S7 Ep5: Lara Naqushbandi, CEO of ETFuels

About this episode

Lara Naqushbandi discusses the impact of EU regulations on e-fuel production and the challenges of securing long-term agreements with shipping companies.

We unveil how some e-fuel producers are progressing their projects despite the uncertainty around the fate of a global pricing mechanism for shipping’s GHG emissions. Podcast highlights In this episode, Lara explains how the FuelEU Maritime regulation, with its requirements on the GHG intensity of the energy used on ships to ratchet up from 2030, was instrumental in sealing a 10-year binding offtake agreement under which ETFuels will supply e-methanol to shipping company RFOcean. The agreement, she says, demonstrates that the EU regulation, with its clear penalties for non-compliance and incentives for e-fuels, is strong enough to incentivise a fuel switch and make e-fuel production projects viable. She warns that companies that opt to do nothing and end up being hit by penalties are likely to see their fuel costs increase by 55% by 2030. Lara explains that the biggest challenge for ETFuels isn’t offering a mutually agreeable price for its e-methanol, but rather persuading shipping companies to commit to offtake agreements several years before they receive the fuel. While such long-term deals are essential for e-fuel producers to secure financing, she argues that locking in a…

People in this episode

Guest: Lara Naqushbandi

Topics covered

• e-fuels
• shipping emissions
• GHG regulations
• long-term agreements
• fuel pricing

Keywords

• e-methanol
• GHG intensity
• offtake agreement
• FuelEU
• shipping company
• penalties
• fuel costs

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: ETFuels, RFOcean, EU

More episodes of The ship.energy podcast

• S7 Ep7: Evelyne Williams, Research Associate, Center on Global Energy Policy, Columbia University, New York · April 7, 2026 · 26 min
• S7 Ep6: Arvind Natrajan, Senior Manager and IMO representative, International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) · March 23, 2026 · 22 min
• S7 Ep4: Daniel Gent, Marine Fuels Transition Lead, Soya Group · February 23, 2026 · 23 min
• S7 Ep3: FuelEU Maritime turns 1 - Robert Gaina, Ardmore and Filip Feurst, Stena Bulk · February 9, 2026 · 28 min
• S7 Ep2: Jason Stefanatos, Global Decarbonization Director, DNV · January 26, 2026 · 26 min
• S7 Ep1: New Year’s special: three wishes for shipping in 2026 · January 12, 2026 · 26 min