SAF (sustainable aviation fuel), green hydrogen, green ammonia, green steel – these are dominating the headlines when it comes to Australia’s decarbonisation export ambitions. And rightly so. Australia has the feedstocks, the land, and the renewable energy potential to supply a world that’s running out of time to decarbonise.
But there’s a quieter opportunity that deserves a seat at the table: bioLNG.
Produced from organic waste – agricultural residues, food waste, landfill gas – bioLNG (liquefied biomethane), amongst several other commercial and industrial applications, is a compatible fuel for the growing fleet of LNG-capable vessels in global shipping and heavy transport. As LNG-powered or capable ships grow as a share of the global fleet, the pathway to substituting conventional LNG with its bio-equivalent is being increasingly recognised as both viable and practical – same infrastructure, competitive pricing, high energy density and lower carbon (>90% emissions reductions are possible).
And right now, the action is in Singapore.
Aside from demand for gas power generation (GPG), the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore is actively building the framework to encourage offshore supply of bioLNG as a marine bunkering fuel also. They manage the largest refuelling port in the world and are seeking to take a leading role in maritime decarbonisation efforts. An expression of interest was launched in December 2024 to explore scalable solutions for sea-based LNG reloading, specifically to support the supply of bio- and e-methane as marine fuel. The MPA has plans to open applications for bunker supply licences covering bio- and e-methane as marine fuels in Singapore by early 2026. The infrastructure, the regulation, and the demand signals are converging — and Australia is ideally placed to supply into that window.
The uncomfortable truth about Australia getting into biogas in a big way is that domestic demand alone is unlikely to stand the industry up at scale in the early years. The CEFC’s recent analysis of Australia’s low-carbon liquid fuels market makes exactly this point for SAF – domestic demand signals and pricing lag behind the investment needed to build production capacity and adequately manage project risk. The same dynamic applies to bioLNG.
The good news is that making this trade happen can leverage the existing LNG export contracts that exist between Australia and Singapore – we just move certificates (i.e. on paper), will net adding methane supply to constrained markets in south-eastern Australia to help bring downward price pressure to bear.
For many projects, this means an early play is to look offshore– and Singapore is an obvious first port of call. Building export relationships now – when the technology is proven but the domestic market is still forming – is how industries get established. It’s how Australian agriculture built its export identity – developing world-class production capability at home, priced and scaled for global markets.
Australia is uniquely positioned to serve this demand:
• We generate significant organic waste streams across agriculture, food processing and municipalities that are currently underutilised
• We have existing LNG infrastructure and export expertise
• Our ESG credentials and carbon intensity (CI) in production are world-leading
• Singapore has already established a bilateral Green and Digital Shipping Corridor with Australia – the diplomatic and commercial groundwork is already laid
At Valorify, we’re working with Australian businesses to unlock the value in organic waste – and we think bioLNG deserves serious attention as part of Australia’s low-carbon export story.
The wave of opportunity is almost here. The question is whether Australia paddles early and catches it, or watches from the shore.
We’d love to hear from organisations thinking about this space – whether you’re in waste management, agriculture, shipping, or energy. The conversation is just getting started.
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