The role of user demand in biofuel adaptation in heavy road transportation

This article explores how user demand influences the development of biogas supply chains in Finnish heavy road transport, showing that beyond transport companies themselves, the demand from their customer companies in sectors such as retail and industry emerges as a key driver. Beyond identifying adoption drivers and barriers, the study highlights how companies adapt their operations, investment decisions, and long-term strategies in response to biogas opportunities. This adaptation process includes gradually integrating biogas-powered vehicles into fleets, redesigning routes around refuelling infrastructure, aligning corporate sustainability targets with customer expectations, and managing cost risks in volatile energy markets. Drawing on interviews with transport companies and biogas suppliers, the study identifies how customer expectations, such as sustainability targets, and operational needs of the transport companies influence decisions around biogas adoption. While biogas technologies are technically mature and capable of supporting low-emission logistics, uptake remains constrained by high vehicle costs, price volatility, limited infrastructure, and inconsistent policy support. The findings reveal a growing mismatch between user-driven demand and the readiness of supply systems, especially in production capacity and distribution networks. Biogas is most viable in high-mileage logistics where emission reduction is a competitive advantage, yet broader adoption requires synchronized efforts across policy, production, and infrastructure planning. This research contributes to the discourse on industrial symbiosis by highlighting the role of transport companies in shaping fuel transitions and offers a forward-looking perspective on how demand-side pressure can accelerate circular energy integration in logistics.