks Evolve

## Green Fuel Momentum Builds Across Transport Sectors as Low-Carbon Frameworks Evolve A cluster of announcements on 22 September 2026 underscores the accelerating pace of decarbonisation activity across the global transport and infrastructure sectors, offering maritime industry stakeholders a broader view of the market forces shaping the energy transition. ### TERC Overhauls Carbon Certificate Framework TERC — the Transport Emission Reduction Certificate programme established in 2023 — announced a significant redesign of its market-based framework in collaboration with digital carbon platform 123Carbon. According to the PR Newswire release, the updated programme introduces new capabilities for customers while maintaining what TERC describes as 'market transparency, traceability and integrity.' The development is noteworthy for maritime operators, as TERC was founded specifically to accelerate the adoption of lower-carbon fuels across the transport sector. Robust, traceable certificate frameworks are increasingly critical as shipping companies face mounting regulatory pressure under IMO decarbonisation targets and the EU Emissions Trading System. The collaboration with 123Carbon signals a broader industry push to digitise and standardise carbon accounting mechanisms across transport modes. ### SAF Buyers Alliance Secures Long-Term Production Commitments In the aviation sector, the Sustainable Aviation Buyers Alliance (SABA) announced that members including Google, McKinsey & Company, Bain & Company, and AVEVA have made advance purchase commitments to support Infinium's Project Atlas — a planned Texas-based facility expected to produce up to 100,000 metric tons of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) per year. While the commitments are aviation-focused, the deal structure — long-term offtake agreements used to de-risk next-generation fuel production — mirrors the financing models increasingly being explored for green methanol, ammonia, and bio-LNG projects serving the maritime sector. The willingness of major corporate buyers to underwrite future fuel production capacity is a trend maritime fuel developers and shipowners will be watching closely. ### Low-Carbon Urban Infrastructure Takes Shape in Montréal Engineering firm AECOM announced its support for a low-carbon, climate-resilient redevelopment project in Montréal, utilising One Click LCA software to provide early-stage lifecycle carbon assessments. The City of Montréal's redevelopment of a major transportation corridor demonstrates how lifecycle analysis tools are being embedded earlier in infrastructure planning cycles — a methodology with direct relevance to port infrastructure development and terminal redevelopment projects globally. ### Maritime Takeaway Taken together, these announcements reflect a maturing decarbonisation ecosystem in which carbon accounting standards, alternative fuel financing structures, and low-carbon infrastructure design are converging. For maritime professionals, the cross-sector momentum reinforces that the commercial and regulatory environment surrounding green shipping fuels and carbon markets will continue to tighten — and that lessons from aviation and urban infrastructure are increasingly transferable to the port and shipping industries.