Gas-To-Liquid (GTL) technology converts natural gas into high-quality liquid products that would otherwise be made from crude oil. These liquid products include transportation fuels (gasoline and diesel), motor oils and the ingredients for everyday necessities like plastics, detergents and cosmetics. GTL products are colorless, odorless and contain almost none of the impurities, such as sulphur, aromatics and nitrogen. GTL is not to be mistaken with Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), where natural gas is made into a liquid without changing the chemical structure. The natural gas that is used for GTL is a fossil fuel found in natural reserves beneath the earth’s surface. Just like petroleum, it is formed when decomposing animal and plant matter are put under extreme pressure and heat in layers deep underground rock formations over millions of years.

Natural gas consists primarily out of methane (CH4) which is a hydrocarbon gas and is highly flammable. Natural gas is mostly used to produce electricity by burning it in a gas turbines. It also is used to cook and heat buildings, in this case an odor has been added to the gas to identify gas leakages. GTL diesel fuel is equally hazardous as conventional diesel fuel.

The ease of GTL fuel is that a retrofit to a diesel engine is not necessary since the diesel from GTL technology can be used in original diesel engines. By turning methane into diesel fuel, it will be in its purest form, which causes less harmful emissions. According to Shell, GTL marine diesel fuel emits 9% less nitrogen oxides (NOx) and also emits up to 58% less particulate matter (PM) than conventional diesel (EN590). The disadvantage of GTL is that the price per volume for GTL diesel is slightly (~€0.03/Liter) more expensive than regular diesel fuel and therefor GTL diesel fuel does not pay off due to the same fuel consumption. This also causes the range to be the same when using regular diesel fuel. GTL marine diesel fuel can be obtained at numerous bunkering stations, especially on the larger waterways.